Bat sensor vs. phone camera: which do you need for swing analysis?
It depends on your question. A bat sensor measures the bat, so it’s the better tool for numbers like bat speed and attack angle. A phone camera shows what your body is doing, so it’s the better tool when you want to know what to fix. Neither one replaces the other.
We make PureHits, which is camera-only, so weigh this with that in mind. We’ve tried to be straight about what our approach can’t do.
What each one sees
| Bat sensor | Camera app (PureHits) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it watches | The bat | Your body and the bat, from one angle |
| Hardware | A sensor on the bat | Your iPhone. A tripod helps |
| Bat speed | Yes | Not in PureHits |
| Attack angle | Yes | Reads the bat’s path into the ball on tee swings, without giving you a number to chase |
| Head, hips, shoulders | No | Yes, as movement you can see |
| Depth (toward the plate) | Not applicable | No. One camera can’t see it well |
| Exit velocity | With an added camera, on some systems | Not in PureHits |
As one example of a sensor, Blast Motion’s sensor mounts on the knob of the bat and reports metrics including bat speed, hand speed, time to contact and attack angle. Its ball-flight numbers, such as exit velocity and launch angle, need ball contact and a camera.
When a sensor makes more sense
- You want to track bat speed over a season.
- You’re comparing bats, or following a bat-speed training program.
- You already know what you’re working on, and you want a number that tells you if it’s moving.
When a camera makes more sense
- You don’t know what to work on. A number can tell you the swing is slow, but not that your head is drifting forward.
- You want to work with a bat in your hand and nothing attached to it.
- You practice alone and want a cue after each swing without looking at a screen.
What PureHits does differently
PureHits doesn’t give you a dashboard of numbers. It watches three swings and picks the one thing to work on, with the drill for it. It doesn’t promise more bat speed or power, and it won’t tell you an exact rotation angle, because one phone can’t measure that reliably.