The Lance project began with a focus on one of the most critical yet underserved aspects of solo tennis practice: the serve and return. By honing in on this specific element of the game, the project was able to identify key requirements that guided the development of the device. These included height adjustability to mimic realistic serve trajectories and the ability to reach higher ball speeds than traditional launchers—features essential to replicating the intensity of competitive play.

This performance-driven focus informed many of the technical decisions throughout the project. Early development prioritised internal functionality, with the primary goal of creating a reliable, powerful launching system. Key components such as the flywheel system, sensor integration, and intelligent control software were  refined to ensure they could deliver consistent, high-speed serves. A compact yet powerful aluminium die-cast flywheel system was developed for precision and durability.