It’s no secret that we live in an ever-evolving world filled with new technology, training programs and means of communication. People tirelessly dedicate their lives to keeping up with new fads and purchasing the most updated technology to show off to their family and friends. While innovative ideas are changing the world and definitely benefit humanity as a whole, buying the newest IPhone or expensive car will probably not improve your quality of life. However, keeping up with technology can bolster some facets of living, so why wouldn’t your baseball instruction also be evolving and searching for new ways to improve your training?
The majority of this innovation and tech push comes at the hands of Millennials. Millennials (currently aged 24-38) have sometimes been stereotyped negatively amongst older Americans for a number of reasons. A few of these include a lack of work ethic, their neglect to build equity by avoiding major purchases such as a house or car and placing more importance on creating a quality meme than creating a quality goal. To be fair, some of the Baby Boomers and Generation X would have difficulty simply opening a PDF file without the technological help of these Millennials, but that is an argument for another day.
This post is not intended to debate which generation is better or incite a riot between inter-generational family members and friends (you can sit back down and tune into Jeopardy again grandpa), but it is intended to prove a point. Simply, it is to suggest that society is quickly evolving, whether you like it or not, and those who welcome the new and updated information are typically going to be the people who will have a better chance of success.
Success is an interesting word, because it is something that almost everyone is trying to achieve. It’s ambiguous, because every person on Earth has a different opinion on their idea of success. To keep it simple, here’s Webster’s definition of success: “favorable or desired outcome.” Being rich, having lots of fame, owning the newest technology or just having a plethora of love amongst your family and friends are all contrasting ideas of desired success. Since everyone is unique, everyone has their own desired outcome. Masterful Mechanics sees success as building a positive relationship with clients and bettering both their lives outside of baseball and skills on the diamond.
For this reason, MMB is following the trend of researching new analytics and sabermetrics to improve the business and its players (and yes we are run by Millennials). We are beginning to compile data for our players, so we can ensure that all of their dedicated training is being accounted for. Data will typically be recorded once a month to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of each client. With this data, we can target the areas that require growth and apply this to future lessons. Some examples of data compilation include velocity of throws and pitches, hitting exit velo, swing path and Driveline focused drills.
Driveline is a new-age pitching program (they also work with hitters now too) that includes very successful testimonials in velocity production and is endorsed by big leaguers such as Trevor Bauer and Dan Straily. They define their training as “programs driven by data. Results achieved through work.” The URL for the Driveline website is included at the bottom of this article. Driveline has been on the data train since 2007 and has achieved maximum success from the MLB down to youth baseball. For this reason, Masterful Mechanics utilizes this storied program’s training methods to benefit our clients, and they also serve as a benchmark to grow the success of our business. In the upcoming weeks, we will publish an article that analyzes Driveline further to explain why we love using it.