Rapsodo- Anyone seen this technology

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Nov 3, 2012
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I just saw an advertisement pop on my Facebook for Rapsodo. Looks like its a high-tech computer camera that can measure pitching metrics. Sounds like similar to what pros use.
It looks designed for baseball, but there website says they have a softball application for this. The camera could be used for hitting and gives cool hitting data.

This easily replaces rev-fire technology. It uses a camera you place on a tripod which you put behind the catcher and links to a software application you can put on an Ipad. The metrics it measures are: Speed, Spin Rate, Spin Axis, Pitch type, Horizontal and vertical break and 3D ball flight. Also synchs with video of pitcher. It has a pitch design function that sounds pretty cool.

This could be a very valuable tool. But the problem this looks priced for early adopters with some deep pockets. Per the website, the hardware costs $3K. You also can have to get a data subscription which was $500 a year. Too much for me, but maybe a good investment for a pitching coach or for college teams.

Curious if anybody has seen this used yet in softball or baseball. Looks like a good idea.




Here's a link:
Softball - Rapsodo
 
I've had the pleasure of being one of the beta testers for Rapsodo for softball. Dr. Alan Nathan who has posted on this site in the past hooked me up with the company. Dr. Nathan provided guidance to them relative to the physics of ball movement. It is pretty much a finished product for baseball so they are really turning up the development now for softball. It is getting close to providing consistent data......probably one more software tweak and it will be ready for market.
It is truly a revolutionary piece of equipment. The key piece of data it gives that is not available today (short of buying a commercial product at $40,000) is the spin axis of a pitch.....this is one of the primary criteria for ball movement. After every pitch it will show a spinning ball on your laptop screeen and where the axis of rotation is......it actually gives the spin in 3 planes.....amazing. So if this device is in the hands of knowledgeable coach they can show the pitcher the adjustments she needs to make to achieve a more efficient spin axis. It also gives the distance the pitch moved either horizontally or vertically because of the spin axis and spin rate (it removes gravitational effect so the reading is totally movement because of spin rate/spin axis)......great info. In addition it measures all the criteria mentioned above by Softball Scholar.
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
I've had the pleasure of being one of the beta testers for Rapsodo for softball. Dr. Alan Nathan who has posted on this site in the past hooked me up with the company. Dr. Nathan provided guidance to them relative to the physics of ball movement. It is pretty much a finished product for baseball so they are really turning up the development now for softball. It is getting close to providing consistent data......probably one more software tweak and it will be ready for market.
It is truly a revolutionary piece of equipment. The key piece of data it gives that is not available today (short of buying a commercial product at $40,000) is the spin axis of a pitch.....this is one of the primary criteria for ball movement. After every pitch it will show a spinning ball on your laptop screeen and where the axis of rotation is......it actually gives the spin in 3 planes.....amazing. So if this device is in the hands of knowledgeable coach they can show the pitcher the adjustments she needs to make to achieve a more efficient spin axis. It also gives the distance the pitch moved either horizontally or vertically because of the spin axis and spin rate (it removes gravitational effect so the reading is totally movement because of spin rate/spin axis)......great info. In addition it measures all the criteria mentioned above by Softball Scholar.

Very interesting. Sounds like Grandpa RadarGun may have a hard time trying to game this set up.
 

sluggers

Super Moderator
Staff member
May 26, 2008
7,133
113
Dallas, Texas
Have you heard of the Dadsodo?

He measures Speed, Spin Rate, Spin Axis, Pitch type, Horizontal and vertical break and 3D ball flight as well.

This is a sample of the result obtained:

speed: 60 MPH
Spin rate: 40 RPS
Spin Axis: "What is that?"
Pitch type: "That was her backdoor screwball rise."
Horizontal break: 1 foot
Vertical break: 2 feet
3D ball flight: "She walked 10, but she was unhittable."
 

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