Table of Contents
This article will take a look at the popular Head tennis sensor, and help you identify if its a tool that you should consider when looking to sharpen your tennis game.
HEAD is a well-known manufacturer of high-quality sporting equipment, including tennis gear. Their rackets, like the Graphene Touch Radical Pro, are designed for professional and experienced players who expect nothing but the best from their equipment.
To create the best suitable tracker for their tennis rackets, HEAD teamed up with ZEPP, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of sports IMU sensors. The result of their cooperation is one of the best tennis sensors on the market – The HEAD tennis sensor.
It’s a perfect accessory that has a lot to contribute to your tennis game, allowing you to analyze your play, and improve your performance. This bottom-mounted tennis sensor replaces the caps of all compatible HEAD tennis rackets and provides valuable data and a plethora of other useful features.
In this article, we’ll discuss the performance and features of the HEAD tennis sensor, and how it measures up to the high expectations of experienced players.
- The performance tracking Head Zepp Tennis Sensor comes with technology components to help you learn more about and improve your tennis game.
- Tennis Sensor With Latest Bluetooth Standard
- Water Repellent Tennis Sensor
- Tennis Sensor With Smart On/Off Technology
- Spec neutral* & integrated 7gr / 0.25 oz & interchangeable
Setting Up:
This ITF-approved tennis sensor comes in a cleanly-designed box featuring a shot of Novak Djokovic on the front. Inside the box, besides the IMU tracker itself, is the HEAD key, a power cord with a magnetic connector, and a quick start guide with instruction. But before you install the sensor onto your racket, we suggest that you download the HEAD tennis sensor app from the App Store or Google Play.
Installing the sensor is pretty straightforward and seamless, simply replace the end-cap of your racket with the device, using the provided HEAD key. Besides providing easy installation, this design feature also allows you to switch the device from one racket to another in no time. It also provides no additional flush, as it sits perfectly in place where the end-cap of your racket was.
The HEAD tennis sensor is among the first of removable sensors that adds no weight difference, weighing the same as the end-cap it replaces. In other words, it only tracks your game, without affecting your shots, or the feeling and performance of your racket. You wouldn’t even know it’s there if it weren’t for the green LED indicator that lets you see the device is working.
Before you connect the tennis device to its accompanying app, you should charge it first. The battery charges via a magnetic charger included with the device. Simply attach it to the sensor and wait for the LED to turn green. Fully-charged, the battery will provide you with over five hours of playtime and data collection.
Once the battery is charged, connect the sensor to the app via Bluetooth, select the type of your racket, choose a playing hand, and go onto the tennis court. You can use the app’s QR scanner to scan the code imprinted on the racket; it will automatically add it for you.
Features and Performance:
The device has no On/Off button or a switch, and powers on by shaking the racket gently while it’s in the upright position. Every slight movement and rotation of the end-cap sensor will keep in powered up, until its horizontally rested. To preserve battery power, the sensor will power down once the racket is rested in the horizontal position for a while.
This feature has one downside, as it may drain your battery faster if you carry your racket upright in your bag. Otherwise, it’s quite fun to use, as it allows you to immediately connect to the app, with a single shake of your hand. Switching the sensor on will prompt you to choose one of four tracking modes pre-loaded into the app.
The first mode presented within the app is the “PLAY” mode, which basically records your play sessions until their very end. It stores them within the app for post-match analysis, acting as somewhat of a quick-record function.
“TRAIN” mode is a learning center, providing you with recommended courses and several different exercises off all the baseline shots. Each exercise contains instructional videos and images, allowing players of every skill-level to benefit from these training sessions.
“COMPETE” offers usual tracking options, like the “PLAY” mode, while counting your points via a game tracker. This allows you to analyze your tennis match once it’s over and compare your data against your opponent.
The last mode is the “PRACTICE SERVE,” which allows players to do just that – practice their serves. This model features a 3D motion swing analysis that will enable you to see the movement of your arm during the serve. It covers every movement, including ball toss and impact. It also shows impact location on the racket, showing you where the ball was impacting during shots.
Performance-wise, the sensor starts collecting data automatically, as soon as the racket moves on any axis. It will count all your shots and categorize them into forehands, backhands, smashes, serves, and volleys, displaying topspin, drive and slice metrics for each shot. The display of the collected data is incredibly extensive and extremely detailed.
It also displays more specific data, like your averages, maximum balls speed, sweet-spot percentage, and your hit accuracy and effectiveness. You can further analyze the data, and improve your game upon the data you collected.
The good:
- Replaces the end-cap perfectly
- Doesn’t affect your racket, or you play
- Four different modes
- 3D serve analysis
- Water-repellent
The Bad:
- Works only with HEAD rackets
Final Verdict:
Overall, the HEAD tennis sensor is a good-quality product, best-suited for ambitious and aspiring tennis players. It’s spec neutral and doesn’t change the feel of your racket in any way – but knowing it’s there might inspire you to focus.
With its four tracking modes, 3D analysis, and extensively detailed data display, analyzing data from the HEAD tennis sensor will significantly improve your overall game. Unfortunately, it’s designed exclusively for HEAD rackets, preventing its use on other brands of tennis rackets.
Still, if you’re looking to improve in the long-term, and grow into a professional-level player, using a tennis sensor is a must. And if you’re using a HEAD racket, we suggest you pair it with a HEAD tennis sensor.
- The performance tracking Head Zepp Tennis Sensor comes with technology components to help you learn more about and improve your tennis game.
- Tennis Sensor With Latest Bluetooth Standard
- Water Repellent Tennis Sensor
- Tennis Sensor With Smart On/Off Technology
- Spec neutral* & integrated 7gr / 0.25 oz & interchangeable
Recommended Reading: