Whether you're hitting the courts in the afterglow of Wimbledon or you're a seasoned server, there's plenty of tennis tech out there for you.
Players can tap already use their smartwatch or fitness tracker to gather the very basics of their activity, but those who want to go a little bit further can use dedicated tennis wearables to really improve their game - whether it's having their forehand critiqued in the post-match or seeing real-time data regarding the pace and accuracy of their strokes.
Read this: The best sports wearables and GPS watches you can buy
Whatever your level, we've rounded up the top tennis tech below for your perusal. So put down the strawberries and cream, grab your racquet and get cracking.
Pivot
Pivot from startup TuringSense combines a whopping 14 sensors in the top of the range pack with the coaching and monitoring system having been developed in partnership with Hall of Fame coach Nick Bollettieri.
The setup promises to improve a player's game by recording 360-degree motion, while also preventing injuries and providing statistics on a wide range of performance metrics, including footwork, body position, elbow bend, knee bend and more.
You don't need a camera, there's a hub that records all the biometric data each sensor sends. Up to 1,000 data samples per second are sent from the accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer, and you can watch back the action and see the analysis on the companion app.
From $279, turingsense.com
Babolat Play
After offering a smarter version of its Play Pure Drive, Babolat has three versions of connected racquets for you to choose from. And while these differ depending on the profile of the racquet, the Pure Drive, Pure Drive Lite and Aero all offer the same smarts.
Thanks to the 6-axis sensor packed inside, you're able to receive info on play time, forehand/backhand recognition, serves, smashes, volleys, topspin, longest rally, ball serve speed, the impact location and total shots.
The stats are all ported to the tethered Android or iOS device, with the data then presented on your smartphone screen via a series of colourful, illustrative graphs.
From
Babolat Pop
Babolat has also partnered up with fellow sports sensor experts PIQ to deliver a smart wristband that will let players monitor a host of useful data. That includes groundstrokes, serves, topspin, volleys, rate and power. It can even record how many sets you've made it through and record you longest rally.
The neoprene wristband uses a 9 axis sensor to track strokes and has enough storage for 10 hours of tennis. The companion app (iPhone and Android) will let you set challenges against your friends and view all of your stats from the session.
Zepp Tennis Kit
If you can't afford a top-of-the-line Babolat racquets, use your own and attach this similarly-styled Bluetooth sensor to the end of it. The Zepp is compatible with both Android and iOS devices and measures a whole bunch of data, including power, sweet spot, shot type, spin and time on court. One especially neat feature is the way it displays a three dimensional real-time analysis of your stroke that can be viewed from various angles.
The Zepp is charged via USB and runs for up to eight hours. And that's longer than any tennis match in history, bar John Isner and Nicolas Mahut's marathon 11 hour Wimbledon summit back in 2010. For the record, Zepp also produce similar sensor packages for golfers, footballers and baseball players.
Pulse Play
A successfully crowdfunded smartwatch designed for tennis players, the Pulse Play will keep tabs on your game score, as well as put you in touch with other players. Designed by seasoned double grand slam champ Andy Ram, you can keep score mid-game with the touch of a button, and most impressively, get scores announced using the voice of Homer Simpson or Elvis Presley.
Don't be confused by the name, however; the Pulse Play has nothing to do with your heart rate, which coincidentally would be a great feature in a tennis watch.
Other features include being able to hook up with similarly rated tennis players in your local area, though we assume that's done via a companion app rather than the band itself – like some kind of doubles partner homing beacon.
$129, PulsePlay
PlaySight
This ingenious tennis coaching system is designed for clubs – unless, of course, you have your own private court. PlaySight is an interactive 'after action review system' that uses four automated cameras to provide feedback footage of a player's technique.
The system tracks stroke types, serve speed, accuracy, distance covered, even the number of unforced errors, and these stats are then uploaded to the PlaySight portal for private perusal on any smartphone or desktop computer.
There are currently just two PlaySight courts in the UK (London's Queens Club and Stoke Park County Club) and the United States Tennis Association is set to equip all 102 tennis courts in the USTA National Campus with the smart court tech.
Session prices vary, playsight.com
How we test
Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.