In early-2021, Perfect Game, the leader in all things scouting and recruiting in elite youth baseball and softball, entered a partnership with K-Motion Interactive to develop new PG Tech that can be used for both recruiting and coaching purposes. Perfect Game is the titan of the industry whenever it comes to youth baseball scouting and development, so this partnership is quite a big deal. Whoever teams with Perfect Game in this venture is likely to leapfrog to the front of the baseball analytics industry. This raises the question of just how did Perfect Game come to decide on K-Motion for this partnership? While it is impossible to know exactly how, maybe the patents can give us some insight.

When it comes to baseball analytics, Blast Motion, Trackman, and Rapsodo are the first companies to come to mind because of their market share, patent portfolios, and partnerships with some of the biggest names in baseball. However, K-Motion offers something different. While the previously mentioned companies tend to offer on-the-bat tech solutions that capture swing path data, K-Motion’s technology utilizes strategically placed inertial sensors on the body. These sensors provide a different type of data to help improve the athletes’ swings. Think of this as a cause and effect relationship where the previously mentioned companies allow the athlete to see the effects of their swing while K-Motion allows them to see both the causes and the effects. 

Also, the inventions disclosed in the patents land K-Motion in the Training and Coaching subcategory while most of the other companies have portfolios predominantly focused on data analytics. K-Motion’s technology not only offers swing analytics, as the other companies do, but also implements a unique biofeedback element to help athletes make the adjustments they need to perfect their swing. This considered, it is obvious why K-Motion would be a primary partnership target for a youth baseball platform as youth athletes typically require more body adjustments to make their swing more efficient and powerful. 

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