Game Changer: SportAI uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence to improve performance

Whether writing emails, summarizing complex subjects, planning a trip, or posing as a terrifying dystopian villain, artificial intelligence has become a real part of everyday life. Now it can even help you pick out a new racquet and hit a better forehand.

Founded in 2023 and based in Oslo, Norway, SportAI is a technology company specializing in AI-powered technique evaluation in racquet sports. Using tools like computer vision, machine learning, and biometric analysis, its app can examine a player’s swing and offer real-time detailed feedback without the need for expensive or specialized devices. You can record a video of your strokes in action and get insights on execution, including timing, movement efficiency, and power generation. Or compare your stroke against professionals to identify key areas of improvement.

“This technology means that anyone could compare their serve against Serena or their backhand against Djokovic,” says Lauren Pedersen, SportAI’s CEO. “It’s an incredible tool for both recreational players and professionals, giving insights that might otherwise go unnoticed.”

Pedersen grew up playing in New Zealand before accepting a scholarship to play NCAA Division I tennis at American University in Washington, DC. Her experience with the challenges athletes in more remote areas often face in accessing high-quality coaching and training resources underpins SportAI’s mission to ease access to quality data-driven analysis. The features are designed to benefit players across the playing spectrum, from beginners aiming to refine their fundamentals to seasoned players seeking a competitive edge.

“Using SportAI tech has been an eye-opening experience for me as a player,” says Pedersen, who still competes regularly and recently represented Norway at the ITF Masters World Championships. “For instance, I discovered that my hip rotation during groundstrokes isn’t as strong as it should be. This weakness not only limits the power I generate but also puts unnecessary strain on my arm. By working on rotating my core more effectively, I’ve been able to distribute the workload more efficiently across my body and improve the power in my shots.”

Another area SportAI can aid players is through personalized equipment recommendations. Sports, such as golf, have long used metrics to properly match equipment to players. Tennis players have traditionally relied more on feel and perception rather than performance numbers. Or, worse yet, use what their friends, coaches or favorite pros play with. By analyzing angle of attack, swing speed and other stroke markers, SportAI can suggest racquets and strings—even string tension—that are appropriate fits for an individual’s game.

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At the moment, SportAI is solely a business-to-business operation. So you can’t get it at the App Store or Google Play. It licenses access to its software through participating partners, and is looking to reach its audience through coaching associations, training academies, retailers, brands and broadcast media.

For instance, one of its first partnerships is with MATCHi, a fast-growing global court-booking and match-pairing platform for racquet sports. The clubs supporting MATCHi have cameras mounted at the back of their courts. Players will be able to access SportAI’s analysis directly through the MATCHi app using video from the cameras across their network of clubs worldwide.

“The analysis of my playing style helped me make better-informed decisions, which have given me more confidence in my racquets and my game,” says Pedersen. “These experiences have deepened my confidence that SportAI can complement human coaching to create a new, better way of analyzing sports technique.”