The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of a physical model to estimate the spin of trajectories measured by a multi-camera ball tracking system. Ball spin rates and spin axis estimated from theoretical ball trajectory models were assessed for their accuracy against high-speed vision (the ground truth). A trajectory model applied to ball tracking data was able to estimate ball spin axis direction with high accuracy and ball spin rates with an RMSE of 219.47 RPM. With tracking technology now common place during professional level tennis matches, the use of a trajectory model provides a non-invasive method to accurately estimate the spin imparted when hitting.
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