Since I can remember, tennis was my favourite sport. It combines everything that I love: the entertainment and relentless work. Although many hours spent on trainings helped me improve my technique, I always had a feeling that there is no good way to practice my smashes. I often didn’t have anyone good enough to play with and the ball machine was never the best substitute. You might find it silly but it’s a big problem for me and I guess that for every tennis player.

Recently I came across a very interesting project created by the group “Virgin Active” called Drone-ovic, that might be a solution to my problems. This is the first tennis training drone (if not the first sport training drone) made with a purpose of dropping balls from above from any height or angle. If you look closely at the video below, you’ll notice a thin, plastic line from which the ball is suspended.  Thanks to this, you can practice swings and smashes easily.

As developers says ‘by dropping tennis balls from high and unexpected angles it keeps members on their toes and improves technique and agility.’  For now, this is limited to only one ball, but with such a rapid development of technology, I suppose that this limitation will not last long. Furthermore, the device has a built-in 4k camera which allows you to watch again your moves and improve your technique. At this moment, a drone is available and being trialled on court at the firm’s Northwood Collection Club in UK. Cool!