Sports Technology in Baseball

My favorite baseball bat growing up was the grey Easton. It felt like swinging a whiffle ball bat in my hand. In 2023 baseball has found its way to integrate technology into it’s bats. Marucci and Diamond Kinetics have unveiled the Marucci CATX Smart bat, the first bat with an integrated sensor and approved by the USSSA for in game use.

The CATX smart bat has the same feel and weight as a normal bat but has a sensor knob at the bottom. The sensor leverages state-of-the-art technology to gamify training with missions and challenges that reward participation. Each bat has a unique ID linked to the Diamond Kinetics app so players can immediately personalize their development and unlock their potential while opening up a whole new world of hitting experiences. CATX Smart users can participate in guided hitting sessions where they are encouraged to swing like Marucci Athletes including Alex Bregman, Trea Turner, Austin Riley, Freddie Freeman, Anthony Rizzo, and Francisco Lindor, and access exclusive DK x Marucci challenges within the app.

Marucci and Diamond Kinetics have created a way to gamify youth sports and create a fun way to go after the youth market. Check out our blog on offline to online strategies for sports technology startups to learn more ways that sports tech companies can grow sales using offline to online strategies.

How Drive Hockey Analytics is Helping Youth Sports through IoT

In recent weeks we have connected with Drive Hockey a company out of Canada that is focusing it’s technology on youth development. As a former athlete, training tools are imperative. The toughest thing in youth development is to grow your skills at a fast pace, but to begin to identify ways and methods that will take you to the next level. Whatever that next level may be.

What Drive Hockey Analytics has done is made development simple and easy. Using IoT technology, hockey players are able to track their movements on the ice, with their stick, and how they handle the puck. This is called the DRIVE system. The Drive system is made up of 3 tracking components: A DRIVE trackable truck, a DRIVE stick tag (which goes over the end of your hockey stick), and the Rink senors which monitor your movements.

With this technology players can start tracking stats each game and garner hard data on various aspects of their performance such as top speed, zone time, puck possession, shots, passes, etc. The system uses these metrics to analyze each players unique playing style.

For me, this is invaluable. A lot of times as a youth player the direction of your playing style is dictated by your coach, parents, or who you watch on TV. Using this DRIVE system truly gives everyone involved hard data that can be used. The toughest thing in youth sports is making sure the development is in sync-coaches, parents, and the player. This system allows for that. It takes away a lot of the guessing game that is involved in youth sports and will make getting better, easy.

Reach out if you would like to learn more information on Drive Hockey Analytics