Systems and methods for capturing and visualizing the spinning of small balls in sports

A system comprising:

• a memory configured to store determined characteristics;
• and control circuitry operatively coupled to the memory, wherein the control circuitry is configured to:
• capture, using a camera, a plurality of images comprising a spherical object, the spherical object comprising a rotational movement;
• determine, based on the plurality of images, a location of the spherical object within a reference frame;
• orient, based on the determined location of the spherical object, an emitted laser beam at the spherical object, the emitted laser beam emanating from a laser emitter;
• detect, using a photodetector, a returning laser beam caused by the emitted laser beam interacting with the spherical object, wherein the emitted laser beam and the returning laser beam are coaxial with each other within a predetermined range of the spherical object, and wherein the camera is not coaxial with the oriented emitted laser beam or the returning laser beam;
• determine, based solely on the detected returning laser beam, characteristics of the spherical object, wherein the characteristics include (1) a trajectory of the spherical object and (2) a spin of the spherical object associated with a rotational movement of the spherical object, wherein the characteristics are determined by:
• identifying a speckle pattern within the detected returning laser beam;
• identifying a plurality of points within the speckle pattern;
• and determining movement of the plurality of points over time;
• and generate for display a visualization related to at least one of the determined characteristics of the spherical object.