Blast, DK, etc....

[CoachJB55]

I've been looking into getting either a Blast Motion, Diamond Kinetic Swing Tracker, or something similar. I'd like to hear your experiences and preferences on which is better and all the good stuff. Just looking for more info from people who've actually used it before.

Thanks!

 

[COSavages]

I got my DD (14U A) Blast Motion last winter when on sale. It's a great tool but provides an overwhelming amount of data. Not having a lot of experience, I spent a lot of time online figuring out how to make best use of the information. Decided to KISS it and just focus her on a couple of measurables - ball exit velocity and bat speed. We tried the Ball Flight app so she can see where in the field the hits are landing. I don't think we're calibrating it correctly because with exit velocity of 62mph at 25 degree angle, the app says the ball lands just behind SS.
Our only other complaint is that it's buggy with app on Android. DD has samsung phone. It doesn't connect about 1/3-1/2 of the tries. It works great with my iPhone.

 

[fanboi22]

It was interesting to see some of these metrics in action with DD and other kids at a showcase last month. High bat speed seemed to correlate with a little higher time to contact and lower on plane for the girls with the most power. They were the ones hitting the bombs in the HR derby. I have been trying to get my DD to have higher on plane scores but not sure currently if that is at the cost of something else. A lot of the power girls seemed to be dropping hands a bit, arm barring the front arm and really getting some bat speed. They all seemed to be pretty successful in their HS and summer ball as well, so whatever works. My DD doesn't make good contact if she drops her hands.

For me the best thing about the Blast is that the video it takes is backwards chained from contact and the video clips it makes is easier to review quickly as it deletes all the wait time in between swings. I don't do a deep dive on the metrics as much any more as i seem to know what i am looking for and the metrics are just a byproduct of that and may help identify what to work on. But if you can get one on the cheap it is a pretty useful tool for the most part.

 

[Laphoneman]

I just got the win reality “game “ which uses the DK sensor right now the only thing I’m working on is being able to see how her form affects the bat path and the DK app is doing that for me I haven’t really paid attention to the other metrics

 

[ChrisSB]

We've had blast for about a year. DD uses the metrics to compete against herself and likes the fun and challenge it bring to her reps. There is a target range for each metric and drills provided if you fall outside the target. Our hitting instructor uses it and he's been very helpful with helping us understand everything, otherwise it could be overwhelming with the amount of information it provides.We also like that we can easily send the automatically edited video clips to him for feedback. We also love the 3D feature because it gives a clear view of her bat path.

We don't pay the extra for the connection subscription. Her hitting coach mainly uses bat speed and attack angle metrics.

We've used it both on ios and android. There are more features on ios. On android I had one phone that it worked ok on and another phone where it was barely useable.