Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famed author of Sherlock Holmes stories once said, "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."

For years hitting and pitching instructors across the country and indeed, across the world, have made the mistake of trying to theorize about a style or way of doing things without having hard data to support their theories. Well, that time is long gone and, in its place, a wealth of information and analytics to help coaches and players truly understand what is happening in games and what adjustments can be made to make improvements.

The Gem Softball Invitational in Central Florida is quickly becoming the most technologically advanced showcase in the country. Not only is the event utilizing FlightScope in-game analytics but to take the information even further, the event will be using sister companies Baseball and Softball Cloud to break all of that data into easy to understand nuggets of information. Let’s take an example from the Baseball Cloud on pitch locations and what you can see from the data.

Now take that information a step further and look at the release point of the pitches to see what is actually happening as the ball comes out of the pitcher’s hand.  After all, that is what is determining the locations you are seeing on the location graph above.

This information is invaluable in closing the gap of what the pitcher is telling you, what they are feeling, and what is actually happening. Instead of taking multiple bullpen sessions and weeks of time, you can now help that player understand the adjustment that needs to be made immediately after the game.

The way that we learn, coach, and adjust as players are changing as we now use data to support our theories and advance to new levels.