Extracting precision speed and distance measurements from live smartphone video is really hard. Just ask any professor of Video Analytics or Physics, or your friend who works at Pixar.
For pitching, the path of the ball is predictable: it travels from the rubber toward home plate.
But for hitting, the path of the ball is not predictable. A fair ball can go into center field, left field or right field.
SmartPitch has a US Patent for handling this:
"the ball or projectile will be thrown or projected, the position not necessarily being perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to a direction in which the ball or projectile is to be thrown."
The latest release of SmartPitch for iPhones adds an "Extra Precision" feature to get maximum accuracy in measuring hitting.
After SmartPitch records the hit, you have the option of pressing the "Extra Precision" button, which will bring up a diagram of the ball field.
Just touch the section of the field where the ball landed, and the Exit Velocity, Launch Angle and Distance are instantly updated. See Video of this use.
This feature is optional. If the ball is hit into the center field area, don't use it, since the results are already measured to maximum precision. Here's the HELP screen for Extra Precision. You can only apply the Extra Precision feature one time for each hit.
You also get the option to go back to the database of hits from a completed session and request the "Extra Precision" update on any of the hits. Just touch the ball field icon in the Spray column and you will get the same ball field diagram. See Video of this in use.
You can only apply the Extra Precision feature one time for each hit.
Just another high tech feature you get with SmartPitch that is not available with any other app!!
The Hitting Extra Precision features will be added to the Android version as soon as possible. In the interim, manual adjustment look up tables are available upon request.
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