Pocket Radar Coach positioning for exit speeds

Has anyone had any experience getting the Pocket Radar positioned correctly to measure batted ball exit speeds? I just got the PR Coach version and set it up on a tripod directly behind a tee at approximately the ball height. The readings are varying wildly from 30 mph - 80 mph. Swings speeds have been fairly consistent according to Zepp. Any ideas on how to properly position the radar would be appreciated.

I have seen this too. It seems to me that unless the ball is more or less hit directly at where you have the radar gun placed, you are going to get the crazy readings. Assuming it is calibrated correctly, I don't think a radar gun can overstate a speed, so the higher numbers should be the more accurate ones.

Tom said:

Has anyone had any experience getting the Pocket Radar positioned correctly to measure batted ball exit speeds? I just got the PR Coach version and set it up on a tripod directly behind a tee at approximately the ball height. The readings are varying wildly from 30 mph - 80 mph. Swings speeds have been fairly consistent according to Zepp. Any ideas on how to properly position the radar would be appreciated.

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Tom said:

Has anyone had any experience getting the Pocket Radar positioned correctly to measure batted ball exit speeds? I just got the PR Coach version and set it up on a tripod directly behind a tee at approximately the ball height. The readings are varying wildly from 30 mph - 80 mph. Swings speeds have been fairly consistent according to Zepp. Any ideas on how to properly position the radar would be appreciated.

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Tom, I am glad that you brought this up. I am always happy to help. If you ever have any questions please feel free to call our toll free support line at 888.381.2672. In the meantime, let me try and clarify a few things.
There are several things to consider when measuring ball exit speeds. It only works on a well hit ball. It is important to remember that all radar guns only measure accurate speeds when the flight path of the ball is in-line with the radar beam. Radar guns cannot measure off-angle. That means that you can only measure accurate ball exit velocities on well hit line drives. If the ball is hit off at an angle the readings will be low. It is also important to make sure that you are a good distance away from the tee with the radar gun. Further back is better because the radar beam spreads out a flashlight beam and if you are too close the beam is so small it is hard to find the ball and then the bat can confuse things. The easiest way to help with this is to have the radar behind a net and hit towards the radar gun. This also allows you to set up a target and see that the only good readings are the ones that go directly towards the gun. The other problem that can occur is when the bat is too lightweight. As I mentioned, the ball exit speed measurement only works on a well hit ball, which should always be faster than the bat swing speed by about 20% for a BBCOR bat. Unfortunately many players are so focused on swing speed that they end up using a very light bat. The problem is that if the bat is too light it will not be able to transfer the energy onto the ball and the exit speed will actually be lower than the swing speed. For instance, you can swing a broomstick very fast but you will never be able to get any power on the ball with it. We have a lot of great material on all of these issues available on our hitting page under our softball web-page if you are interested. If you are generating ball exit speeds that are lower than the swing speed it will be a problem for the radar gun.
My suggestion is to set up with the radar right behind the net and only count the line-drives that go directly towards the radar. If you do need to set up behind the tee, try to be at least 15 to 20 feet back and only count the line drives that stay in-line with the radar beam. If you think that the readings are not consistent you also should try to use a slightly heavier bat. We worked a lot with Derek and Joann Allister at On-Deck Softball and they told us that 90% of the girls they evaluated were swinging too light of a bat which means they are not getting the power to the ball. This is also one of the things that Clint Myers did when he moved to Auburn that increased their hitting performance dramatically by using the Ball Coach radar and focusing on generating higher ball exit speeds off the bat.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions. If you have any more please let me know. We are always happy to help. You can reach me by e-mail at info@PocketRadar.com or toll-free at 888.381.2672 from 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific Time. If we are on the line with another customer please leave a message and we will call you back. Thanks,
Chris Stewart / President, Pocket Radar, Inc.

Thanks Chris, I will give that a try. With the PRC behind the next do you think it is more accurate to have the device vertical or on the same plane as the ball (ie, tilted slightly down and above ball plane, assuming a rising line drive hit), or does it matter?

Tom said:

Thanks Chris, I will give that a try. With the PRC behind the next do you think it is more accurate to have the device vertical or on the same plane as the ball (ie, tilted slightly down and above ball plane, assuming a rising line drive hit), or does it matter?

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Here is the best way to think about it. All radar guns focus the radio waves into a narrow cone about the shape of a flashlight beam. You need to keep that beam as directly in line with the path of the ball as possible.

For instance, if you are behind the ball on the tee and the radar is tilted down slightly and the ball is a rising line drive, you may miss the ball completely if the radar is not very far back, or you may get a lower speed due to the angle.

All radar guns read lower speeds when you are off angle from the path of the ball. 10 degrees tilt down will read 1% lower and 20 degrees tilt down will read 5% lower.

So the best answer is try to keep the radar aimed so the beam is in-line with the flight of the ball.

Let me know if this makes sense to you.

Call me at 888.381.2672 if you want to go into more details. Thanks,

Chris Stewart / President, Pocket Radar, Inc.

Pocket Radar said:

Here is the best way to think about it. All radar guns focus the radio waves into a narrow cone about the shape of a flashlight beam. You need to keep that beam as directly in line with the path of the ball as possible.

For instance, if you are behind the ball on the tee and the radar is tilted down slightly and the ball is a rising line drive, you may miss the ball completely if the radar is not very far back, or you may get a lower speed due to the angle.

All radar guns read lower speeds when you are off angle from the path of the ball. 10 degrees tilt down will read 1% lower and 20 degrees tilt down will read 5% lower.

So the best answer is try to keep the radar aimed so the beam is in-line with the flight of the ball.

Let me know if this makes sense to you.

Call me at 888.381.2672 if you want to go into more details. Thanks,

Chris Stewart / President, Pocket Radar, Inc.

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Chris, if setting up behind the net, how much distance is ideal between the tee and the net? Ball Coach is scheduled to be delivered today! Thanks

SoGASoftball said:

Chris, if setting up behind the net, how much distance is ideal between the tee and the net? Ball Coach is scheduled to be delivered today! Thanks

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Great question.
The simple answer is about 12 to 15 feet depending on how fast the ball is moving.

The reason is that the Ball Coach radar makes several measurements at a rate of 50 times a second. It wants to see several readings on a ball in flight to be sure that it is getting the maximum speed right off the bat. (Or right out of the hand). For instance, if the Exit Speed is around 90 MPH then it is traveling about 132 feet per second. In that case if the ball travels 15 feet you have enough time to get at least 4 to 5 measurements on the ball before it hits the net. As you get closer than that it can cause problems making sure that it is always seeing the ball in flight.

I hope this helps explain how things work. If you ever have any questions, please call me toll-free at 888.381.2672 from 9 AM to 5 PM Pacific Time. Thanks,

Chris Stewart / President, Pocket Radar, Inc.