Tennis Technology and Training
The “Cone Game” is one of my favorite tennis practice drills. It is a great development tool because it gets the players into an Zen-like focus that is still layered with the pressure of competition. I recently used the SwingVision during a practice session that included the Cone Game and was very happy with the results. I continue to be completely enamored with the SwingVision application and service.
“The Tennis Cone Game” was fully described in a post last February. That article included the observation that the Cone Game is good for situations where there might be a disparity between the level of shot control between the participants. The player with higher accuracy will be required to play shots from more varied positions. It is a great equalizer.
The following description is also adapted from that post that reflects my personal experience in that regard.
When I play the cone game with the Trophy Husband, the majority of the balls I hit land in a tight circular pattern around my target cone. However, hitting the cone eludes me.
Meanwhile, the Trophy Husband scatters balls all over the court, the adjacent court, the fence… in a pattern so random and wide that at times I stop the game to inquire if he is actually aiming at the target. Consequently, I wind up running all over the court, adjacent court, and up into the bleachers to sustain the cooperative rally. Meanwhile he plays all his balls from a semi-stationary position behind my target cone.
And then… on that rare occasion when his ball comes anywhere near the proximity of the cone… IT KNOCKS IT OVER. Every… damn… time… He wins this game at a disproportionately high percentage. It’s maddening.
With SwingVision we can definitively test the veracity of that claim.
 | According to SwingVision, the point in the video clip I selected was our longest rally of the session. The “heat map” reflects that the Trophy Husband’s shots were landing in a wider scatter pattern than mine. |
Just looking at the heat map, it might be tempting to assert that The Trophy Husband’s shots are not as widely distributed as I generally claim. I would counter with the observation that SwingVision doesn’t record balls that miss the court by more than a meter. For example, in this rally I hit a couple of volleys from behind the baseline to keep the ball in play.
It is a happy coincidence that our longest rally culminated with me hitting one of the cones. It was a rare and random victory that also illustrates how the Trophy Husband wins the game at a maddeningly high rate. Despite the wide scatter pattern, he almost hit a cone multiple times during the rally.
Had that occurred, the clip would have ended with a close up demonstration of the official ending to the drill. It is not when the cone is knocked down, but rather when the losing player swats the offending cone away. In fact, if you pay close attention to the end of the clip, you can see the Trophy Husband execute that precise shot.
 | Fiend at Court readers get a 30 day free trial of SwingVision when you sign up through this link. The “Holiday Sale” link on that page makes it super easy to give a one year of the “Pro” level subscription as a Christmas gift. |
 | Franklin Sports Plastic Soccer Cones – Flexible Orange Cones These are the style of cones that I recommend for this drill. It is appropriately sized target, collapsible in case they are stepped on, and somewhat wind resistant. |
 | Net/Chain Link Fence Mount Compatible Action Cameras Smart Phones If you decide to use SwingVision with your phone, you are going to want to have a flexible mount for positioning the camera that also protects it from wayward shots. This is the one that I use. |
Love how you write this!