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3-D Motion Capture Now Part of Baseball Coaches' Training Manuals

by Warren Riddle on October 5, 2010 at 04:24 PM

pitcher being motion-tracked
Last winter, the NFL garnered attention for a growing and meaningful relationship between its players and video games. Athletes were no longer playing the games solely for relaxation (or to accumulate ridiculous stats with their personal avatars), but were relying on gaming for rehabilitation and training purposes. That video game evolution now applies to numerous other sports as well, including soccer, football, stock car racing and Major League Baseball (MLB).

According to the New York Times, various universities, research labs and sports franchises are even devoting entire departments and projects to investigate the real-world sporting benefits of gaming, and -- specifically -- motion-capture technology. New York University's Movement Lab utilizes 3-D motion-capture technology to intricately examine and analyze various athletic motions, and the Massachusetts General Hospital's Sports Performance Center already houses a motion-capture lab at the New England Patriots' compound. Now, several MLB teams are reportedly engaged in video game research projects that utilize motion-capture technology.

Apparently, the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants and Milwaukee Brewers all "are recording dozens of players" in order to identify weaknesses and determine the ideal movements for their pitchers and batters. Brewers pitching coach Rick Peterson revealed that at least three of his team's pitchers have already altered their mechanics after motion-capture training sessions, and that "some other pitchers have had velocity increases in the minors, too."

Video games receive constant, heated criticism from certain groups (including athletes), so huge sporting entities could definitely alleviate the hate by continuing to involve gaming as a beneficial exercise. But, let's just hope the individual players don't get too involved.

Tags: baseball, MLB, MotionCapture, NFL, sports, top, VideoGames

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