Tag Archives: data

Paul Annacone Web Series

Paul Annacone is a former professional tennis player and former coach of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. He appears regularly as an analysis for the Tennis Channel. He’s also an advocate and spokesperson for PlaySight. PlaySight is a tennis technology company that delivers everything a player needs to get better at their game. The system uses high definition video from cameras mounted strategically all over a court coupled with cloud storage and an on-court kiosk. The software breaks down serve speed, percentage of forehands or backhands in, it calls lines, does instant replays, shows footage in slow-motion etc. It’s an incredible amount of data and analytics too. Tennis is a sport that lacked a use of data for a long time. Baseball had Moneyball back in the mid 2000s. Tennis is catching up due in large part to PlaySight’s tech.

The video below is part of a series of ten tips with Paul. Paul works with two recent University of Southern California graduates on their game. He analyzes and instructs while they are in action, then he follows through at the kiosk bringing PlaySight’s observations into the mix.

The Finishing Touches

IBM is a sponsor of The Championships. The IBMers on location taught and showed me the data that 1.5 minutes is as long as a video for social media can be. The drop-off rate is significant once you pass 1.5min. I was schooled in this info because of the below piece. I made a simple piece showing all of the preparation that goes into getting the grounds pristine and ready. IBM instructed me to cut about a minute from the piece. Honestly the shorter piece is stronger, uses better clips etc. Sometimes it’s good to have an editor for the video editor. But here’s the original so at least someone gets to see it!