Tips for Using Data to Develop Elite Baseball Players
Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill made the connection between the two famous for the general public, but those of us in the game knew long before the importance of incorporating metrics into scouting, evaluating, and strategy.
But it’s a lot easier said than done, especially for teams and organizations without MLB-level funding (yes, the A’s were a “poor” MLB team, but they still had a bankroll).
Today, how MLB teams and innovative training programs like Driveline use data & metrics to accelerate player development is well documented. But, for the the vast majority of players that are not playing in the Major Leagues or training at Driveline, a healthy question to ask is how can I use data to achieve my goals?
The answer to this question is rarely clear and answering this question requires a keen understanding of your specific goals - as a player or coach.
Understanding your specific goals empowers you to zoom in on what metrics are pertinent to your developmental journey - ie. what metrics you should be tracking, and if you succeed in achieving your goals, what these metrics will look like.
There is little gray area here - data does not lie. Providers like Trackman, Rapsodo, Yakkertech, and BLAST are reputable creators of hardware and software to assist you on your journey - providing you with accurate data to better inform decisions and accelerate development.
After gaining a clear understanding of your goals and how you will measure success, the final step is creating a plan to achieve your goals. The crossroads were data meets coaching. This is where most players, coaches, and teams fall short.
Most have invested in data, learned what the metrics are telling them, but are unable to translate learnings into specific, coachable plans for the athletes - a rut that can be frustrating and disheartening for players and coaches.
To fully utilize the great power of data and develop elite players, one must translate and present a specific plan of sound coaching. Athletes are focused and competitive, lean into this and create an ambitious yet attainable (with a ton of hard work) set of goals to work towards. Then, provide a plan to execute and obtain these goals. This plan will give specific, actionable steps for athletes to improve on weaknesses and solidify + enhance strengths.
This threshold between data and achievement is where The Futures App exists. No player or coach has ever achieved their goals without a plan - The Futures App empowers players and coaches to create and share these plans so that obtaining a goal is not an “if”, but a “when”.
Create and share your drills and workouts. Build custom plans and routines. Communicate with your players and coaches better and more frequently. Bridge the gap between data and implementation by using the Futures App to harness some of the greatest assets a player can have - a strong work ethic and quality coaching.
Nobody ever gets it right the first time. Once you’ve enacted your plan of attack, keep using the data. See what’s working, see what’s not. Tweak, innovate, pivot, adapt. Iterate, iterate, iterate.
All the new tech and the data science buzz words can be a bit overwhelming, especially for those who got into the game years ago. Remember that all of these are just tools to help improve your game, not replacements for the foundational principles that got you into it in the first place.
Knowledge of the game, empathy for your players, the competitive drive – these are all still the cornerstones of the game. It’s just adapting a bit, and we hope to help you navigate it all.
Give your players & coaches access to the highest quality training tools in the world with The Futures App:
Join teams across the country who are already utilizing the tools TFA has to offer and coaching their players in a more efficient way.