Shadow Swings
Practice your swings on the go.
Tennis swing trainer, anywhere. Hold your iPhone like a racket handle, swing, and hear the ball hit at the exact moment your wrist releases.
Coming soon to the App Store
How it works
Your phone is the racket
Shadow Swings works like a mechanical training stick — the kind that clacks when you accelerate through the swing — except it is tuned to reward the whip of a real stroke instead of a stiff push.
Hold it like a handle
Grip the iPhone the way you grip a racket. The top of the phone is the racket tip, the screen is the string face. Clear the space around you and hold on tight.
Swing a real stroke
Forehand, backhand, serve, volley. The accelerometer and gyroscope track the phone through the stroke, on the device, in real time.
Hear the contact
A ball-hit click fires at the moment your wrist releases at speed. Push stiffly and nothing happens; let the racket head go and it snaps. That feedback is the whole training loop.
Two modes
Rally, or study one stroke
Free Hitting
Rally mode. Every whip clicks. The app counts your swings and runs a timer, so a session in a hallway, a hotel room or a warm-up before a match becomes something you can actually measure.
- A click on every clean release
- Live swing count
- Session timer
Shot Analysis
Play one stroke, then watch it replayed on a 3D court: the path the racket head travelled, where the string face was pointing through the swing, and your peak racket-head speed. Orbit the replay and slow it down.
- Swing path drawn in 3D
- String face orientation through contact
- Peak racket-head speed
- Orbit and slow motion
Who it is for
Who it is for, and who it is not for
It is for
Shadow Swings is for tennis players who want to practice forehand, backhand, serve and volley swings at home without a court, ball or partner. It suits players warming up before a match, players keeping their timing through the off-season or an injury layoff, players travelling without a racket, and coaches who want a swing-timing drill a student can repeat at home. Beginners use it to feel what a released wrist is supposed to sound like; club players use it to keep a groove.
It is not for
Shadow Swings does not measure ball speed, spin or where a ball would land, because there is no ball. It does not watch your body, so it cannot correct your grip, stance, footwork or contact point. It is not a coach, not a physiotherapy or medical tool, and not a substitute for hitting real balls on a court. It runs on iPhone only — there is no iPad, Apple Watch, Android or web version.
Shadow Swings Pro
Swing as much as you want
The free app is a real app: Free Hitting, Shot Analysis and the click are all there. You get unlimited swings on the day you install, then 30 swings per day and 3 Shot Analysis replays. Pro removes the ceiling.
What Pro adds
- Unlimited swings, every day. No daily count.
- Racket-head speed on every swing, in km/h or mph, with your all-time record.
- Unlimited Shot Analysis replays.
- Share replays as video from the iOS share sheet.
- A recorded ball-hit sound pack — real contact, not a synthetic click.
- Advanced click tuning for how hard you want the release to be.
What stays free
- Free Hitting with the ball-hit click
- Swing count and session timer
- Unlimited swings on install day
- 30 swings per day after that
- 3 Shot Analysis replays
- No account, no ads, no tracking
Lifetime
$24.99One-time purchase. Pro forever on your Apple Account.
Annual
$12.99/yr7-day free trial. Cancel any time in your Apple ID settings.
Free
$0No account. 30 swings a day after install day.
Prices are in USD and vary by region. Purchases and refunds are handled by Apple.
Privacy
Nothing leaves your phone
Motion data from the accelerometer and gyroscope is processed on the device and never sent anywhere. There is no account to create, no server to talk to, and no analytics or third-party SDK in the app. Purchases go through Apple. Read the full privacy policy.
Requires an iPhone running iOS 17 or later. Available in English, French and Spanish.
FAQ
Questions
Does Shadow Swings work on any iPhone?
It works on any iPhone that runs iOS 17 or later. The app reads the accelerometer and gyroscope, and every iPhone that supports iOS 17 has both. There is no iPad, Apple Watch or Android version.
Do I need a racket, a ball, a court or a partner?
No. You hold the iPhone itself like a racket handle: the top of the phone is the racket tip and the screen is the string face. You need about two metres of clear space around you and nothing else.
Why does the click sound late through my AirPods or Bluetooth speaker?
Bluetooth audio adds latency, and the whole point of the app is that the click lands exactly when your wrist releases. Use the iPhone's built-in speaker, or wired headphones. Bluetooth will feel a beat behind.
Does Shadow Swings measure ball speed?
No. There is no ball. The app estimates racket-head speed from the phone's own motion during the swing. Treat it as a consistent number to improve against, not a radar reading.
Is my data private?
Yes. Motion data is processed on the device and never leaves it. There is no account, no server, no analytics and no third-party SDK. Purchases are handled by Apple.
Does it replace a coach?
No. Shadow Swings trains the timing and release of your swing when you cannot get to a court. It cannot see your grip, footwork, stance or contact point, and it is not coaching advice.
What is free and what needs Shadow Swings Pro?
Free gives you Free Hitting, Shot Analysis and the click: unlimited swings on the day you install, then 30 swings per day and 3 Shot Analysis replays. Pro adds unlimited swings every day, racket-head speed on every swing with an all-time record, unlimited replays, video sharing, a recorded ball-hit sound pack and advanced click tuning.
How much does Pro cost?
Pro is either a one-time Lifetime purchase at $24.99 USD or an Annual subscription at $12.99 USD per year with a 7-day free trial. Prices vary by region.
What languages does the app support?
English, French and Spanish.
How do I cancel or get a refund?
Subscriptions are managed in your Apple ID settings, not in the app. Refunds are handled by Apple through reportaproblem.apple.com — we cannot issue them ourselves. See support for the steps.