In this day and age there seems to be an app for just about everything. Are you looking to perfect your baseball swing? Well, Blast Motion has an app for that. For the longest time, players and coaches relied solely on video footage to analyze a baseball swing. While this is helpful, it lacks actionable and measurable data.
For instance, players can observe that their attack angle is too steep by studying video footage. What they won’t be able to do is easily measure the angle, understand the exact angle they should be taking, and receive real time data as they train to fix that part of their swing. In a game where millimetres and milliseconds have a material impact on the end result, having precise data is vital to success. With Blast Motion’s sensor technology, all of that becomes possible.
Blast Motion has developed advanced motion capture technology to improve athletic performance through actionable data and analytics. As of right now, Blast Motion specializes in swing technology, so while they offer similar tools for golf and softball, they don’t offer any pitching related technology at this point.
Through their portfolio of patents, Blast Motion is able to provide a seamless skill development experience from swing motion hardware and accurate data collection, to software that allows players to analyze and put the data into action. Through all of their offerings, Blast Motion stresses accuracy and provides their customers with a fantastic user experience. Many people recognize Blast Motion as one of the most accurate swing analyzers in the industry. As a result, they have been able to partner with a few well known baseball organizations, including Prep Baseball Report.
Challanges of The Baseball Swing
Before getting into the features and the different tools that Blast Motion offers, it’s important to understand why this technology is needed in the first place. Perfecting a baseball swing is a very challenging thing to do. Even the top MLB players struggle to maintain consistent hitting mechanics throughout the season. Every MLB player goes through slumps which are often caused by a slight change in their swing.
There are many moving pieces throughout a baseball swing, so it’s pretty easy for a player to unknowingly implement a bad habit. It may look effortless for some, but the swing is pretty complex. It is a full body effort with several timed mechanical techniques, and if one piece is off, it can negatively impact the entire swing. The complexity of the swing combined with quick reaction times and a small margin of error, it is no surprise that the MLB batting average in 2019 was just .252. Don’t expect there to be an increase in batting averages as a result of swing analysis technology though.
On the flip side of the coin, there are several similar tools for pitchers, which enable them to increase velocity and pitch movement. As both sides of the game benefit from these tools, we should continue to see an improvement in the overall quality of play. What’s even more exciting is that younger players now have access to these tools. From an earlier age, players will be able to implement correct swinging habits, and we’ll get to see how that impacts players as they advance to higher levels of baseball.
Blast Motion Features
Blast Motion is so much more than just a motion sensor attachment. With a variety of premium subscription options, Blast provides a well rounded experience that includes assessment, coaching communication, and team management features.
For $149.95, a player can purchase the Blast Motion sensor, which easily attaches to the knob of a baseball bat. Included with this purchase, the player will have access to the basic metrics in the Blast Motion app. Some of the basic metrics include bat speed, attack angle, power, and time to contact. The player will also have access to additional app features such as training goals, video capturing capabilities, and a 3D swing tracer.
The premium subscription is an additional cost that varies by the type of user. It provides players, coaches, and parents with advanced features that will further assist with athletic development. Here are the additional features:
- Players and parents will have access to:
- advanced training
- swing quality assessments
- drill recommendations
- cloud-based storage for data and video
- coaching feedback
- personalized reports
- performance history
- Coaches and teams will be able to:
- evaluate players
- manage team rosters
- coach more effectively with objective data, stats, graphs, and reports
- schedule training sessions
- communicate with players
- provide remote coaching through video analysis, voice over, and sharing tools
- Academies will be able to operate more efficiently with a single software solution that provides:
- scheduling
- training
- analytics
- reporting
- Blast Connect academy portals
Additional Blast Motion Products
Blast Connect
Blast Connect is a software service that launched in August of 2016. This all encompassing platform enables baseball organizations, academies, and even individual coaches to better manage their players’ athletic development efforts. As a player, you can access individual performance metrics, training video footage, and workout history through the platform. Blast Connect is essentially a full service solution that puts all athletic development related information in one place. With both players and coaches having access, the platform is collaborative. Coaches can train with their athletes remotely at any time, provide drills, and review video footage with added commentary.
A blast sensor is not required to utilize Blast Connect. However, when the sensor is linked, the performance metrics are automatically uploaded to the platform where they can be reviewed and analyzed. To make this tool even more appealing to academies and baseball organizations, Blast Connect also includes features that assist with business processes such as scheduling, drill assignment, billing, and leaderboard functionality.
Blast Vision
Blast Vision is a mobile application that allows players to visualize the results of their swing right from their phone. By capturing video footage, the tool provides real time swing analysis through a variety of metrics, video footage, and spray charts. Some of the metrics include launch angle, exit velocity, and estimated ball flight distance. This tool is included in the premium subscription, but can be trialed for two weeks if the player is not a premium subscriber. After the free trial ends, the tool can be purchased for $9.99. Prior to Blast Vision, capturing accurate post-impact swing metrics was pretty expensive. It required multiple pieces of equipment and high speed cameras. The tool is thoroughly tested. When the player properly calibrates it, the tool consistently produces accurate results.
The set up is pretty simple too. All you have to do is place your phone on a tripod and hit a few balls in a backyard or batting cage. Blast Vision clips each swing once you’ve completed your training session, You’ll then be able to view the metrics for each swing, review the video footage in slow-motion, and view the spray chart.