PadelCourt app offers live scores, video highlights and coaching tips

An app being developed by PadelCourt will enable players to film their matches on a mobile phone to get automatic live scores, coaching and performance insights and match highlights.

PadelCourt have had a team of 16 A.I. (artificial intelligence) and machine vision experts working on the app for over a year in Italy, India and Slovenia. 

The app uses machine vision technology to detect all four players’ movements and track the ball. It keeps score and suggests gameplay improvements once the match is over.  

The machine vision tracks a mocap (motion capture) skeleton of each player to determine where they are on the court and what type of shots they’re playing. 

Each phone sends motion capture data in real-time to the cloud, where all the data is combined into a single 3D representation of the game, which in turn gets analysed for scorekeeping, best points and fun moments, and gameplay improvements tips. 

All players need to do is put their phones on glass walls using a car phone holder. 

“The goal is to help players improve their game, make it easy to share their success, and popularise the sport,” PadelCourt CEO Bostjan Troha-Karo told The Padel Paper. 

“Using machine learning, PadelCourt will suggest improvements explicitly tailored to each player, much like a personal coach would do, except for a fraction of the cost and every time they play.” 

The PadelCourt smartwatch companion app will let customers share their match highlights while they play. Video clips will be created instantly and players will be notified to share the clip on social media. 

The recommendation engine will use match data to suggest improvements for the client and their partner. The app will also enable users to access dozens of structured padel coaching courses created by licensed padel coaches. 

PadelApp is free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It comes with full A.I. functionality, but with an initially limited number of recordings, analysis videos and tailored hints and tips. 

The paid tier will allow players to create their own teams and clubs, organise tournaments, and have the full gamification feature with progression, points, leaderboards and badges. The one-year subscription will be £43.99 or €49.99. 

Development of the app is being funded by Ecover Srl, a leading global developer of padel cover systems, as well as investment from the Slovenian Entrepreneurial Fund. 

Also in development is an object recognition module for capturing big data for sports equipment manufacturers. PadelCourt will recognise equipment that the customers are using with sufficient accuracy to suggest upgrades (e.g. rackets), replacements (e.g. balls and shoes) and recommend new purchases (e.g. new arrivals and models).