As we all know, automated, electronic line-calling has been a part of the professional tennis tours for years. It’s not working perfect, and not everyone likes it, but it has surely solved a lot of issues for the professional matches. However these solutions have never been available for lower leagues or junior/amateur tennis matches.
The California based company Swingvision is making a serious attempt of getting fair line calls for all players with their Live Line Calls with real-time audio feedback.
The Swingvision app is a popular choice of many players as they use AI to provide detailed match stats and highlights, all from an iPhone or other smartphone. Their latest addition to the app is the line-calling, which they’ve been working on for a long time in order to refine the accuracy. As of now they get 97% of the calls correct (within 10 centimeters of line) which is far better than the human eye.
Want to try the app? Get a free swingstick with your subscription of Swingvision Pro here. Make sure to also read our review on Swingvision where we also talked to head of business development Nikhil Jayashankar about their products. We also had CEO and founder Swupnil Sahai on the podcast.
How does it work?
In the tests by Swingvision, they have mounted an iPhone on the fence behind one of the baselines, to record the match. That phone will communicate with an iPad on a tripod positioned at the net post.
The players then have three incorrect challenges per set. When one of the players are doubting an out call for example, they can challenge the call and both players can view the animation on the iPad, in order to confirm the correct call.
Swingvision and USTA tests
SwingVision teamed up with the Southern California part of the USTA to test the new electronic line-calling system at four different tournaments, played at four different sites, using the above methods.
Maria Goldberg, Director of Competition at the USTA SoCal was impressed with the system and commented;
“Electronic line-calling brings honor back to the game. You can walk away from the match and feel that you got beat instead of cheated. It’s definitely a game-changer for tennis.”
Overall the tests went very well and everyone involved reported an overall calmer atmosphere both among players, coaches and fans, with less anxiety and doubt over possible cheating or missed points.
Peter Smith, the general manager of the Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills, said it made a huge difference at their competitions. Instead of players arguing, they’ve seen opponents corrected by Swingvision and instead apologised.
Difficult to use?
According to Swingvision, the system is not difficult at all to use, but staff is needed to maintain it during play. There might also be need for extra batteries, wifi and similar technological aspects. With just one camera, there are some limitations and the tests showed that in a few shots, the system was unable to make the call.
It’s clear that even though it’s working well at the time, further improvements are needed and we will surely see this happening. In 2025 Swingvision will also try to test the line calling system at ITF events.
It will be interesting to see the advancements of the Swingvision live calling system. I think for now we need to appreciate the improvements and not look for perfection, as this is a very inexpensive system that creates an interesting alternative even for amateur tennis matches.
‘Have you tried Swingvision? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.
