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As a taller-than-average person, I frequently have people tell me "I bet you’re good at basketball." I’m not. I’m terrible at basketball. I can jump high enough to dunk, but when it comes to any real-sports-playing context, I’m essentially useless.
But maybe the SOLIDshot smart sleeve can help me become the basketball legend I was vertically destined to be. The smart sleeve consists of three bundles of sensors, each containing a ARM processor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and some LED lights. They connect to a central unit that contains the battery and relays the data to an app on your phone over Bluetooth. It's a similar concept to the Wilson X smart basketball, but in theory is more personalized to your shooting motion due to the multitude of sensors.
detect on a shot-by-shot basis whether you’re shooting correctly
The three sensors, positioned along the sleeve to measure arm, elbow, and wrist movements, are intended to detect on a shot-by-shot basis whether you’re shooting correctly, or (like me) just flinging the ball wildly toward the basket, with each sensor tracking a different part of the shooting motion. The SOLIDshot then uses the LEDs and speaker to let you know if you’re doing things right, saving you from having to check your phone after every single shot while you’re out on the court.
The SOLIDshot is selling for $499, although preorders have already sold out for the first batch. It plans to ship this winter, so it looks like my basketball star dreams will have to wait until at least the 2017–2018 season. If you want to go even further in your quest for data-fueled basketball greatness, check out this Bloomberg piece on how to shoot like Steph Curry.