gameSense

Another valuable tool Ohio University is using with players, is gameSense. This visual training software allows hitters to better recognize pitches. Our players will use this on a laptop. Once they are signed in, the user gets to see pitches from a batter’s point of view. It shows the pitcher going through their windup and then delivering the pitch, except the screen cuts off before the pitch reaches the plate and the player has to click on what type of pitch was thrown, and whether it was a ball or strike. When you challenge a hitters pitch recognition by showing them less of the pitch, it is called temporal occlusion. This method has been proven to enhance reflex decisions, aka hitting.

Reading the pitch type within 20 feet of the release point is crucial to having success at the plate. If you can do this successfully, you can make better swing decisions and adjustments. Think of it this way, if a pitcher throws 90 mph, the pitch will reach the plate in a little over 400 milliseconds. It takes the human brain about 100 milliseconds to process an image, 25 milliseconds for the brain to tell the body to swing, and the average swing takes about 150 milliseconds. This leaves approximately 125 milliseconds to decide what the pitch is, and whether or not to swing. This is why improving a hitter’s skill of pitch recognition is so important. And players can do just that, by putting in a couple minutes a day.

Another bonus this gives coaches is more insight to why a player might be struggling at the plate. Many coaches and hitters alike are quick to want to change the mechanics of a swing just because they are struggling. gameSense allows us to see that a hitter’s problem at the plate could be more strongly related to not picking up the pitch quickly enough as opposed to mechanical deficiencies.

Scores on gameSense are one of the things we test every three weeks on “Testing Day”. But the great thing about it is that players can practice and get a ton of reps in a short amount of time. According to gamesensesports.com, “In 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week you can see 1,000’s of pitches from top-grade professional, college, and travel pitchers' '.So frankly any team not using pitch recognition training is putting themselves at a disadvantage.

gameSense is just one of many things that the Ohio University’s coaching staff is introducing to their players to improve their game. It has proven success time and time again with college programs even all the way up to the Major League level, and I can’t wait to see this pay off for our players down the road in the spring.

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