When I was growing up, technology in my baseball training was a luxury. Occasionally during batting practice sessions with my dad, we might talk my mom into lugging a suitcase-sized VHS camera to record some of my swings. Afterward, I’d be able to watch my swing in grainy video in hopes of picking out a flaw I might be able to fix- that’s if I could get the slow-motion button on my VCR to work right. It was clunky at best, but we were ahead of our time in using technology as a developmental tool.
Fast forward (many!) years later, and technology has moved from a luxury to an expectation for most amateur hitters. Where it was a laborious process to get unclear film of my own swing, now most hitters have immediate access to high-quality video of their at-bats thanks to their parents’ iPhones, and they have software (and coaches) to break down their swings in any number of ways.
Modern hitters expect to be able to use technology to help them improve, and their expectations have moved beyond video for developmental aides. Ball and bat tracking devices are available and accessible to give hitters more feedback on their swings, their exit velocities, and many measures in between.
Vizual Edge is a proven technology that helps hitters with their pitch recognition, tracking, and timing. Part of its allure for many of the pro athletes we work with is its mobility and accessibility (as it works with any WiFi-enabled laptop or tablet, along with our red/blue glasses). However, it also works well as part of station work in a hitting class or team practice. Here’s a glimpse into how Slammers Academy in the Chicago area recently used it as part of a fall hitting clinic focused on training timing and approach:
That’s a lot of swings for each kid over the course of an hour, so it’s nice to mix in Vizual Edge for 15 minutes to give each player a physical breather while they still improve their pitch recognition and reactions. It’s something I’ll use with my son’s team that I help coach at the 13u level, and it’s a nice change of pace for the cage work we do in the long winter months in northern Illinois.
- Lukas
Follow Lukas on Twitter @LMcK_Baseball
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