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Cage Sessions: Building a Hitting Approach with Rapsodo

Rapsodo enables the hitter and instructor to really dial in the ins and outs of their swing. Rapsodo’s data driven technology transmits many of the key ingredients to help the hitter be successful such as exit velocity, launch angle, and spin rate. All of these data sets allow the coach to formulate an effective training session in the cage that can be translated to the game. Furthermore, according to Rapsodo, “Our hitting tool lets you know more than just that you hit the back of the cage. Get insight into how each batted ball would perform in a fame, and transform your batting practices into data-driven, interactive hitting sessions” (Rapsodo, 2023).

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What does the Pitching Rapsodo do for Developing Pitchers?

Rapsodo Pitching is a tool or the coaches to demonstrate what is happening with the player on a pitch-to-pitch basis over an entire session. It enables us to elaborate on consistency based on the release height/angle data, as well as showing a measured approach to determine if our pitches show the same identity, or if they are inconsistent pitch-to-pitch. There are a number of great measurables for the coach to use in the Rapsodo session with the player. These measurables include velocity, spin rate, spin efficiency, break patterns, release point, and tunnelling.

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Step by Step Guide to Pitching a Controlled Bullpen

Mastering the craft and art of pitching is no mere stroke of luck or genetic advantage. It demands unwavering commitment, relentless practice, and an unwavering determination to refine each and every pitch. To truly become an exceptional pitcher, one must immerse themselves in the discipline of pitching, honing their skills in what is commonly referred to as a "bullpen" session.

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How to Measure Hitting Success

Measured Hitting Instruction

According to the publication Popular Science, "Hitting a baseball is the hardest skill to pull off in sports" as it is (scientifically speaking) "a unique blend of physics and neuroscience [which] makes the skill astronomically difficult." Now, take the hardest skill in sports and apply that with youth baseball players; it takes time, practice, and understanding of how to break down & teach to a young player what to do to be a good hitter.

At DREAM Team Baseball, we use "old school" hitting fundamental techniques and combine them with "new school" optical technology (with Rapsodo Hitting Technology) including measuring Exit Speed, Total Spin, Spin Access, Launch Angle, and Exit Direction. One may say that gathering this intelligence is going "over the top," but what Rapsodo data does show is what happens when a player makes contact with the ball (which is obviously the result of their bat path and overall hitting mechanics). More than anything, this helps pinpoint simple adjustments that can be made and then see results (when adjustments are made) of better back spin (which produces line drives as opposed to top spin which produces ground balls). This is just one application of using software to get feedback from this type of swing analysis. With all of this intelligence, we can track and make necessary adjustments, but again there's a balance of using the "new school" software with traditional (old school) hitting fundamentals. From a development standpoint, the main question (as instructors) is "why would you guess when you can assess (with measurements)?" DREAM Baseball will incorporate these measurements into hitting fundamentals and (by putting it all together) make every hitting session a learning session and overall produce greater results.

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