Sports
PadX
Challenge
Bridging the sports data gap
Padel moves quickly, making it difficult for players to pinpoint why points are won or lost once they step off the court. While standard fitness tracking relies on basic biometrics, court analysis demands accurate spatial understanding, movement tracking, and ball trajectory data.
Earlier market attempts pushed players to manually record matches and tag clips. That level of administrative effort breaks the flow of the game. For our team, the goal was to eliminate setup barriers completely, taking raw match footage from specialist court-side cameras and translating intricate telemetry into clean visual stories that any player can understand immediately.
Solution
The ‘scan, play, review’ ecosystem
We designed and built a three-part ecosystem: the mobile app, a court-side kiosk, and the AI engine behind them, connected end to end. Instead of asking players to configure technical equipment before a match, we created an interaction model based on a single scan.
A player walks onto the court, scans a dynamic QR code at the court-side screen, and plays their game. In the background, computer vision algorithms process the video feeds, transforming spatial movement into intuitive 20x10 metre heatmaps, rally visualisations, and personal improvement scores. The entire interface was styled with a refined dark mode aesthetic, with neon feedback markers so players can review their tactical positioning in bright daylight straight after a set.
Execution
Real-time processing built for the court, not the lab
Building a dependable platform meant handling high volume tasks alongside real world club operations. Our design and technical teams worked in direct partnership with stakeholders through on site testing, wireframing, and systems architecture. While automated vision models process frame-by-frame match events, our backend systems had to ensure synchronisation remained stable across various club internet connections.
We developed the client mobile app for both iOS andAandroid, built the kiosk check-in application, and structured the data pipeline that links physical venue cameras to individual player accounts. Key features include:
Instant court check in through responsive venue displays
Automated highlight reels capturing long rallies and break points without manual video editing
Tactical heat mapping that shows defensive coverage and net positioning over time
The PadX player score, an algorithmic rating that balances unforced errors against winner percentages to gamify long-term progression
Web portals and commercial product collateral to support the team during venue onboarding
Results
Impact players felt from day one
Early testing made it clear this would change how players see their own game. Someone can go from arriving at the court to recording a session in under five seconds, with no setup in the way. Partner clubs picked up a tech forward edge that helped retain members, and the automated highlights created a social loop, players sharing their own match moments, that lifted organic mentions for both the clubs and the PadX brand.
The finished platform gives venues and players an integrated coaching tool that feels natural to use from the first serve. Onboarding at the court takes under five seconds, completely removing the technical hesitation players usually have around sports tracking technology.
By automating match highlights, the app created an organic sharing loop that regularly places club venues across social channels, strengthening member retention for partner clubs. PadX demonstrates how thoughtful human centred design can take complex computer vision and turn it into a practical, enjoyable product for athletes.
5
seconds to court onboarding
100%
automated highlight generation
4
minutes from final point to player breakdown
