tennis - shot spot

[c.g._eads]

Is shot spot a joke or what? - for those not in the know, this is the technology that allows them to digitally tell whether a tennis ball has landed in or out.

Repeatedly in the French Open, Shot Spot would disagee with a call on the clay - for those not in the know, clay is the one surface that leaves a mark where the ball has landed --c. I.e. a ball's mark would be left ON THE LINE. But shot spot would show a different mark. Both players would look at the mark, agreee it was either in or out, despite shot spot saying the opposite. So shot spot (having invested millions in this technology) leaps into the ring with their PR team, claiming that there "weren't enough cameras for shot spot to be accurate".

Hmmm, well, if there "weren't enough cameras", and you knew beforehand, why did you allow them to use the technology on television? Sounds like some major damage control to me.

The funniest thing was the announcers, after basically admitting that shot spot was inaccurate, continued to use it.

The reason this is a big deal is because tennis is thinking about eventually using this to call ALL the lines, eventually replacing linespeople altogether (i always kind of enjoyed that tennis was the only sport with a ridiculously disproportionate amount of umpires relative to players). I can't believe this farce isn't causing a bigger stink in the tennis world.

 

[David Jimerson]

Once the technology is perfected, it'll eliminate bad calls.

You could argue that human error and bad calls are part of the game. But then, you're not a player that had the error go against you.

 

[c.g._eads]

well yeah but they're using it in tournaments RIGHT NOW. When it's not perfected. And I'm pretty sure they're using it at the U.S. Open this year.

And unless you have the worst luck in the world, calls always even out. We tend to only remember the ones that went against us.

 

[David Jimerson]

And unless you have the worst luck in the world, calls always even out. We tend to only remember the ones that went against us.

Well, THAT'S true. They might not even out in a crucial match, though.

It might be premature to rely on it exclusively. Cyclops didn't do so well.

But in general, the only errors which should count against you are your own. If the lines can be called accurately every time, then I'm all for it.