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(Pocket-lint) – Whether you’re an avid tennis player, coach or one of those people who become tennis fans as soon as spring and summer roll around, the SwingVision app is the one you need to download .
We are in the latter camp. We love tennis but we don’t play it all year round. Instead, we usually watch one of the big tournaments, like Wimbledon or Ronald Garros, and remember how much we love the sport and how badly we want to pull out our racquet and hit those yummy yellow balls through (or in) the net.
It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner in tennis or you want to measure yourself against the wonderful Federer, because the SwingVision application caters to all levels and offers many excellent functions that will help you improve your game.
Here’s everything you need to know about SwingVision and what you need to get the most out of the app and improve your tennis game.
What is SwingVision AI?
The SwingVision AI app is a mobile app that works on a number of Apple devices including iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch with the ultimate goal of improving your tennis game.
The app was created in 2014 and offers a number of great features, ranging from challenging line calls with slow motion replay, to analyzing stroke stats from speed, depth, precision and length of the exchange, through the creation of video highlights and the possibility of filtering them by certain shots such as the forehand or backhand, the monitoring of scores and match statistics and measuring your progress with weekly goals.
SwingVision AI also allows you to benefit from personalized coaching after each session and to compete against other users around the world based on the number of shots you have hit.
It is also the official player and ball tracking app of Tennis Australia, LTA and ITA, and is endorsed by former ATP world number 1 Andy Roddick and former ATP world number 4 James Blake.
SwingVision / Pocket-lint
How does the SwingVision AI app work?
The SwingVision AI app is designed to replace what would once have been a very expensive setup of ten on-court cameras to track your tennis game and provide feedback and analysis.
Using an iPad Pro, iPad Air (2022) or iPhone secured to the barrier or on a tripod, SwingVision’s proprietary artificial intelligence will use the cameras and chips of these devices to process your videos and track your shots in real time, without any internet connection required.
The app’s artificial intelligence will not only be able to tell you the location of the hit, but also detail the type and speed of the hit. Once you’re done playing, your match or practice video will allow you to see shot stats and video highlights, which include point-by-point or shot-by-shot. Surprisingly, you can also filter the video to show very specific shots, such as only in volleys or out head kicks.
As you play, audio feedback announces scores and stats in real time and it’s also possible to challenge line calls in real time, as well as during a match. When contesting line calls, you can instantly see a slow-motion replay of the shot, as well as a decision on whether the ball went in or out.
For those who also own an Apple Watch, the SwingVision app will use the accelerometer and gyroscope, along with algorithms, to calculate your swing speed from your wrist. You can also use Siri from your Apple Watch to start a tennis practice or match.
You set up a profile in the SwingVision app before you start – this is where you can review your sessions and measure your progress over time.
What do you need to get the most out of SwingVision?
You can film your practice or game with an iPad or iPhone and you don’t need an Apple Watch, but it will add to the experience if you have one, offering real-time stats on your wrist.
The iPad Pro (2021) has wide and ultra-wide camera lenses that give you a full view of a pitch when placed on a tripod for indoor pitch, or on a fence stand when on an outdoor area. The latest iPhones also offer wide and ultra-wide lenses, so they’ll be able to shoot what you need too.
You can also use an iPad Air (2022). Although it only has one lens, the 2022 Air works with the M1 chip like the iPad Pro, meaning it still offers the processing power needed to deliver real-time stats and analytics. created by the SwingVision application.
If you’re using SwingVision on an Apple Watch, you’ll see real-time feedback of the last shot you made, along with the shot type and speed. The data will also be used to close your rings, and the faster you hit the ball, the faster SwingVision’s speedometer advances.
What does the SwingVision AI app look like and is it worth downloading?
We tried the SwingVision app with an iPad Pro filming the practice and an Apple Watch Series 7 on our wrist – it has to be on the wrist where you’re holding the racquet – and we loved the stats we got at the end.
The workout video was great, reviewing every move, as well as slowing down playback to really help you see what you could have done better, or what you did really well. This element is particularly useful for coaches, who can thus show their students what they can improve, what they are doing well and what they should be doing more, but also for individuals.
What’s great about the SwingVision app is that the stats and analytics are presented in such a colorful and user-friendly way that they’re fun to look at, but also easy to understand. Our favorite part of the SwingVision app is by far the video filtering.
It’s great that the app is able – very quickly by the way – to instantly show you the specific plans you’ve requested using the filtering system. You can select the move, effect, direction, type of move and result in the move-by-move analysis.
This means that if you only want to see the crossover forehands that were hit, the video will instantly group all those shots together, while still showing you what type of shot it was – like a flat forehand – and at what speed it was hit in the top corner when watching.
We learned that we probably won’t be the next Roger Federer anytime soon, but the stats and features offered by the SwingVision app have certainly made us want to keep trying to improve our game, so who knows, maybe one day.
