The Latest from SenseArena

Summary

Yannick Yoshizawa (VP of SenseArena Tennis) and Matt Simons (B2B Manager / D-III head coach at University of Puget Sound) return to ParentingAces to discuss SenseArena’s newly announced partnership with the ATP Tour, rebranding as “ATP Tour SenseArena.” The conversation focuses on VR as a mental activation and performance tool — not a replacement for on-court training but a supplement that addresses the chronically under-trained mental side of tennis. They introduce the “Master Your Return” feature using real ATP match data, discuss use cases for travel/tournament prep, injury rehab, and academy programming, and position the technology as accessible for juniors, college players, and recreational players alike.

Guest Background

Yannick Yoshizawa is Vice President of SenseArena for Tennis. Originally from Brazil, he played college tennis in the US and spent nine years working for the WTA before joining SenseArena. NOTE: Yannick was presenting SenseArena’s VR tennis technology before joining INTENNSE, where he now serves as VP.

Matthew Simons is SenseArena’s B2B Manager and simultaneously serves as D-III head coach (men’s and women’s) at the University of Puget Sound near Seattle. He brings dual perspective as both a product representative and active user of the technology with his own teams. He also authored a mental performance book.

Key Topics

• ATP Tour partnership: SenseArena rebranded as “ATP Tour SenseArena” — provides access to pro-level data but the product remains for all genders, ages, and levels. WTA players (Jennifer Brady, Luisa Stefani) continue to use the platform.
• Mental activation as primary use case: Matt positions the VR headset as a 10-15 minute cognitive warmup tool — resetting the “glazed, deer-in-the-headlights” look that players arrive with after travel, school, or long days. The physical warmup is acknowledged; the mental warmup is the gap.
• “Safe place to make mistakes”: VR provides a pressure-free environment where perfectionistic junior players can practice failing and resetting without social consequences — a critical developmental need.
• Master Your Return feature: New tool using data from Golden State Analytics to create animated serves from different player types (righty/lefty, beginner to pro, varying heights). Addresses return of serve as “one of the most under-trained shots in tennis.”
• Match visualization tool: Players can create and rehearse specific patterns of success (e.g., serve wide, hit forehand inside-out) in VR — a guided visualization experience for those who struggle with traditional eyes-closed visualization.
• Travel portability: Entire system fits in a backpack (Meta Quest 2 headset + controllers + optional racket attachment). Needs wifi to launch but runs offline once loaded. Cannot be used outdoors due to sensor sensitivity to sunlight.
• Academy “extra court” model: With 16 kids and 3 courts, an academy can create a 4th station using SenseArena indoors, rotating groups through VR while reducing on-court crowding.
• Injury rehab application: Matt has a player with a broken (non-dominant) arm cleared by doctors for VR training but not on-court contact — maintaining rhythm and timing during recovery.
• Performance data tracking: Coaches can track reaction time metrics week-over-week, treating VR performance data like heart rate or other high-performance indicators.

Actionable Advice for Families

1. Consider SenseArena as a 10-15 minute pre-match mental activation tool, especially for tournament travel where court access is limited.
2. Use VR return-of-serve training to prepare for specific opponent types (lefty servers, big servers, etc.) before matches.
3. For injured players sidelined from on-court hitting, VR can maintain cognitive sharpness and rhythm/timing.
4. Pricing: starts at $39/month (annual) or $59/month (monthly). Bundle includes headset, racket attachment, and subscription.
5. VR must be used indoors — factor this into tournament and academy logistics.

INTENNSE Relevance

• Direct organizational tie: Yannick Yoshizawa is now INTENNSE VP. His SenseArena work represents his pre-INTENNSE trajectory in sports technology — deeply relevant to INTENNSE’s technology-forward positioning in tennis.
• Technology integration thesis: SenseArena exemplifies the kind of training technology INTENNSE tracks — VR as supplemental tool, data-driven performance tracking, mental game innovation. This is core to INTENNSE’s sportstech intelligence mandate.
• Academy partnerships: The “extra court” model and B2B approach to academies/universities maps directly to INTENNSE’s institutional relationship strategy.
• Mental performance gap: The consistent theme that tennis acknowledges the mental side is 70-90% of the game but has no structured tools to train it — SenseArena fills this, and INTENNSE should track its adoption trajectory.

Notable Quotes

“We all talk about it being 70, 80, 90 percent mental, but we don’t know how to do those things.” — Matt Simons

“It’s also a safe place to make mistakes… kids just don’t want to, they’re not comfortable making mistakes, especially around other people.” — Matt Simons

“We’re not here to replace on-court training. It’s a supplemental tool which actually enhances and makes more effective the job of a coach.” — Yannick Yoshizawa