Posted on

How to Use Blast Motion and HitTrax Info to Improve – Part 1

Blast Motion

A few years ago, we installed HitTrax for our hitting program.  Combining HitTrax batted ball results with Blast Motion sensors provides excellent pre- and post-contact information on batted balls.  Now in this 2 part article, we’re going to review what pre-contact metrics from Blast Motion and post-contact data from HitTrax tell us about a hitter and his aptitudes:

Posted on

Sean Hard’s Path to New Jersey State Champion

Sean Hard

As many of you know, senior pitcher Sean Hard and his high school team St. Joe’s (Montvale, NJ) recently won the New Jersey State Non-Public A Group Tournament.  They actually won their league, county, sectional and ultimately the state championship, all in the same year. Sean’s record for the season as a pitcher was 8-0, 50.2 IP, 87 K, 2 R, 0.62 WHIP, 0.36 ERA.  He topped out at 95 mph at the final game of the year.  There are a lot of things Sean has done right during his development and it’s important to highlight how he got here, as no one has worked harder at this craft than this young man. Continue reading “Sean Hard’s Path to New Jersey State Champion”

Posted on

How to Improve Blast Motion “Other” Metrics

Blast’s “Other Metrics”, which are generally used for providing additional context to their 3 Scores, are as follows:

    • Vertical Bat Angle
    • Time to Contact
    • Peak Hand Speed
    • Power

There are several potential physical impediments that could lead to undesirable scores in all these metrics.  Similar to the other Scores, issues could range from the bottom of the kinetic chain all the way to the top, including limited ankle mobility, lower body weaknesses, limitations on t-spine disassociation and even weaknesses in the shoulder region. Continue reading “How to Improve Blast Motion “Other” Metrics”

Posted on

How to Improve Blast Motion Plane Score (Contact)

Blast Plane Score

Blast’s Plane score measures the percentage of time during which your swing is on plane (on-plane efficiency %) and the angle you make contact relative to the horizontal (attack angle). According to Blast, this metric is relevant because players that stay longer on plane:

    • Consistently barrel up balls
    • Can better adjust with their body
    • Are more consistent with exit velocity and launch angles

There are several potential physical impediments that could lead to an undesirable Plane Score.  Issues could range from lower body weaknesses, limitations on t-spine disassociation and even weaknesses in the shoulder region. Continue reading “How to Improve Blast Motion Plane Score (Contact)”

Posted on

How to Improve Blast Motion Rotation Score (Power)

Blast Rotation Score

Given the rotational nature of hitting a baseball, there are variety of potential physical impediments that could lead to an undesirable Rotation Score (rotational acceleration and bat speed).  Issues could range from the bottom of the kinetic chain to the top, including lower body weaknesses, hip mobility limitations, t-spine related issues and even weaknesses in the upper extremities. Continue reading “How to Improve Blast Motion Rotation Score (Power)”

Posted on

How to Improve Blast Motion Connection Score (Consistency)

blast connection score

Blast’s Connection score links together what your body and your bat are doing prior to and at the point of contact.  It uses Early Connection and Connection at Impact metrics as the basis for your score.  Maintaining good connection at impact (90 degrees) for all pitch locations is an indicator of dynamic adjustability.  According to Blast, players with good Connection score:

    • Display better swing adjustability in all pitch locations
    • Have better plate coverage
    • Generate more power to all parts of the field

There are variety of potential physical impediments that could lead to an undesirable Connection score, with Early Connection having slightly different potential set of issues that Connection at Impact.

Continue reading “How to Improve Blast Motion Connection Score (Consistency)”

Posted on

How to Improve Deficiencies in Blast Motion Baseball Metrics

blast motion baseball

This webpage and the associated pages have been prepared as a part of our partnership with Blast Motion to integrate our performance training content into Blast Solution.  For further details, you can reach us here at RPP or contact Blast directly.

Blast Motion Baseball sensors are an easy to use piece of equipment and provide a tremendous amount of valuable swing-related information at a very reasonable cost.  Their scoring system includes metrics on several topics, including:

    • Rotation (power)
    • Plane (contact)
    • Connection (consistency)

The problem is not everyone knows how to address the issues highlighted by the sensors, and not every issue is a skill-related one. Deficiencies in Blast metrics can be also caused by mobility, strength and postural related issues, up and down the kinetic chain. Continue reading “How to Improve Deficiencies in Blast Motion Baseball Metrics”

Posted on

How to Stay in Shape w/ In-season Workouts During Summer Ball

in-season workouts

Summer is recruiting season for most high school ball players, and they obviously need to perform at their best.  However, it is important to understand that while playing baseball makes athletes better at playing baseball from a technical viewpoint, it does not help them get stronger or able to maintain specific training adaptations as the season progresses. This is generally due to the fact that… Continue reading “How to Stay in Shape w/ In-season Workouts During Summer Ball”