Sports wearable company Blast Motion expanded its product offerings to now include Blast Softball 360 and other Blast Connect services. The technology integrated with the former product is the same as the Official Bat Sensor Technology for the MLB, a partnership that was announced last June.
As part of the softball introduction, Blast Motion unveiled a similar partnership with the National Pro Fastpitch League, becoming the organization’s Official Sensor Technology.
“As the top level of competition in our sport, NPF understands the unique value of capturing objective metrics data in real-world game situations and trending results over time,” NPF League Commissioner Cheri Kempf said in a statement. “Our goal is to contribute to the overall development of athletic talent of all ages by giving softball players access to the same opportunities as big-league baseball players. By using Blast technology, NPF will be the first professional franchise to allow swing metrics to be captured for all players at bat, in every game, for an entire season.”
The Blast sensor and bat attachment can be placed over the knob of any softball bat. Through the use of patented video capture technology, Blast Motion’s mobile app and different swinging metrics, players will have a clearer understanding of their current power and efficiency and how to improve upon those areas.
Kempf called the partnership a “game changer” for NPF athletes as they’ll now have an opportunity to view their performance and analyze swings, which will be clipped into a series of highlights and made accessible via Blast Connect cloud-based services. For example, a coach can remotely review a player’s practice, provide voiceover analysis and markups on each swing and also assign additional drills.
“It’s going to be fun watching a new generation of young softball players leverage technology to advance their careers,” Blast Motion Chief Executive Officer Michael Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “It’s also becoming increasingly clear that metrics will play an important role in how an athlete advances from youth participation leagues to elite travel and select teams, and how a player’s metrics history will assist in player recruiting for collegiate and pro teams. Our goal is to help athletes enjoy the game more, improve faster, and avoid injury.”
Lauren Chamberlain, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NPF College Draft and a current infielder with the USSSA Pride, signed on with Blast Motion as a brand and softball ambassador. At this weekend’s “Lauren Chamberlain — Ultimate Fastpitch Experience,” Chamberlain will help unveil the Blast technology to the softball community.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m passionate about softball and helping young female athletes become better hitters,” she said in a statement.
“It’s going to be fun to be part of the softball technology movement and growing the game!”
