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The World Baseball Coaches Convention Confirms That The Game Is Changing

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By LeagueApps
January 23, 2017
2 min

Tyler Wood at Mohegan Sun

The LeagueApps dugout team spent this weekend at the Mohegan Sun World Baseball and Softball Coaches Convention this weekend. After their time in Connecticut, as well as our time at the American Baseball Coaches Convention, it was clear that the game of baseball is rapidly changing.

From the age of the coaches (hint: they’re getting younger) to the number of wearable technologies (hint: they’re everywhere), youth baseball is no longer your grandfather’s, or even your father’s game.

“The one thing that stood out was that most of these coaches are getting younger,” Baseball Partnerships Consultant Michael Block said.

Baseball Consultant Alex Wolf agreed. “It’s getting quite clear that as the game becomes more reliant on technology, a new breed is bringing in 2017 with some fresh ideas.”

One of these fresh ideas that is starting to catch steam is the idea of selling apparel or merchandise through a program’s storefront rather than through a vendor. The idea of third-party selling is dwindling fast as more and more clubs, leagues, camps, and clinics take advantage of eCommerce through their own websites and markets.

In terms of baseball business,Extra Innings is finding new ways to franchise baseball facilities in a unique market.

The weekend was dominated by technology, however. Some of these advances were created to help the medical field, while others were instituted to help market the game to a younger audience.

ShoulderSphere is an exercise device that strengthens rotator cuff muscles in a simultaneous and multi-directional manner. The idea is to combat the most common form of rotator cuff injury that occurs in youth baseball players: degeneration. It’s the first and only device of its kind.

The products and wearable technology of Right View Pro remain among the most in-demand products in the game.

One company that is really changing the game is Motus, a world leader in advanced biomechanical analysis. They combine wearable technology with ground-breaking 3D movement and performance analytics software to help athletes, trainers, and coaches prevent injury and improve performance.

LeagueApps is an official partner of the Motus Prospect Baseball Academy.

Tyler Wood, former professional pitcher and current LeagueApps Partnership Development Representative noticed the drastic increase of different games and technologies that are geared toward attracting a younger audience.

“A lot of these companies like Sklz or Axe Bat are creating new software and games to speed the game up and keep kids interested. That could mean a new tee or a game put in place in which kids start with two strikes so they have to swing. Either way, this shows that the sport is almost re-inventing the wheel in a lot of areas,” he said.

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