K Vest 3-D motion capture is relatively new technology for baseball players and coaches in the Fort Wayne area, but is being used at the highest level of the sport by over 23 MLB teams and several of the top college programs and performance centers such as Driveline Baseball. Today I wanted to introduce this technology and how it can be used to improve your performance at the plate.
What is K Vest?
K Vest consists of 4 sensors you wear on your shoulders, pelvis, arm and hand/wrist. You will then hit balls and the system will capture information. The software will then provide information on important aspects of your swing such as your kinematic sequence, swing efficiency and body positions throughout the swing. This is data that cannot be seen with traditional video analysis. Keep reading to see the value of this information, what it means and why this technology should be part of your baseball performance and development program.
What Is The Kinematic Sequence and Swing Efficiency?
Think of the kinetic chain/kinematic sequence as simply how your body transfers energy and speed from the ground, up through your body and ultimately into bat and baseball. K-Vest is able to track this transfer of energy and sequence. Why does this matter?
Did you know that all great hitters have the same kinematic sequence or the same signature of generating speed and transferring speed throughout their body? That means if you compare Mike Trout's kinematic sequence to Freddie Freeman's or Mookie Bett's it's hard to see a difference. Even players with unorthodox swings such as Jeff Bagwell and Kevin Youkilis look the same on 3-D motion capture even though their swing styles are significantly different on video. All great hitters begin by generating speed from their lower body and transferring this speed through their torso, into their arms, and then into the bat. With this information we can quickly identify if there are issues that could be causing you to lose speed/power and consistency during your swing.
We can then pair this data with high speed video analysis and your body's physical movement to give the most in depth understanding of your swing and give you a very individualized plan to help accelerate the learning process.
*For a more in depth breakdown of the kinematic sequence click here
K Baseball also provides valuable information about your body positions throughout the swing:
K Vest technology allows you to see exactly what your body parts such as your torso and pelvis are doing throughout the swing. This can give us valuable insight into your ability to maintain posture during the swing, properly align your body to the height of the pitch as well as put yourself in positions to be the most powerful and efficient. We can also quantify things such as hip to shoulder separation (X factor stretch) throughout the swing as well.
Biofeedback Training
Besides capturing valuable information about your swing and body positions, K Vest can also be used for biofeedback training. Once we take you through the assessment we can use biofeedback training to train specific aspects of the swing. Biofeedback training gives you immediate visual and auditory feedback to help your body understand and learn the swing changes you are trying to make and help speed up the learning process.
Conclusion
The K-Vest is a game changer for hitting development and performance. It is one of the most actionable tools for measuring and describing movement in the swing. This technology can be the missing link when developing a hitter or identifying movement strengths and deficiencies and fill in the gaps and shortcomings of traditional video analysis. I would strongly encourage all players and coaches to consider implementing this technology into their baseball development programs.
For more information. Contact us at (260) 222-6157 or email jared@jaredbicklept.com for information on this technology and how it can help you reach your golf related goals this season.
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