Tennis Technology

TENNIS TECHNOLOGY The rules of tennis have remained unchanged for many years, but the technology and science around the game have undergone radical advancements since its inception. Read on to see how almost every technologlcal aspect of tennis has changed over the last century. MAKE A RACKET 1874 1911 1967 THE FIRST WOODEN METAL The first lawn tennis rackets The first laminated tennis Wilson introduced the first were strung with the outer skin of sheep intestine. The design was registered by Walter C. Wingfield and within a year racket frame was patented by Albert Altman. Less splinters meant for a more pleasant game! commercially successful steel racket, named the T2000. The racket was used by Jimmy Connors when he famously the equipment was being sold won the Wimbledon singles for use in India, Russia, China title in 1974 and 1981. and Canada. The racket was heavy, wooden, and slightly lopsided. 1976 1980 1987 OVERSIZED COMPOSITE WIDEBODY The Prince brand patented These rackets were designed The first 'widebody' racket was introduced by Wilson. The increased beam width allowed for more powerful the first oversized tennis with advanced players in mind. racket. Competitor, Weed USA, was quick to point out that they had introduced the first oversized racket a year earlier - but it was not commercially They were constructed from a stiffer frame material that mixed carbon fibres with a shots by improving the plastic resin. The new material was named 'graphite' and the most famous early racket to use the technology was the Dunlop Max 200G. resistance of the frame against the impact of the ball. successful. The increased size, light weight and huge sweet spot made tennis much easier for amateur players. 2005 NOW ??? AERODYNAMIC CURRENT TRENDS FUTURE Prince unveiled 03 Graphite rackets can last for years without a significant drop in performance. Manufacturers continue to innovate with incremental changes There are a lot of technology in 2005 that promised to improve racket speed. The old pin-sized predictions about how tennis racket technology will progress in the future. string holes were made much larger on the Prince 03 racket. to a variety of different rackets: oversized heads, ultra lightweight frames, and heavy power rackets are all evident in today's designs. A racket by Babolat includes HSBC conducted research and predicted that by 2036 rackets could have hi-tech strings that bruise before breaking. There could also be wireless sensors in the gyroscopes and accelerometers in the handle to collected data on your performance. Power, spin, and the area base of the racket that record the player's swing speed. the ball came into contact with the racket are all recorded and synced to a smartphone. NEW BALLS PLEASE CLOVER-LEAF BALL THE YELLOW BALL In 1972, yellow tennis balls replaced the white design to make it easier for TV cameras to pick them up. In the 1870s, Indian rubber was used to manufacture lawn tennis balls. They were made solely of rubber and covered with flannel stitched Wimbledon stuck with the white tennis balls until around the 'core'. 1986, when they finally made the switch. The Australian Open are supplied with more than 48,000 tennis balls during the tournament. 2002 THE ITF'S RULES OF TENNIS WERE AMENDED TO PERMIT THREE TYPES OF TENNIS BALLS. FAST SPEED MEDIUM SPEED SLOW SPEED This ball is approximatley 6% larger in diameter than the other balls but its weight, Harder, faster and intended This is the traditional ball for use on slow surfaces that is reccomended for the such as clay. The ball flattens typical outdoor hard court. less as it hits the court and felt cover and colour creates less friction. remain unchanged. SURFACES GRASS Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament that still uses grass courts. They are sown with 100 per cent Perennial Ryegrass to improve strength and durability during the game. The soil is kept dry and hard to improve the amount of bounce the ball gets. The grass has been cut to a height of 8mm (since 1995) for optimum present day play and survival. TURF TOP SOIL BINDING LAYER DRAINAGE LAYER FIELD DRAIN PLEXICUSHION 1988 - 2007 The Australian Open was originally played on the notorious Rebound Ace surface. It developed a bad name for its inconsistent bounce and stickiness at especially high temperatures. REINFORCED ACRYLIC COAT SYNTHETIC RUBBER BASE CONCRETE / ASPHALT 2008 Event organisers at the Australian Open implemented Plexicushion technology in 2008. The new surface is softer, breathable, and more durable under heat stress. PLEXI COLOUR LINE PAINT FORTIFIED PLEXIPAVE SURFACE PLEXICUSHION BASE COAT ACRYLIC RESURFACER CONCRETE / ASPHALT CLAY 1956 Gallia Tennis Club in Cannes, France, was the first location in the world to construct a clay tennis court. The courts are considered to be 'slow' as a result of increased bounce from the surface. Today, the French Open Championship at Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam event still played on clay. RED BRICK DUST CLAY SURFACE WHITE LIMESTONE IRON ORE SLAG CRUSHED GRAVEL DRAINAGE LEVEL COURTSIDE RADAR G UNS IBM service speed technology was first implemented at Wimbledon in 1991. The information it recorded was supplied and used by commentators during the games. Two specially designed radar sensors were positioned behind the 186 HPH baseline at both ends of the court. HOW IT WORKS When a player strikes the ball, the radar guns detect the speed and display the information on the courtside screens. The serve