Whilst higher level players that are experienced at using these devices may not need to worry about this, the recreational or casual tennis player that simply wants to get a rough idea of how fast their serve is compared to some of the top professionals would be grateful for a simple system that is easy to understand. That said, there are a number of ball speed radars that are actually living up to the hype nowadays. Whilst they are never going to be quite as accurate as a multi million dollar professional system, some promise incredible levels of accuracy for a fraction of the price. Of course we all don’t have access to high quality, multi camera facilities, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get good results! The distance you can measure the speed of a ball from is of course important, so you know how far away you can stand to make a recording.

Another element of speed radars that some people may not think about is their battery life or charge time. These are a lot cheaper to produce and are therefore very popular for recreational players looking for a cheap and simple device to record their serve speed, but they are far from the most accurate speed radars out there. Hand held radars are derived from traffic radar guns so are incredibly accurate and are able to record speed accurately 100 yards away. On the other hand, floor mounted radars tend not to be as accurate as they don’t read speed directly from the device. When it comes to accuracy with speed radars, you really do get what you pay for. The more accurate radars do come with a heftier price tag, but some of the cheaper radars are so inaccurate that they are not even worth wasting your money on.Ultimately, the main area of concern for a lot of recreational tennis players will be the price of a speed radar. Just because something is expensive doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best product for you. This is fine if you are doing some target practice on your serve (assuming you can control the ball well enough), but if you just want to see the speed of your ball crossing the net in a rally, the readings may not be quite as accurate. As with most ball sport related technologies, there is a lot of variability in terms of quality and as the old adage goes, what you get is what you pay for.

This of course completely messes up your readings and limits the usefulness of the radar altogether!

SPECIALISED TENNIS SERVE SPEED GUN FOR ALL TRAINING SESSIONS

Boasting an exceptionally easy-to-use and lightweight design, the SRA3000 provides an excellent handholding option which is hugely beneficial when using the trigger mode. Using the innovative point and shoot technology, the trigger mode requires you to point the speed gun at your intended target (tennis ball) and pull the trigger when you want to acquire a reading. It’s 60ft ball range means you can still gain accurate readings without the risk of getting hit! For a more accurate reading, you can attach the speed gun to a tripod (sold separately) and take your speed measurements from a set position. Think about the size of the display screen, how many buttons the radar has, how many modes you may have to scroll through and how long the initial setup process takes. These are all important things to consider if you aren’t familiar with one of these devices.