Thanks to the speed of technological developments, we’re now able to get fantastic baseball swing analyzer tools for cheaper than anyone would have imagined. Between slow motion video and gadgetry, even young and amateur baseball enthusiasts can get to know what’s going on with their swings.
Even phone apps have gyroscopic capabilities that can help you become a better player. With all of the gadgets and video analysis groups online, it’s hard to know what’s good and what’s a waste of time.
That’s why we’ve put together the ultimate guide on what to look for in a baseball swing analyzer and which products might work for you.
5 Best Baseball Swing Analyzers
Up to bat is our curated list of the baseball swing analyzer and summaries.
#1 Blast Baseball 360
This product can show you a lot of information very easily. It gives you the angle of your shaft while you’re hitting the ball. It also feeds you information about the top head speed when you hit the ball. If you’re trying to figure out your optimal hit point, you can get that from this product. The Blast Baseball 360 Swing Analyzer can fit easily in your bag and travel lightly.
This product is exceptional compared to other products because it can show you information without needing to make contact with the ball. It’s also great because you don’t need to calibrate it. It will be deadly accurate from the moment it comes out of the box.
While you get lots of data, not all of it is easy to understand. It’s about half the weight of the above Zepp product but happens to be a little bit simpler.
#2 Diamond SwingTracker
Following decades of advice and experience from trained swing analyzers, the Diamond SwingTracker has technology beyond what you get from the average tool. You get a swing analyzer app that pairs perfectly with your phone or tablet. You’ll be able to view your swings over and over until you start getting exactly what you want.
#3 SWINGRAIL Baseball and Softball Swing Trainer
The SWINGRAIL Baseball and Softball Swing Trainer is a manual way to develop excellent swing mechanics. Whereas the other options on our list have a digital component, this is a low-cost swing trainer that features a breakaway guidestrap that provides hitters with instant feedback when their swing is incorrect. This product guides the hands and helps players establish critical muscle memory to train proper swing plane as well as staying inside the ball.
This product comes with 15 online instruction videos and a training program so when you’re just starting out with this device, you’ll have a quick understanding of how to incorporate it in hitters’ training regime. Those tips can help you to improve your form and get the swing and sabermetrics you’re looking for.
The SWINGRAIL is the winner of Collegiate Baseball’s “Best of Show” at the convention of the American Baseball Coaches Association and is a #1 best seller in the baseball and softball batting trainers category.
#4 Sports Sensors Swing Speed Radar
This is an easily portable swing analyzer that can be set up quickly and used to measure baseball swing speeds. The design is made to attach to the batting cage at any height for accurate readings.
The microwave Doppler radar is powered by AA batteries.
#5 Zepp Baseball-Softball 2
This Zepp product will help you by giving you information on everything you can think of. From your hand speed to the amount of time it takes to make an impact, you can get a boatload of data. It can even help you by pairing to the camera on your phone or tablet to create HD videos that you can use. You can compare your videos to the 3D models that the tracker makes.
This device can create custom training programs to help you figure out what you need. If you have a team you’re trying to help, you can manage every one with this one app. While it’s a little tougher to calibrate than other models, this 5.6-ounce product gives you a lot of power in a small package.
Know Where To Start
If you’ve been playing for decades, you might not need help from a tool that badly. If you’ve got a coach who is constantly helping you to perfect and maintain your technique, you may be ready to hit the field without a tool. Practice is your best bet for ensuring that you’re going to make powerful contact with the ball every time.
However, even the most perfect player can use some feedback from hitting coaches and gadgets based on decades of experience and analysis.
Measuring bat and hand speed is important. Every time you play, you should get help documenting your progress. With the help of some expert video analysis, you can ensure that you’re getting useful and relevant feedback to make you a better hitter. Documentation and feedback are your best friends in becoming a great hitter.
Know What Not To Expect
If you’re looking to be the best player every time you step on to the field, you can spend all the money you want to climb up the rankings. However, if you don’t spend the hours it takes to practice hitting real balls from a real pitcher, you’ll only be theoretically good. Nothing can take the place of practice.
If you want to always be getting better, practice and analysis are the perfect combinations. Without the time it takes to hit the field, an analyzer can’t make you any better. It takes work and a lot of practice to get better. If you’re not willing to put in the time, you can’t expect a swing analyzer to help you fix your problems. It’s merely a tool, rather than an aid.
Do You Prefer A Service or A Gadget?
Your swing analyzer can take the form of either a type of service you subscribe to or a gadget you can hold in your hand. Your bat can be fitted with a gadget that sends you immediate swing metrics. That data can be sent to your phone and give you information about how fast you swing, how steady, and how consistent you are.
Visual Aide
Still, if you prefer to be able to converse with someone, you can have a video analysis done. Feedback from hitting pros can be helpful, but more expensive and less practical.
Keep in mind that your swing analyzer gadget will be optimized in a particular way that might not agree with your style as a hitter. A combination of both methods might be the way forward.
What Your Baseball Swing Analyzer Gadget Can Do
Just because a video analysis service can offer something more specifically targeted and catered to you doesn’t mean that they’re somehow useless. In fact, they offer a lot of uses and a high degree of success. It’s hard to tell how well you’re hitting unless you can get a quick view when you need one.
Gadgets can take care of that.
Track Data
Your gadgets can give you a lot of data to view over time. While you might run a long day of hitting drills to try to see what you can do, it’s hard to gauge what’s going on beyond that day.
With the help of a hitting coach, you could go into the data you’ve gotten and talk about what you should be doing. While they’ll get more from watching you, your gadget will provide a view into how you’re hitting.
Understanding Sensors
Sensors are usually attached to the bat. There are some units that have square-shaped sensors versus round sensors. Manufacturers will want to tout the value of one over the other but the difference is truly nominal.
Troubleshooting Potential Problems with Your Baseball Swing Analyzer
- One thing to worry about is the sensor getting dislodged during play. If your sensor is dislodged, your data could be useless. However, if you’re having it sent to your phone automatically, you’ll always know if you’re getting data or not.
- Some sensors are held together by the plastic frame of the mount. This is a situation ripe for disaster and dislodged sensors. However, if the sensor is mounted inside the casing, you can be assured that it will last longer.
- Sometimes, there’s an issue with the sensor and you might have to contact the manufacturer for that. You don’t need to be dealing with complications when you’re trying to focus on your swing.
Metrics Are A Must
At the end of the day, you shouldn’t spend your time worrying about what fits on your bat better. The point is that the product does a good job of letting you become a better hitter. When your product is doing its job right, you’re going to find it useful and get data that are intricate in a way that’s useful to you.
If you want to have the highest amount of data, get a swing analyzer that gives you loads of data. You need visualizations if you can get them. Metrics are nice but if you can’t get a concrete idea of what they mean, they might not be very useful to you.
When you can see the bat path and plane, you can get targeted data about your vertical and your attack angles. You’ll see your time to impact, your bat speed impact, and even the maximum hand speed you’re hitting.
While this can feel daunting, there are other products that are a little simpler and more user-friendly. These products can show you the efficiency and power of your swing. They call this the “blast factor” and it’s basically the simplified version of the metrics of your swing and its impact.
Simplify the Approach
If you’re not a professional data analyst, all of these measurements might not give you what you’re looking for. However, if you can understand how they relate to you, you can get a lot more out of them.
Zepp has stopped shipping it’s baseball sensors in the US as part of a settlement with blast motion. You might want to knock them down to 5th.