BATS testing

[Kelly Clinevell]

I wondered if anyone was familiar with the BATS testing by Dr. Frank Spaniol and had opinions on its accuracy? For those who aren't familiar here's a link for the norms that he came up with for high school and NCAA softball players http://ftp.nfca.org/bats/batsnorms.pdf

The norms for the 20yd dash seem a little slow and the bat speed seems a little fast to me and I just wondered if anyone had any experiences with or opinions of the test.

 

[rowdy]

He probably used auto start clocks and they are alot more accurate than handheld times. Times to first are often as accurate in TB as pitching speeds.

 

[nanotech14]

Times to first are often as accurate in TB as pitching speeds.

thanks,I needed a good laugh!!

 

[Daddylawman]

My 2 cents - and you're probably overpaying. I was at Pennsbury with DD and she went through the BATS testing. I personally question it's value. The fact is that it measures a lot of objective physical numbers, but I'm not sure that makes it an accurate projector of college softball success. Just like with the NFL combine, it might be a nice supplemental tool. What I fear is that coaches will use this as a way of devaluing actually watching girls play.

The testing at Pennsbury was done in a parking lot with girls sliding all over the place, especially on change of direction drills. If coaches start putting any significant weight on this you will start seeing girls train for the combine, which leads to distorted results. Just because a girl trains to throw a medicine ball hard, doesn't mean she can translate it to the field.

Let's not forget there's a group of adults that stand to make a nice profit if we start signing our DD's up for this. Basically, I found it interesting, but superfluous.

 

[Not_Enuf_Mustard]

Pennsbury is coming up again. I was wondering if anyone had anthing to add about BATS testing. Looks like at the Pennsbury showcacse they include some of the BATS testing elements, then for an additional $29 you can opt for the full battery of tests. Do coaches pay atttention to these results? Not asking if they should, but do they?

Description of BATS Testing
BATS Testing Explanation for Athletes & Coaches