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 as putting faces to the names I have already spoken to on the phone over the past few months. I came to the convention with a few expectations and departed the convention with many takeaways.
After taking a couple of days to reflect on the weekend, 3 main points resonated with me the most: players enjoy the competition technology can bring to a practice, coaches and instructors are eager to learn more, and the baseball industry is excited for what the future holds in sports technology.
After several conversations with different coaches, I picked up on a common theme from many of them. Their players enjoy the competition that technology can bring out in a practice setting. One coach stated that his hitters have loved using Rapsodo HITTING 2.0 over the winter months in order to bring energy to practice.
His players will use metrics, such as exit velocity and distance, to create competitions within their own practices. They even created a “400 Club” for those players that are able to clear 400 feet from a hit in the cage.
I came to Nashville hoping to learn more about how the players of today’s game react to technology and advanced analytics and left with the realization that many of them enjoy how it enhances practices from a competition and development standpoint.
Another positive takeaway from ABCA 2020 was the overwhelming amount of coaches eager to learn more. Whether they have Rapsodo or not, many of the coaches and instructors I spoke with touched on their willingness to understand data and how to most effectively translate that data to their players in order to make effective adjustments for positive results.
and to listen to our demo presenters.
With that being said, there was naturally a lot of excitement for the Rapsodo Certified program. Coaches want to learn how to teach off the data more effectively. Academy owners and instructors see the value and credibility Rapsodo Certified can bring to their businesses.
Finally, I noticed that the majority of coaches out there are excited, not hesitant, for what’s next. Technology is rapidly growing within baseball and is only going to continue to do so.
Most coaches have accepted that and embraced it as opposed to backing away from it, which is a positive development. We debuted our new INSIGHT camera at the convention which generated a lot of excitement and conversation among those at our booth. Our high-speed, slow motion camera that pairs up with our HITTING 2.0 and PITCHING 2.0 monitors to seamlessly pair mechanics with raw data is available for pre-order now for a March 17th ship date.
Whether you were a first time attendee like me, or a veteran, ABCA 2020 was a great experience. The passion and energy at the convention was a clear indication that the industry is excited about using technology to maximize player performance. In our pursuit of continuous innovation and improvement, Rapsodo has many new initiatives slated for 2020. All of which will support our mission to enhance player performance by providing professional-grade data to players and coaches at all levels.
