The less a tennis player thinks, the better, right? Sense Arena's new VR training program has other ideas - Tennis Magazine

For overmuch of the past year, Jennifer Brady’s injured near ft kept her disconnected the circuit and distant from the signifier courts. Fortunately, the 2021 Australian Open runner-up was steadfast capable to marque it to her garage.

That’s wherever Brady would enactment connected a VR headset, prime up haptic racquet, and, arsenic she says, “remind myself that I’m a tennis player.” The courts she played on, and the opponents she faced, were virtual. But squaring disconnected against them for fractional an hr each time helped her sharpen galore skills—from her reflexes to her anticipation to her determination making—that different would person languished during her clip connected the sidelines.

Brady is 1 of a fistful of early-adopter pros who person embraced the VR tennis-training programme launched earlier this period by Sense Arena. The company, which has offices successful the U.S., Canada and the Czech Republic, is known for helping hockey players hone their games. Now it hopes to bash thing akin for tennis players.

“If you privation to find ways to situation yourself, determination are tons of hidden gems” among Sense Arena's intelligence drills, says Jennifer Brady.

Specifically, Sense Arena hopes to hone our minds. For astir of us, “mental training” means occasionally urging ourselves to “focus!” oregon “relax” earlier an important point. Sense Arena’s VR drills are meant to get america to actively make and refine our cognitive skills, the aforesaid mode we bash with our serves and crushed strokes.

“We’re not focused connected technique, arsenic overmuch arsenic attraction and anticipation,” says laminitis and CEO Bob Tetiva.

“The intelligence facet of the athletics has been neglected,” believes Yannick Yoshizava, the company’s VP of Tennis. “All of our drills person a cognitive facet to them.”

Like different VR products, Sense Arena’s offers an immersive situation that’s designed to marque you consciousness similar you’re astatine the halfway of a stadium, playing against an hostile connected a regulation-size court. For $199, you tin besides acquisition a haptic racquet that allows you to usage your mean grip and swing.

“It’s not similar Wii,” Brady says. “It feels personalized. You tin usage antithetic spins and alteration surfaces.”

It’s also, she says, “not meant to beryllium played for hours connected end.” Sense Arena is speedy to accidental that their VR products are meant to beryllium tools alternatively than games.

What volition you find erstwhile you participate this virtual tennis world? To get there, you’ll request a Meta Quest 2 headset, which presently goes for $399 astatine Amazon and Best Buy. The company’s basal programme comes with 7 drills, for a one-time outgo of $49. More precocious versions connection 35 drills, for a monthly interest of either $33 oregon $25. Most of the drills are performed connected a virtual court, but others, done “off court,” bid basal cognitive functions similar cognition and recognition. You tin vie with and against friends, consult a coach, play indoors oregon outdoors, and adjacent marque it rain.

“We consulted with high-level players, coaches, and neuroscience professors to make the drills we have,” Yoshizava says.

Some of the exercises, wherever you signifier hitting reflex volleys, transitioning to net, and making passing shots nether pressure, mimic classic-on tribunal grooming methods. Others thatch you to work your opponent’s movements arsenic you swing.

Linda Fruhvirtova, who astatine 17 cracked the Top 75 this season, uses a haptic racquet arsenic portion of her Sense Arena experience.

More esoteric drills inquire you to bash mathematics problems arsenic you play. In one, an equation appears down your opponent; your occupation is to lick it and past deed the shot into a portion that contains the close answer. In different drill, you’re tasked with memorizing a fig that appears astatine the backmost of the court; aft you advancement to the net, your occupation is to volley the shot into an country with that fig successful it.

What does mathematics person to bash with tennis? Haven’t we ever been taught to wide our minds and deliberation arsenic small arsenic imaginable erstwhile we’re connected court? Yoshizava says these drills assistance america grip a assortment of intelligence functions simultaneously.

“In tennis, each point, each shot, you’re solving a occupation with aggregate tasks astatine the aforesaid time,” helium says. “The subordinate has to analyse aggregate variables, similar the opponent’s position, the shot speed, shot spin, strategy, etc.”

According to Yoshizava, the mathematics drills bid your encephalon to process that information, portion besides continuing to way the shot and ticker your opponent.

This benignant of grooming “takes time,” helium says, but Sense Arena’s hockey players person seen results; goalies who person utilized VR showed a 10 to 15 percent betterment successful their absorption times, according to Yoshizava.

Will we spot thing similar that successful tennis? So acold Brady, Jack Sock, Liudmila Samsonova, Marie Bouzkova, and Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova person made VR portion of their regimens. Martina Navratilova is simply a subordinate of Sense Arena’s advisory board.

During her downtime, Brady, who hopes to instrumentality to the circuit successful January, has utilized her VR sessions to enactment connected her peripheral vision, and her quality to consciousness her opponent’s question arsenic she’s getting acceptable to deed the ball. She likes doing the mathematics problems, too.

“If you privation to find ways to situation yourself, determination are tons of hidden gems” among the drills, Brady says.

As Brady has shown, VR besides offers freedom. If you’re injured, oregon you can’t find a tribunal oregon an opponent, oregon if your section installation has been overrun by pickleball players, it’s nary longer a problem. You tin inactive get better, close successful the comfortableness of your ain garage.