You asked, we listened. Over the past few months we’ve had many MLM users reach out to us requesting a referral program. We understand you go out to the range with your affordable, accurate launch monitor and suddenly have people interrupting your session wanting to learn more. Now our referral program makes those interruptions worth […]
Data collection has become table stakes, and applying it in training is critical to helping players reach their full potential. For those of us looking for the best coaches and facilities to help our kids improve, the amount of information collected and the new vernacular that comes with it can be overwhelming.
COVID-19 is having an unprecedented impact on people, businesses, communities, and events. The sports community is not immune to this disruption: The NBA canceled the remainder of the 2019-2020 season. The NHL has postponed their season. The NCAA canceled the remainder of spring sports, including the iconic NCAA “March Madness” Tournament. The MLB canceled the remainder of Spring Training […]
Ethan agreed to sit down and chat with us about the origins of his delivery adjustments and how he uses reaction time to attack each hitter that steps in to face him.
Being at the Rookie Advanced level, many of the players with our club were getting their first real taste of professional baseball. Some were in their second, sometimes third, year of professional ball, but many were in their first pro season.
The key to an effective off-speed pitch, in terms of movement, is killing vertical break. What we mean by this is getting vertical break as low as possible while still maintaining release measurements that are similar to the pitcher’s fastball release.
We often hear from customers running into the same problems or having the same questions. Here are the solutions to the most frequently asked questions:
The most powerful tool for accomplishing this in golf is a training aid from SuperSpeed golf. The SuperSpeed Golf Training System has become extremely popular among professional golfers, and for good reason.
The following article was written from a coach’s perspective. Josh Johnson is an assistant softball coach at Mississippi State University and uses Rapsodo PITCHING 2.0 with his pitchers. This past weekend a friend was in town to play us and I asked if he would like to use our Rapsodo on his kids. He said […]
We have officially launched the first of four certification courses, Rapsodo Baseball Hitting Certified! These unique modules provide coaches with master concepts and insight on how to make data the cornerstone of their player development programs. The baseball hitting certification includes lessons on hitting aerodynamics, hit classifications & outcomes, the Rapsodo Power Matrix, and more! […]
Coaches and players from all levels now have the opportunity to take an online Certification course to become Rapsodo experts.
The following article was written from a coach’s perspective. Jason Immekus is an assistant coach at Crowder College in Neosho, MO and uses Rapsodo PITCHING 2.0 with his pitchers. As a coach at the college level going on 18 years, we are always looking for new ideas and ways to keep our workouts fresh and […]
Curveballs, just like fastballs, have a transverse spin profile that directly impact the vertical movement of the ball. This topspin profile aids in creating depth or sweep, depending on specific pitch type.
From moving the third basemen to short right field to adding another outfielder altogether, teams pay attention to exit direction. A player's exit direction is seen by MLB teams as something that stays consistent, which can lead to more accurate defensive positioning and less opportunity for the hitter.
All fastball types will spin somewhere between 10:00 and 12:00 for lefthanders and 12:00 and 2:00 for righthanders. This backspin profile directly effects how strongly a particular fastball resists or succumbs to natural forces during its flight.
Tying all the information provided in this series together, we finally arrive at the break measurements that give each individual pitch their unique movement profile. These measurements, displayed in inches, reflect spin-induced movement; thus, they do not take the force of gravity into account.
You’ve probably read a hundred articles about distance in golf - and rightfully so. Distance is one of the most important attributes in a golfer’s game. This isn’t an article about the importance of increasing your distance, it’s an article about the importance of knowing your distance.
For athletes and coaches, competition, along with other aspects, is why they play any type of sport. Through my days as a player, I loved competing regardless of the situation. It could be shagging fly balls in the outfield or hitting baseballs off a tee.
Launch angle (LA) is a hot topic in baseball as of late. Ever since Statcast introduced launch angle along with many other metrics in 2015, there has been a discussion about its relevance. Some have called launch angle a “type of swing”, but let’s call it exactly what it is: a metric to describe a batted ball.
Curveballs and sliders typically will register the highest raw spin totals of all pitches (MLB average spin rate ≈2430-2530 rpms), though these ranges can become more inflated based on the gyroscopic spin measurements of each pitch.
Whether it was the TV’s in the background showing endless replay videos with shot tracers, GPS satellite view pictures, and our star-studded advisory board, the Rapsodo booth at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show attracted people from all around the world.