data is automatically recorded on IBM's central tournament database. BALL TRACKING TECHNOLOGY 2006 Hawk-Eye is an electric line-calling technology and it was first used at Wimbledon in 2006. It uses multiple cameras to capture the ball as it travels and creates a model of the field of play. The cameras can't capture every movement of the ball's flight path due to frame rate limitations. It therefore predicts the trajectory of the ball between the missed frames. Players are entitled to challenge the Hawk-Eye verdict three times per set, plus an additional call in the event of a tie-break. HOW IT WORKS This process is repeated for each frame to construct the single trajectory that the ball took. Ten cameras are placed around Each camera follows the ball's the court; half are focussed on centre and records Its 2D one side and the other half are position as it moves across the frame. trained on the opposite side. Finally, the trajectory path is used The cameras track the ball's every move, but only five or six of the The system then triangulates to calculate the exact area where the 2D infomation from each the ball bounces. On average. 30% of the calls made against Hawk-Eye by tennis players are I the call is overturned. cameras are needed to track a calibrated camera to provide a 3D position of the ball in the court. shot – it all depends on which direction the player hits the ball. correct NET-CORD SENSOR It may not be the most complicated piece of technology, but the net-cord sensor is an essential part of the court's decision-making technology. The sensor, known as a piezoelectric device, translates vibrations into electrical power. It is attached to the net and helps the referee decide whether to call a serve or not. STAT TRACKING SLAMTRACKERM In 2008 IBM introduced SlamTracker". The technology visualises data and statistics in real-time by leveraging the power of IBM's predictive analytics technology. SLAMTRACKER IBM WIMBLEDON GENTLEMEN's SINGLES - CENTRE COURT - DJOKOVC (I FEDERER (2] CHALLENGESXXX CHALLENGES XXX FOLLOW 1 E EOO MATCH ANALYSE ALL COURTS FEDERER'S DJOKOVICA KEYS TO THE MATCH RETURNS ACES SERVES RETURNS ACES 00-00 Djakovic raties through a leve serice game 1ST SERVE % 34% ACES ACES 1ST SERVE % ACES 34% A-00 Djekevie serves to Murray 15 15 15 A00 Djekevic second ervice 33/44 27/46 33/44 27/46 1ST SERVE X 34% 1ST SERVE % ACES 1ST SERVE X ACES A40 Murmay whips away aszing are-ceurt bekhand 40 Djekevie le retuing te budge out of the driving eet 15 15 33/44 27/46 33/44 27/46 33/44 2746 A-40 Djekevie serves te Murrey KEYS TO THE MATCH In 2012, IBM expanded on the SlamTracker" by incorporating their 'Keys to the Match' technology. By analysing over eight years' worth of historical Grand Slam data (over 41 million data points), the technology able to predict how the match will go and identify patterns in players and their styles. Before each match, the SlamTracker" analyses data on each player and their previous clashes; by looking at key performance indicators such as aces, serve speeds and wins, the technology gives fans a deeper level of insight as the match unfolds. The tech is less about predicting who will win, and more about what a player needs to do to pull forward during the game. More than 140 countries and 1,000 journalists at the Wimbledon Championships rely on the statistical output from the various pieces of technology. SOCIAL SENTIMENT In 2012, a social media analytics element was added to the technology. It allowed fans on Twitter to track the conversation surrounding the players' performance during the match. When this technology was first introduced there was a marked 205% increase to Twitter from Wimbeldon.com. IBM's Content Analytics also recorded over 100 Wimbledon-related tweets per minute during the men's final. Djokovic has saved three 205% Increase There have now to Twitter from Wimbeldon.com been four deuces in the fourth set points in this set Murray to serve for the match Well done Andy! Well done Andy! Well done Andy! Murray get 77% of his service returns in the 2nd set!! related tweets per minute YES YES YES! 100 Wimbledon Amazing! SECONDSIGHT In 2012, IBM showcased SecondSight. This technology goes beyond analysing the tennis ball by tracking direction, speed and distance of the actual players as they move about the court. SecondSight COURT 22 LIVE adv >> MURRAY SERVING ANDY MURRAY NOVAK DJOKOVIC Tools Last Point This Game Set One IBM THE FUTURE IBM RETURNSERVE Fans at the Australian Open in 2014 were able to trial an exciting plece of technology. Visitors stepped into a virtual reality tennis court using the power of the Oculus Rift headset. They were handed a specifically- designed motion-sensitive tennis racket and were challenged to return a virtual serve from the best tennis players on earth. REFERENCES www.ltftennis.com http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetalls/originalDocument?CC=GB&NR=191011776&KC=&FT=E http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/about_oeltc/index.html http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/ http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/event_gulde/tourmament_facts.html http://www.hawkeyelnnovations.co.uk/page/sports-officiating/tennis http://www.visualperformanceanalysIs.com/sports-blogs/hawk-eye-wimbledon/ http://www.reboundace.com.au#distributors http://www.constantiatennisclub.coza/court-construction.html http://www-05.lbm.com//nnovation/uk/wimbledon/index.html http://www-07.lbm.com/nnovation/au/ausopen/serve.html