It is at the French Tennis Federation's museum, in the heart of Roland-Garros , that the tennis brand Babolat presented on Thursday 13 March 2014, the first racket connected to the world . A presentation at the Keynote (ultra modern, like presentations of Apple products) led by Eric Babolat (great-grandson of the founder of the brand).

Babolat , racquet sponsor of great tennis players such as Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in men or Li Na in women (the Chinese is ranked 2nd in the WTA ranking), has been working on connected racket for 10 years.

A connected racket, what is it?

To play tennis, you must now turn on your racket using an ON / OFF button located on the end of the handle. When turned on, the connected racket records game data through sensors hidden in the racquet handle . The number of setbacks, strokes, services, smashes and the number of minutes played are counted.

From the outside, no difference is detectable between the racket and the racket lambda. The weight either does not differ, 300 grams for both.

All the data recorded by the racket (it has 6 hours of autonomy and recharges in 3 hours) are then downloadable on its phone via Bluetooth or on its computer via a USB cable . The game continues well after the short, thanks to the application Babolat Play.

The Babolat Play app also has a community dimension: players can share and compare their game statistics with everyone else in the world (you can also choose not to share their data). Like on Twitter , we can be followed or follower his friends or other players.

Tennis takes on an unprecedented dimension

With the connected racket , you can for the first time, visualize your game , motivate yourself and progress . "With Babolat Play, it's a new tennis experience that awaits us," explains Gaël Moureaux, racquet product manager at Babolat. The recorded data offers much more than raw statistics. One can then discover on the application, its level of power, technique and endurance . "

Everything has been thought to compare to the best global tennis players . Your data loaded on the app is automatically calculated in a percentage that reflects your technical level, power and endurance. For information, Rafael Nadal reaches 87% and Jo Wilfried Tsonga 85%.

For whom, the connected racket?

Babolat does not hide his ambitions. The brand, which releases the first connected tennis racket in the world , hopes that all tennis players will be connected within a decade. At the 100th General Assembly of the International Tennis Federation in July 2013, the connected racket was approved.

The connected racket only exists on the Babolat Pure Drive model , considered the most versatile of the brand. 1500 tennis players already use it in the United States, where it has been marketed since December 2013.

But for the moment, this racket of the future is not accessible to all: it will be available in some French stores in May 2014, priced at 400 €.
One thing and sure this first connected racket should soon have some competition.