The use of spin rate has mostly been referred to as a characteristic of pitching, but it can be applied to hitting as well. Every batted ball has a spin rate which can be used to determine a hitter’s quality of contact. Dialing in a hitter’s spin rate can lead to greater success in exit speed, launch angle, and other important statistics.
In 2019, MLB four-seam fastball spun at roughly 2300 rpms; however, the most effective four-seamers averaged well above that mark. Given the nature of the pitch, maximizing raw spin and spin efficiency is vital. I’ll use a pitcher from a previous article to better illustrate what spin efficiency can do for a true four-seam fastball. Velocity (mph) Spin […]
One of the largest differentiators between Rapsodo and other consumer ball flight tracking technologies is Rapsodo’s ability to track both raw spin and the percentage of raw spin that directly impacts movement. This measurement is called spin efficiency.
The Rapsodo Mobile Launch Monitor (MLM) was awarded the 2020 ING Product Ingenuity Award in Technology. The ING announced the winners in each category at the Industry Honors Presentation Press Conference at the PGA Merchandise Show. The International Network Of Golf is a non-profit, media-based networking organization whose mission is to enhance and promote communication […]
There are many variables when it comes to velocity in fastpitch softball pitching. I like to pull them into three main groups: size of the pitcher, mechanics of the movements, and effort. Rapsodo softball can help measure a myriad of information in the mechanics department that can instantly help the pitcher work mechanics and see direct results.
Rapsodo announced its partnership with Golf Digest at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, FL. This partnership is to build the new Coach Connect™ platform together. Coach Connect will make improving your golf performance easier with better results.
The 2020 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida spans from January 22nd– January 24th. Combined with the Tour Edge Media Day and Demo Day, Rapsodo will be there for the full week. For those of you that are new to the golf industry, these six days are truly like no other.
In 2003, best-selling author Michael Lewis published Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. The book was about how Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane used advanced analytics to uncover hidden value in baseball players and gain a statistical advantage over his more well-resourced competition. You’ve probably heard of the book. It sold almost 2 […]
The American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and Rapsodo are gearing up for a three-year partnership. This partnership is a perfect match as both organizations, Rapsodo and the AJGA, share similar goals in improving player development. The AJGA is a “501 nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who […]
There are two release measurements that affect the overall movement profile of a given pitch: spin direction and gyro degree. While both are measured at release, we will tackle each measurement within their own dedicated sections.
Whether it was our hat or spin axis tool giveaways, the several demos that took place in our cage, or our product displays and video clips, the Rapsodo booth remained as busy as expected throughout the 2020 ABCA show in Nashville, Tennessee. As a first-time attendee, I enjoyed meeting coaches across all levels as well […]
Speed. Base stealers have it, pitchers throw with it, and with the advent of StatCast – batters can have it too. Exit speed is a measurement of how hard a given ball is hit as it leaves the bat. The higher the exit speed, the farther a ball has the ability to travel. The measurement of speed in baseball […]
INSIGHT is a high speed, slow motion camera that can be used for both hitting and pitching. It sits on a tripod to capture up to 850 frames per second.
From my perspective, three main points are top of mind: how coaches use technology today, what their players think of the technology and data, and how we can better bridge gaps as a technology partner.
Velocity Velocity: the singular measurement by which all pitchers have been assessed over the course of baseball history. It gauges the release speed of the ball as it leaves a pitcher’s hand. It goes without saying that pitches thrown at higher velocity ranges have more room for location error, especially when it comes to fastballs. However, […]
Using Rapsodo to measure the velocity of each pitch thrown is valuable to all pitchers. All of the pitchers I work with are fixated on getting to 60 mph on their power pitches.
Four years ago, Rapsodo made a name for itself at this very convention where it launched its first diamond sport product still in beta stages.
Bowdoin College Assistant Softball Coach Jen Burton won a VIP NFCA Experience through Rapsodo at Softball Excellence in August.
NFCA19 is in the books! The much anticipated fastpitch softball coaches convention did not disappoint. More than 20 hours of educational presentations and countless conversations were jammed into the four day event in Atlantic City, NJ. Rapsodo had a prominent presence at the event with a 20 by 60 foot booth which included a full […]
Welcome to Rapsodo’s new blog. A space for finding baseball, golf and softball expertise! We are excited to launch this new platform where you will find articles on understanding and reading Rapsodo data analytics, frequently asked questions, success stories, Q & A’s, event information, company updates and more!