Rapsodo pitching/hitting

shaker1 · Sep 8, 2018

What's your thoughts on this new technology? I personally would love to have use of a gadget like this. I could see this as a big draw for hitting and pitching facilities. I linked these videos in another thread, gonna put them here also,
https://rapsodo.com/coach-mike-white-oregon/
https://youtu.be/uADwmdajpLc

Live demo, baseball
https://youtu.be/ebJONQHfXuY

Chris Delorit · Sep 9, 2018

Yes.

Chris

sluggers · Sep 9, 2018

I'm not real impressed with it for pitching It is looks more like a toy rather than a tool to improve pitching.

In this article (https://www.flosoftball.com/articles/6246853-how-technology-is-shaping-the-way-we-evaluate-pitchers) using the rapsodo, the data was nonsense.

E.g., on one pitch, Daniel O'Toole throws a riseball with 1089 RPM and gets a 2.9 vertical break. Then she throws a curveball with 846RPM and gets a 3.5 vertical break.

That data is just garbage...it makes no sense.

And, if it can't measure pitches accurately, then it is worthless.

The basic concept is that a camera creates a video of the ball in flight. Then, it uses software to calculate spin. It tries to be a poor's man version of pro baseball's Pitch F/X.

The PitchFX system uses three stationary cameras in a ball park. Every MLB park has them. MLB knows the precise location of each camera, the pitching mound and the plate. It uses the three cameras to triangulate the ball position during the pitch.

The biggest problem with Rapsodo is that it doesn't have triangulation. So, the device is guessing as to the ball location.

The next problem is that practice facilities are not set up accurately. Is it 43 feet from the mound to the plate? No one cares...close enough is fine. How about where the device is placed? I have a hard time imagining someone in a pitching tube placing the device at precisely the right location.

Finally, I also don't see the point. A pitching coach should be able to watch the ball and see the spin axis. And, a pitcher and catcher should *LEARN* to see the spin on the ball.

if you want to know the RPMs on the ball, you can get a RevFire and accurately measure the spin rate.

shaker1 · Sep 9, 2018

sluggers said:
I'm not real impressed with it for pitching It is looks more like a toy rather than a tool to improve pitching.

In this article (https://www.flosoftball.com/articles/6246853-how-technology-is-shaping-the-way-we-evaluate-pitchers) using the rapsodo, the data was nonsense.

E.g., on one pitch, Daniel O'Toole throws a riseball with 1089 RPM and gets a 2.9 vertical break. Then she throws a curveball with 846RPM and gets a 3.5 vertical break.

That data is just garbage...it makes no sense.

And, if it can't measure pitches accurately, then it is worthless.

The basic concept is that a camera creates a video of the ball in flight. Then, it uses software to calculate spin. It tries to be a poor's man version of pro baseball's Pitch F/X.

The PitchFX system uses three stationary cameras in a ball park. Every MLB park has them. MLB knows the precise location of each camera, the pitching mound and the plate. It uses the three cameras to triangulate the ball position during the pitch.

The biggest problem with Rapsodo is that it doesn't have triangulation. So, the device is guessing as to the ball location.

The next problem is that practice facilities are not set up accurately. Is it 43 feet from the mound to the plate? No one cares...close enough is fine. How about where the device is placed? I have a hard time imagining someone in a pitching tube placing the device at precisely the right location.

Finally, I also don't see the point. A pitching coach should be able to watch the ball and see the spin axis. And, a pitcher and catcher should *LEARN* to see the spin on the ball.

if you want to know the RPMs on the ball, you can get a RevFire and accurately measure the spin rate.

Just so I'm not confused, your not a fan? Lol

The article you reference has a key point, in reading this article, https://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2016/11/rapsodo-trackman-pitch-tracking-technologies-stand/, it seems the unit has trouble reading straight on 12/6 spin. The author referenced Otoole's perfect backspun riseball, so that could be the data issue. Which, i think would be a deal breaker for softball. Fix that, I see lots of potential for something like this. The tracking feature, I could care less about, the other features seem sound from what I've read, watched. A dedicated spot in a pitching facility would see alot of use, where I'm located.

Myself, I'd love to spend some time with one to see the data. Just to see how the unit tracks, if it tracks pitch after pitch. To see how kids react to the data. If it's easier for them to make adjustments off the data they see rather than someone telling them pitch after pitch to do this or do that. How much time is wasted in practice getting a point across?
You say kids should learn about what kind of spin they throw, they should, but they dont, or about how spin axis works, oh I can see their eyes glazing over now. Good luck with that. WCWS is a prime example. Bullet spin everywhere. Something like this would help kids with that, where they could actually see the axis and make adjustments.
Rapsodo in my opinion, may need some tweaking, but that's where instruction is headed, already there, like it or not. Give me a rev fire with axis info and I would be interested. Otherwise, no thanks

coach james · Sep 10, 2018

Rick Pauly has extensive knowledge on it. He and Sara were in a beta test group during its development phases. To my knowledge Rick is not a big fan due to its inconsistent data... To add insult to injury they failed to compensate him and Sara as promised.

Ken B · Sep 12, 2018

For pitching: the RevFire, my eyes (for axis) and a Pocket Radar would do as well, if not better.

625ender · Sep 13, 2018

It doesn't show anything usable. It counts location as movement. That's horse poo. At 3:30 Mike White says the pitch shows 11" of lift. A double break? Ugh

Rapsodo pitching/hitting

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