In the context of sport performance measurement usually used with heavy and high-tech equipment, we decided to create the ultimate connected tool for the tennis player: a racket that provided data that no coaches and players could see; what was happening on ball impact on the racket head and an interface with guidance to improve their games.

We created a unique R&D team with Babolat to bring the product to life. Babolat engineers were focusing on the racket hardware and our developers, UX designers and data scientists, were focusing to create the best algorithm and experience to determine all the strokes with accuracy.

The product was released in the US market in December 2013.

The product is a total innovation. As some competitors were investigating to create plugs that can be added to a tennis racket. We decided to create a racket with the same weight and balance of a high-end one to give to the player a perfect playing experience. The racket embeds 3 sensors : an accelerometer + a gyroscope for motion analysis + a piezo microphone to analyse the impact of the ball on the racket.

We created a unique evolving measurement system, an interface that reflects the Babolat brands DNA “Tennis runs in our Blood”. A social, shareable beating ‘Pulse’ (metaphor of the heart) that beats according to frequency of game play and changes its color and size according to the progress players are making. The product signature for the Babolat Play racket is ‘Take the pulse of your game’.

We want to change the way people will play tennis in the future. Players, coaches, clubs and tournaments should definitely adopt this innovation in order to propel this game to its next level: connected tennis.