There’s a new kid on court that is designed to up your game
When we first hear about a new ‘smart’ tennis racket – with sensors in the handle to measure performance – we think it’s a gimmick.
However, five minutes into our game we forget we have a sensory device in our hands as the Babolat Play Pure Drive feels like a normal racket.
The racket links to Android and iOS devices through the Babolat Play app, so we sync it with our iPhone to see how good (or bad) we are. This also gives us the chance to share our progress on social media channels such as Facebook.
The data is in-depth and varied. The racket logs the power in our swing and technique, including the spin on our shot and the amount of strokes we hit for forehand and backhand.
The balance and weight suits us, something we thought might differ due to the tech inside. It may however be too heavy for some players at over 300g.
The best feature is the insightful technology. We like how, when using the app, the face of the racket is split into five sections telling us where we hit the ball the most, or ‘impact location’ as the app calls it: we can tell you, it wasn’t the middle. We hit off-centre 30 per cent of the time, reducing the potential power of each shot – how un-Nadal of us.
Talking of Nadal, the app allows us to compare our progress against the likes of the Spaniard, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Julien Benneteau.
Our verdict? This racket gives us the chance to see stats that could help us improve – so we now know we need to focus more on stroke technique than power.
AED 1,690 from Sun & Sand Sports, Marina Mall. Contact: 02 681 8332 www.sunandsandsports.com
Jack Dignum
