20 conversations with recreational players

In Q4 of 2024, before we scaled production, we sat down with 20 recreational tennis players — club members, weekend warriors, two coaches, and one former tour player who now teaches kids — to understand the pickup problem at a level beyond our own intuition.

Here's what we heard.

The pickup pain is real, but it's not the headline

We expected "I hate picking up balls" to be the universal complaint. It is. But the more interesting answer was about session structure. Of the 20 players, 14 said they cut sessions short specifically to avoid the cleanup. They'd play for 50 minutes and leave instead of 75 because they didn't want to pick up the 60 balls.

That reframes the product. We're not selling a pickup robot. We're selling 25 more minutes on court per session.

Price elasticity is real

We tested two price points in conversation: $799 and $599. Five of the twenty players said "yes" at $799. Fifteen said "yes" at $599. The drop from $799 to $599 wasn't 20% of the audience — it was almost 50% of the addressable audience at that price.

This is why we ship at $599 CAD. (We tested $599 USD too. The number "599" matters psychologically more than the currency.)

Trust beats features

Almost nobody asked about FPS or detection range. They asked: "Will it scratch the court?" "Will it run over my racquet?" "What if a kid runs near it?" The product needs to feel safe and considered. That changed three things: a softer wheel material, an explicit safety pause when a player crosses the path, and a colour palette that signals "considered design," not "DIY robot."

One specific surprise

Two of the twenty players said they wouldn't use it in front of their friends because it felt embarrassing. "Like cheating," one said. We didn't see that coming. Our response: we put the robot in visible public courts and watched what happened. After 30 minutes, the player using it had three onlookers and zero embarrassment. The feeling went away the moment one person broke the seal.

If you're a club operator or coach reading this and want to be in the next round of conversations, email sales@vivetennis.ca.

— Paul