I’ve been so impressed with the ttEDGE's Table Tennis App, that I wanted to know more about it, so I asked Brett Clarke, one of the main drivers of ttEDGE of the App and an active member here, for an interview, which you can find below. Hope you enjoy it.
You can download the App for FREE, so you can get a taste for what it’s like. I expect that when you see how useful the App is, you’ll want to upgrade to the full version.
I believe that William and yourself are the main instigators and drivers of this project, how many other people are involved?
There are 5 people involved in this project. William Henzell, Trevor Brown and I are the players and we also have a Neuroscientist and an App Developer on the team. Trevor is a player/coach and also a Neuroscientist, therefore we have 2 Neuroscientists.
I know you’ve been using OOAK Forum to get feedback and bounce new idea off people, how useful is that?
I use OOAK to help guide the direction of the app. We have our own ideas about how the product should evolve however user feedback is probably more important. It’s useless making a product or adding functionality that no one wants, so you need to listen carefully to the users. We have recently improve the look and feel of the app’s interfaces and that move was based entirely on user feedback. We were told on numerous occasions that the graphic design look amateurish and that mattered to users. I’m now contemplating adding slow motion replays of serves as lots of customers seem to want this functionality.
I feel that App clearly targets the club level and higher level players, as these would get the most benefits. Was this the plan all long, or do you wish to target the basement/home players as well?
Yes, the app is more suited to club players and high level players at this stage. It was always the intention for the app to be a ‘brain training’ utility for reasonably serious players. Perhaps we can add some more fun, beginner-friendly modules to attract a wider range of users.
As a personal user I’ve found the reading of spin (especially off serves) to be particularly useful, and find that I’m starting to use the same focus when I play competition. Are you planning to continue to expand on this?
We are definitely looking to expand on the serve return modules. Reading spin is one of the most difficult aspects in table tennis and returning serves can be frustrating and demoralizing at certain levels. Hopefully we have taken a step towards relieving some of this frustration. More serve return modules are on the way!
For those people that play competition, what do you think would be best use of the App? Is it best to just use it as much as possible, or should be get into a routine to use it on competition nights, to get into a good frame of mind?
I think daily usage is the key. I’d be looking to use the app for 15 minutes per day to invoke long term brain change. It should be like training on the table. The more regularly you practice, the better you get. It’s our plan to add some daily training routines to the app.
I’d also be looking to use the app before matches. Playing the multiball modules at high speed will increase your focus and attention. Level 5 (Boost) is faster than real speed and your brain will adapt to the pace. Then balls will seem slower at real speed.
Where do most of your subscribers come from?
Most ttEDGE and Table Tennis Edge subscribers come from the US. There are a lot of table tennis players in the US and they are very enthusiastic about the sport and technology.
I know you (collectively) have made a large investment into this project, in terms of video equipment, facilities, as well as the people involved and the time invested. Are you starting to see some (monetary) return on this investment, or is it too early for this?
12K people have downloaded the app. We are pretty happy with that result, considering the product is far from complete. Not all of those downloaders are paying customers, however there’s always a chance to convert them as the app developers further. Our initial investment was relatively small as ttEDGE already owned the equipment used to build and develop the app. So to answer your question, we have made more money than the initial outlay.
I paid $10 for the full version of the App, which at the time I though was a little expensive for an App. I’ve since realised this app is so much more than I had expected, and is a great educational tool that can benefit most players. It must be a challenge to explain to people exactly what this app offers?
Table Tennis Edge is a free download, although the best modules are part of a combined in-app purchase. For some reason, people tend to compare the price of an app to the price of unrelated apps. A table tennis coaching lesson in Australia is $60 an hour and certain players will happily pay that once a week. Players freely pay 80 dollars for a sheet of rubber.. Then the same people will compare our product to an unrelated 99 cent app. If it was Mac or PC software, people would be less likely to make such comparisons.
Our business model is to raise the price of the app as we continue adding new modules and functionality. Our work and effort will always equate to a higher price. Early adopters will benefit from their investment as they will get updates for free. If you pay for the in-app purchase today you’ll pay USD$9, however you’ll pay a lot more than that in a few months time. There’s a big incentive to pay immediately.
You’ve mentioned that this project is really only starting off, and that you’ve only scratched the surface of the potential. Can you share some (exclusive J) new ideas that you’re considering?
Short to medium term we are looking at adding more shots and combinations of shots. There will be rallies. There should also be training programs rather than just randomly selecting a module. People want direction and the app currently lacks it.
Our Neuroscientists may help us to develop products to put you into peak performance state. Neurofeedback is fascinating and the technology is still evolving.
Virtual Reality is an exciting long term possibility. Perhaps you’ll get the experience of facing world-class players whilst sitting on your sofa.
Interesting that the US is TTedge's biggest subscriber base when TT is such a small concern there. Perhaps its because its not a big market on offer there, any offerings are jumped on?
Yes I was a little surprised too, especially since I expect William Henzel is much better known in AU compared to USA.
I think the population size is a big factor too.
I downloaded the individual ratings - about 54,000 players? Not sure how many active, but "small concern" is relative to most other American sports, not to Australian TT population size!
PRW, a few years ago someone from the US put up a chart of USATT registered players and where they lived. There was only about 8000 players (which incidentally was about how many Australia had too). Not sure which number is closer to the truth.
G'day mate, glad to see you back on the forum again. How's the middle east treating you?
Hi Reb, as per signature - I am now in California! Middle East didn't hold the same attractions... am on the forum a bit more often now.
That's the reason for the interest of Oz vs US numbers of players.
I absolutely love the app, and paid for the full version, however I struggle with the time to use it lately. This motivates me to incorporate this into my day.... The boss looks down on me playing phone video games at work.
I struggle with the short game vs. higher ranked opponents, so this is a welcome tool!
I finally got back into the game more seriously after my big move to the countryside.
This app is pretty rad, lets me keep my anticipation even as I'm only able to hit up once a week casually. Oh I also bought the full version after a day of using it, AND I'M A TIGHTARSED ASIAN (blame mum teaching me how to find value and discounts!). I highly recommend it, particularly with the propped features seems even better.
(")_(") You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
Where did you move to Gek? I assume its country NSW?
Android users can now update to version 3.2.0. I will make a video about the new features on the weekend.