Welcome to the FritzMonopod Site

I am sure you are full of questions about the unit so this will give you a little background....

I played on the pro circuit from 73 to 78 and it was not easy to get quality coaching when you traveled back then. Your coach did not travel with you, and only came to the big events.    If I had the ability to video tape back then and had this unit, I could have improved my game and thus earnings.    So when I had a family and got back into the game, coaching and playing seniors I used video to get a feel for what needed some fixing....(my doubles partners just thought I needed fixing)   I tried tripods, but they would get the fence and everyone who passed in front of the lens on tape.   And it was at court level, so hard to see how points developed. (I am old school in thinking you worked a match like a chess game) You learned how to develop points and understood how to apply pressure depending on the score. When I could find nothing lower than 500 bucks and in the professional equipment area, I drew up what I thought would work and had a machinist friend make the parts for me.....   Voila. it worked great!.

2nd phase...

I used my old high 8 Sony cam to shoot my matches and those of my family to show where we needed work.  My wife liked it cause I would not nag her and she could see the area's where work was needed, and at practice, worked on just those things.   When I had kids, I used it to film them while I taught them, and then again while they played.  I gave them the option of watching the video and then writing down what they wanted to work on based on what they saw....    It was almost to easy.  We would work on what they wanted and their effort during lessons was 50% better.  More energy and ability to listen were all improved. Communication became easier.

The cat was getting out of the bag......

People at our club noticed it, and at the park where I taught.   People who played tournaments also noticed, and so did some coaches.   Next thing, I had people ask where I got it,  I told them I had it made up for me, special.  They asked it I could make one for them.  So I did.  I had 10 made, and then 20, and then 50.  Now its into 25 a production run and they just keep going out the door.

A need for improvement! 

Now there were people trying to copy it or build home made units from off the shelf parts they could get at Home depot or Lowe's.  All were crude, and they spent plenty of time working the details out.   So we went to the next step and got it copyrighted.  Then I went about building in safety factors to the design and operation.  (I have seen others fall from fences, or leave the camera up on the fence and the pole in hand, Many an expensive camera has been broken using competitors units.)  

University coaches show interest.

Since I do Pac 10 tennis I was in contact with several of the coaches and discussed the use of it for video taping their home matches.  Then talk got to how could it be streamed to the internet.   Dick Gould at Stanford  had a state of the art system put in when they redid the tennis complex on campus before hosting the NCAA championships. but the cost was a whopper.  USC decided to go with something similar but needs to re-place cameras after building a 6th court into their facility.  Cost to realign things is not cheap..... 

Here we go again.....   Tech catches up with ideas and a new affordable system comes out of the mix..

Go to R&D page.