Alright folks, grab a coffee ’cause I just spent the better part of my afternoon wrestling with this * thing. Heard it was slick for keeping tabs on my hopeless backhand, so figured why not give it a whirl? Total rookie move thinking it’d be plug-and-play.
Figuring Out Where To Start
First off, opened the main setup screen and stared at it like it was written in ancient Greek. Hit that big ‘Create Account’ button feeling optimistic. Typed in my usual messy email and some password I’ll probably forget next Tuesday. Got the email confirmation faster than my kid replies when he needs cash – clicked that, and boom, I’m in.
Setting Up My First ‘Thing’
This app calls everything “courts” and “sessions” – took me a minute. Clicked ‘New Court’ totally guessing what info it wanted. Jotted down “Backyard Net” as the name, picked ‘Hardcourt’ from a list since my driveway counts, right? Added a little note about the crack near the service line. Pressed save. Crossed my fingers.
The Feature Fight Club
Okay, here’s where things got real. That headline about “7 features”? Yeah, I found ’em, but they didn’t all play nice at first:
- Live Ball Tracking: This one sucked. Pointed my phone camera. Spun around like an idiot trying to see imaginary balls. Realized I needed to actually play first. Felt dumb. Hit some balls against the wall later and saw little dots appear. Magic! Mostly worked then.
- Serving Stats: Marked the start of my serve. App yelled (metaphorically) “FINISH THE POINT!” Okay, okay! Tapped when I aced the garage door (oops). It showed a speed number. Probably optimistic, but hey, I’ll take it.
- Match History Thingy: Tried logging my sad singles match against myself. Tapped ‘New Session’, picked my “Backyard Net”. It just… started? No big play button? Realized it records time automatically. Mind. Blown. Hit ‘Stop’ after flailing for 20 minutes.
- Where Did I Hit The Ball? (Heatmaps): Looked at the summary after my solo session. Saw a big red blob near the back fence. Yep, that tracks. Always long. Made me grunt disapprovingly at my phone.
- Player Profiles: Tried adding “Wall” as my opponent. Seriously. Typed “The Wall” and picked a silhouette. Felt slightly less crazy having a record of our epic battles now.
- Settings Tangle: Wanted notifications for… something? Found a toggle switch buried deep. Flipped it. My phone hasn’t buzzed yet. Jury’s out.
- Finding Old Sessions: Played last week, forgot I recorded it. Scrolled forever in the ‘History’ tab. Saw a tiny calendar icon. Felt another dumb moment coming on. Clicked it, found the date. Found the session. Proof of my terrible footwork exists!
The Tinkering Never Stops
My kid saw the heatmap later and laughed his head off. Said I needed the “phone mount” feature. Sigh. Dug around settings again. Found something about calibration. Held my phone steady like disarming a bomb. Followed the bouncing dot thingy across the screen. Seems marginally more accurate now. Maybe. Probably need another session tomorrow to be sure.
So, Did I “Master” It?
Master? Nah, that’s fancy talk. I spent hours clicking stuff, feeling dumb half the time, cheering tiny victories the other half. I can definitely now:
- Record myself looking foolish.
- See colorful proof of why I lose.
- Blame the garage door with concrete stats.
Figured out enough to stop yelling at my phone, mostly. The core stuff? Yeah, it works once you poke it enough. Took real-world flailing, but I guess that’s the point. Still got no clue about notifications though. Anyone know where they hide those?
