Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen, ranked #1 in the world in 2004, at the age of 13, was the second youngest chess grandmaster in history.
At 33, he supports SportAI, a sports organization in Oslo that aims to provide commentary and analysis for other sports, notably tennis. (Although there is no chess competition at the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee recognizes chess as a sport.)
The AI sports technology company hopes to democratize access to tech analytics in an AI-influenced sports market projected to achieve $30 billion by 2032. Add to that the fact that artificial intelligence (not just chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but also things like computer vision) is influencing exercise, art, gardening, and other hobbies and activities by generating new content for us and suggesting ideas we haven’t tried before.
AI powered swing tips
If you were to take a tennis lesson from a human trainer and ask for advice about your swing, the help you would likely vary depending on the trainer and his or her background and training.
“Today, technical analysis in sports is very subjective, expensive and not scalable,” said CEO Lauren Pedersen.
SportAI’s founders, who include former NCAA tennis player Pedersen, saw an opportunity to analyze and track players’ technique on a more personal level using computer vision, a field of AI that allows computers to analyze visual content like humans do; machine learning, which uses data and algorithms to allow AI to learn like we do; and biometric analysis, the measurement of our physical and behavioral characteristics.
After analyzing video from mobile phones, court cameras, or broadcasts, SportAI can compare your technique to any number of tennis players—including the best in the world, a particular player you admire, another player you want to emulate, or the thousands of players the model has seen in practice. SportAI can then provide personalized feedback on what you need to do to improve. (SportAI also trained its model using input from coaches to understand what makes good technique.)
In a demo video of a tennis player, SportAI measures the curve of the player’s swing compared to a pro’s curve and highlights areas for improvement. It then measures hip and shoulder rotation, as well as swing speed, and suggests the player shift her weight in the direction she wants to hit. It also evaluates her attack angle and curve compared to pros and recommends she opt for a compact backswing with solid follow-through to improve her swing.
The startup is starting with racquet sports like tennis and paddleball, but that’s largely because of the team’s personal expertise. SportAI plans to expand to other swing sports like golf, baseball, and cricket.
But this is not a product that you can buy as a consumer. Instead, SportAI positions itself as a business-to-business platform and is looking to collaborate with coaching associations, training academies, retailers, brands and broadcast media.
In the latter case, it would complement live sports commentary and ‘engage fans and show them how [Spanish tennis pro Rafael] Nadal’s forehand or service can be compared to [Swiss former pro Roger] “Federer for example,” Pedersen said.
One of the first customers is a training platform that operates tennis clubs. (Pedersen did not disclose the name.)
“These clubs have cameras at the back of the pitch, so as a player you can book the pitch and you also get access to your video. Then we can do analysis on it using AI to provide statistics, technique analysis, tips and highlights,” she said.
Their goal is to make it easier to access personalized analytics that were previously only available to elite players.
The startup closed a $1.8 million seed round in August, led by early investor Skyfall Ventures. Backers also include Norwegian pension fund MP Pensjon, former professional tennis player Dekel Valtzer and chess grandmaster Carlsen.
Founded in 2023, SportAI plans to use the funding to further develop its technology, hire employees and expand its customer base.
