Before it was showcased to golf coaches at the PGA Show in Orlando, Onform’s Multi-Cam MAX system made its debut at Triple Crown Sports in Fort Collins, Colorado, as it was tested by some of the top hitters in professional softball.
Multi-Cam MAX is Onform’s new fixed-camera studio solution that enables you to view the fixed-camera video on your iPad, wirelessly and instantly.
On Jan. 17, the Multi-Cam MAX system was pressure tested by eight of the top fastpitch softball hitters in the world, including Sydney McKinney, Erin Coffel and Kayla Kowalik of the USA Softball National Team.
The two-day session was part of the Elite Hitters Camp at the Triple Crown CSE Performance lab, where, in addition to instant video analysis through Onform, the hitters were measured through motion-capture technology, force plates and batting analytics.
“This weekend was part of a series to get the top 50 hitters in our performance lab to do biomechanical motion capture and assessments on these elite hitters”
Monte McDonald, CTO of Triple Crown Sports and Director for the Performance Lab
Team USA Softball Players Impressed by Onform
Three Multi-Cam MAX cameras were set up in the hitting bay — one up the line and two on either side of the batter’s box to capture both right- and left-handed hitters. The results of each swing were instantly sent to the synced iPad and a hardwired TV for a larger display, allowing for unprecedented swing analysis from multiple angles.
So when one of the players had a hit that “felt good,” they could not only see metrics like exit velocity on displays in the CSE Performance Lab, but also the instant replay of their swing from two different angles at up to 500fps to see why it was such a strong hit.
“I’ve never had a picture that clear and that up close to where you can really see the details,” said Hannah Flippen, an infielder with the Utah Talons of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) and member of the U.S. National Team.
Coffel, who is a graduate assistant for the University of Florida softball team, learned about Onform through her hitting coach, Trey Hannam, who works with elite college and professional players across baseball and softball.
“I like to use [Onform] for slo-mo and side-by-side video analysis with my remote hitters to mark certain positions that they are in, compared to old swings of theirs or old swings of mine,” said Coffel, who, in addition to playing for Team USA, is an infielder for the Chicago Bandits of the AUSL.
An Added Layer of Insights to Hitting Analysis
McDonald is excited to introduce Onfrom’s Multi-Cam MAX system to his already advanced analysis setup at the CSE Performance Lab, saying it adds an additional layer of insight into what is happening with a swing or a pitch.
“This gives us more immediate feedback for the players,” he said. “It allows us to turn around and do evaluations right then and there. We’re able to break down each swing frame by frame with these high-speed cameras.”
The system gives both coaches and players a good look into the motion, angles and nuances of the swings, allowing for instant correction if something is off, or the ability to hone in on a particular aspect of the swing to continue development and improvement.
“With the biomechanics system we use, there’s a little bit of post-processing that we have to do before that data is available, so Onform provides that immediate feedback for the players to focus on different aspects of their swing in real-time.”