High Tech Training

Inconspicuously tucked away on a back court at the Rick Macci Tennis Center in Boca Raton, Florida is the most advanced applied research and training court in the world – by far. We are pleased to offer the developmental power of this court to visiting players (and their coaches) through our High Tech Training Sessions.

TCPR recently added to it’s tool arsenal by acquiring state-of-the-art motion capture technology to assess and improve stroke and movement biomechanics. The technology, combined with unparalleled expertise in sport science driven player development, provides an excellent opportunity to experience the future of tennis player development.

The next section describes the training sessions. The following sections explain more about biomechanics and the technology for those not familiar with the concepts.

Tennis player development has been notoriously low tech relative to most sports. TCPR continues the quest to raise the bar through research and creation of sophisticated approaches to developing tennis athletes.

Toward that end, players (and coaches) are offered a unique opportunity to utilize the highest level application in the world. Ninety minute sessions will focus on a single stroke (and associated movement) and include:

• 3D Motion Capture – The stroke hit under variable conditions (dead ball and/or live ball) will be recorded and converted to the 3D representation of the skeletal structure.
• Result Analysis – Dr. Gordon will immediately analyze the stroke data using Simi and TCPR software to determine where intervention should be applied.
• Solutions On Court – The player will then be taken through drills and protocols based on our vast experience in using science to build tennis mechanics on court.

Biomechanics is a term thrown around loosely in the current player development realm by coaches and presenters – sounds impressive. The problem is that Biomechanics is a scientific discipline requiring the most advanced of academic training and very complex data collection technology. In general it applies the laws of classical mechanics to better understand athletic performance and injury mechanisms.

Biomechanics typically utilizes motion capture technology to compute a three dimensional (3D) mapping of a subject’s anatomical structure during a motion. This is VERY different from standard video or observation because the subject’s skeletal structure is quantified. This information may then be used to compute the kinematic (descriptives: location, velocity, acceleration) attributes and indirectly compute the kinetic (causes: force and torque) attributes – the physics.

The primary data acquisition tool of Biomechanics is 3D motion capture. Research grade systems are very sophisticated (and expensive) instruments. They are also difficult to operate so the systems are quite rare in training settings and non-existent in tennis training. Dr. Gordon has uniquely been using 3D motion capture in player development since 2005.

The systems typically use multiple synchronized cameras to record the motion, then a computer mathematically combines the recordings to produce a 3D skeletal reconstruction of the motion. 3D systems commonly require subjects to be fitted with anatomical markers (for calculation of skeletal structure) during recording which severely interferes with performance. The TCPR system avoids this complication by using the latest technology which allows capture without markers.

The TCPR system (Simi Motion Reality Systems, Munich) utilizes eight synchronized video cameras recording at 200 frames/second. 3D skeletal reconstruction is produced within seconds of the motion recording. This makes the data immediately available for analysis and intervention. While the TCPR system is primarily for research, players and coaches are invited to learn and train with this gold standard of development on court.

Motion Capture with markers

Motion Capture with NO markers

The scientific data produced by a research grade motion capture system and the subsequent computations are incredibly powerful to developing strokes and movement. No other medium or information source comes even close. The data however can also be mind numbing and meaningless to players due to the complexity of the information.

Therefore the link between the science and it’s implementation in development is the critical step to realizing the benefits from such a sophisticated scientific application. That has been the specialty of TCPR for a very long time. Through extensive research and vast experience in player development Dr. Gordon has perfected identifying and isolating the important technical information and translating it to tangible on court improvement.

What does it mean?