JP---
That's very true--we have all this great technology available yet it's confined to university research labs producing information that is eventually tucked away in medical journals to collect dust over the ages. My first statement that I'm sure some will disagree with, why do we need video capture if we are doing all the right things to develop athletes? So many coaches and parents have disagreed with myself and other professionals in this industry because they feel that their way is the right way. If they were teaching kids the proper techniques in the first place we wouldn't need to rely on video to teach a skill such as pitching mechanics. When in the weight room, we don't need to video tape our kids squatting so we can show them the technique and what they are doing wrong. We instruct them well the first time and reinforce the technique, providing instant feedback to create ideal habits. Video capture, in many instances is trying to introduce another method of learning to an athlete that really wouldn't be necessary if they were coached correctly the first time around. In this particular case, we're using advanced technologies to correct a cultural flaw in the sport. Again, in this particular case, instead of investing major dollars in video analysis, get smaller baseballs and find a coach that can effectively teach athletes the proper mechanics at a young age.
Now, I'm not saying that capturing video is bad, or that the technology is useless. Besides the video-based research studies that never reach the most fundamental levels of coaching, a huge disparity exists within the very people that are working on these programs. The highly educated MD's and PT's are taking clinical facts and applying it to pitching research. That's great, but if they were given a young baseball player that had mechanical flaws needing correction, they wouldn't know where to begin. Then we have ex-baseball players that are now skills coaching kids, that's great too, but they don't have the education or experience to work with kids on the more physiological-based aspects of development. Then we have the average little league dad trying to help his kids out. That's awesome, but they don't have the knowledge on either side of the coin to develop kids at the most fundamental level of sport. To compound the problem further, we also have the ex-baseball players that try to be strength coaches that in many cases, impose inappropriate volumes and methods on kids that are seriously detrimental to success.
The direction we are heading is towards the positive as we now have guys like myself, Dan Huff, Jon Doyle, Tom Hanson and Mike Griffin who played the game and are highly educated and experience in the industry.
With these guys out there in the field, we can finally combine the clinical and practical elements of the sport along with technological breakthroughs to really make a difference in the lives of young athletes.
The best advantage of the video technology is that it can take already sound pitching mechanics to a whole new level. The video technology can help correct minor flaws in technique to boost performance and irradicate injury instead of its current use of trying to conquer major mechanical deficiencies caused by poor coaching and outdated tradition.
Thanks for the time JP. I really appreciate it.
Will Haskell, YCS Lev. II, ACE.
siriusperformance@yahoo.com