The Rise of Pickleball Analytics How One Founder is Tracking the Fastest Growing Sport in America
Pickleball, the paddle sport that has exploded in popularity across the country, now has its own analytics platform aiming to take players' games to the next level. Pickleball Vision, founded by Mike Arney, is using computer vision and machine learning to track balls, players, courts, shots and more to generate performance reports for competitive players.
"It’s—I know it’s maybe a little bit outside of your normal talking points but should be maybe a really interesting real world use case to chat about a bit," said Arney about bringing analytics to the fledgling sport of pickleball.
Arney got the idea to start Pickleball Vision (PB Vision) after getting "addicted" to playing pickleball during some downtime last year. With a background in UX/UI design, Arney was intrigued by the potential of using data visualization and analytics to help pickleball players analyze and improve their performance.
"I kind of started to think about, well, okay, how can I combine these skillsets right into something that allows me to learn about AI, computer vision, machine learning, whatever term we want to use," explained Arney about the genesis of the idea.
After doing some initial research and discovering similar types of analytics platforms being used in tennis, Arney began experimenting with computer vision using Google's Vertex AI platform.
"It had, like I said, a clunky, but it was enough to at least give me the confidence to put a little bit more momentum towards the project," said Arney about using Vertex AI to build a proof of concept.
Once Arney had a basic working prototype, he began sharing it with members of the pickleball community on platforms like Reddit to get their feedback. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
"People were really interested in the output that we were getting, even from like a proof-of-concept stage," remarked Arney. "And then I discovered it had some legs and decided to just kind of continue with this experiment, and turn it into something a little bit more real. And we are, we are still making it real. That’s our goal right now."
Today, PB Vision uses computer vision to track balls, players, courts, shots and more during recorded pickleball matches. It then compiles analytical reports that players can use to evaluate and improve different aspects of their game.
"Not only re-watch their film, but have some data points to let’s say digest the downtimes or after actions that they can make improvements for the next time," said Arney about the value proposition for competitive players.
Bringing his background in UX/UI design, Arney has focused on building an easy-to-use interface for players to upload videos and access performance reports. Users can view trends over time as well as dive into the analytics from individual matches.
"That that’s the big idea, right? And that’s still there, obviously lots of details change, but the overall, the overall big idea around trends and individual game reports is still really core to what we’re doing," explained Arney.
In just over a year of operation, PB Vision has already built an engaged community of pickleball enthusiasts providing ideas and feedback through platforms like Reddit, Discord and Slack. Arney calls it "a really good loop going."
When looking ahead to the future, Arney sees PB Vision ideally becoming a subscription service that delivers continuing value to members.
"So, you know, it’s on me as a user to upload the games, but if I do that, I’m really incentivized to continue to upload games so that I can see trends. I can see where I’m improving. I can see where I’m stagnating," envisioned Arney.
However, Arney acknowledges there are still some major technical and user challenges to solve for PB Vision to reach its full potential.
On the technical side, reducing the processing time for generating analytical reports and continuing to improve accuracy will be areas of focus. For users, getting into the routine of recording matches and uploading video consistently to see the full benefits will be key. Arney is also excited about potential integrations with automated ball machines down the road.
"It’s a little sci-fi, it’s a little out there, but it’s technically super possible, right?" said Arney about ideas like having computer vision enable ball machines to adjust shots based on a player's position and skill level.
As the pickleball craze continues across America, platforms like PB Vision show the potential to harness analytics to unlock better performance - both for casual players trying to take their game to the next level and perhaps one day even professionals as the sport develops.
"We attract pickleball enthusiasts. Yes, absolutely. But of those pickleball enthusiasts, there are a subset of super talented developers that would love to see this succeed," remarked Arney about the engaged community rallying around the future of pickleball analytics. (NOTE: This AI Assisted article was created from the Elder Research "Mining Your Own Business Podcast" transcript.)
- 00:00 Introduction
- 01:04 Talking about the focus of PB Vision
- 02:35 Sharing the story behind the launch of PB Vision
- 04:57 Vetting the solution and delving into computer vision
- 07:54 Discussing the different ways to approach a challenge
- 10:54 Talking about the downside of being locked into a solution
- 12:00 Sharing the importance of building technical skills
- 12:30 Discussing why UI/UX can’t be an afterthought
- 15:28 Evaluating user feedback
- 18:35 Inviting the pickleball community and developers to the table
- 19:47 Delving into the need for user buy-in
- 22:46 Looking to the future of PB Vision
- 30:31 Wrapping up the show
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