Six tips to utilize technology to improve your child's performance

#1 - The technology and tools you use—and what you use them for—can be as simple or complicated as you’d like.

There is a wide variety of various apps, tools and technologies that you, your child and their coach can use in order to enhance performance on—and off—the court. One of the most popular and accessible ways to do so is by using your smartphone or an iPad to take videos of practice or matches to analyze technique. The most important thing is that whatever camera you’re using can take high-speed videos at 240 frames per second, in order to actually see where and when the ball makes contact with the strings each time.

Several apps allow for video review and marking video, such as Dartfish, OnForm, and sevensix tennis, and they can be immensely helpful to break down strokes, narrate over the video and determine what could be done better next time. SwingVision, GottaTennis and 7 Shot Tennis all provide match analysis at various costs, and SwingVision allows you to sync heart rate data as well.

#2 - You don’t need expensive equipment or apps for effective video review or analysis, especially if your child is young.

For younger athletes or those who aren’t devoting everything to tennis, don’t feel like you need to purchase expensive equipment that won’t be used again. Simple video review, or using an app that their coach can draw on or narrate over, is a great tool, as many kids are visual learners and watching those videos and mimicking what they see will help them receive and utilize technical feedback. With anything more complicated, parents and coaches should be involved to introduce the platforms, determine what’s important and distill the information.

When it comes to wearable technology, Ramos recommends heart rate monitors and similar tools once they spend as many hours on court a week as they are years old, so 12 hours a week if they’re 12 years old. If they’re spending that much time training, you’ll want to learn more about fitness levels, especially once they reach their teens.

#3 - Learn what metrics are important or useful for your child.

There are so many factors that you can track or measure, from sleep and nutrition to heart rate and acceleration rate, as well as the ways they hit the ball or how often their serve hits the back corner of the box. Depending on your athlete’s skill level, age and time training, there are certain metrics that are more important than others. Speak to their coach, and ask what they suggest tracking and measuring.

They may say that fitness, sleep and nutrition are the most important, while others might recommend match analysis if practice and drills go well but your child struggles to perform their best in matches. Combining video and wearables can be a great way to tell if practices and drills are effectively preparing your child for matches. What drills spiked your child’s heart rate and pushed them physically? Does their heart rate typically stay the same throughout practice, but then is much higher during matches? If so, it might be time to reassess practice strategies to make sure they’re in shape and prepared for tournaments.

#5 - Don’t underestimate the importance of recovery.

While one of the most important things people track is activity, don’t forget about recovery. Many wearables show that you can’t just walk off the court and return the next day to play again. Depending on the day’s workout, it’s important to massage, foam roll, or ice a specific muscle or injury if necessary. Some will even show recovery scores and what level you can perform at that day depending on sleep and resting heart rate compared to activity levels.

#6 - Collecting meaningful data takes time, so don’t try to find trends for at least a few weeks when first using trackers and other technology.

You and your child might want to jump right in and start analyzing data and devising new practice and fitness routines right after you start tracking heart rate and recovery and doing video analysis.