For Tennis Parents by a Tennis Parent

The following was written by Harsh Mankad, co-founder of Tenicity, and reprinted with permission.

At Tenicity, we deeply understand that technology by itself has limitations. However, leveraging technology to generate insights and to enhance human communication and collaboration is powerful from a player development standpoint.

Currently, we are in an interesting phase in the tennis industry as new technologies around video analysis, data analytics, and sensors in various types of equipment enter the landscape. My feeling about the sophisticated systems such as smart courts is that from the volumes and volumes of video footage and statistics that they generate, eventually, given that most players typically focus and work on 2-3 things at any given time, most of that information will need to be distilled down anyway. Furthermore, unless one has a simple and systematic way to track the most relevant performance data, all the analysis simply gets lost over time. Therefore, a platform like Tenicity that effectively tracks key information related to the player’s development is a great compliment to a sophisticated system.

For those that don’t have deep pockets for sophisticated video analysis systems, there is nothing to worry about from a competitive advantage standpoint. Use a simple yet powerful platform like Tenicity for a fraction of the cost and achieve outstanding results. As an example, If I am a coach working with a player and I have identified improving his serve as a key area of focus over the next 3 months, using Tenicity, I can quickly create a template to track his performance on 5 simple metrics such as his 1st serve %, number of aces, number of double faults, service games won %, and number of free points won on serve. Furthermore, over time, I can create performance charts that enable me to view trends and to generate insights, all of which is extremely valuable for me to assess my player’s development. In comparison, all the additional data that a sophisticated system would provide me with is ‘peripheral’ from a coaching and player development standpoint.

Therefore, a sophisticated video analysis system is by itself not a game-changer. The engine of a car by itself if not going to take you anywhere. That engine combined with other pieces of equipment, all put together resulting in a car is what eventually will take you from point A to point B. We at Tenicity, deeply understood this concept from the very beginning and therefore, we built the car and not just its component parts. Tenicity brings together the key aspects that go into player development all in one easy-to-use web and mobile platform.

I invite coaches, players, and parents to check out Tenicity at www.tenicity.com and connect with me. You will find Tenicity to be a very effective platform for player development. It combines the human element with technology in a way that no other platform or product does. Lastly, whether you have access to a sophisticated and costly system such as a smart court or not will not be so important because you will generate high quality insights and foster great teamwork using Tenicity.