On March 3, the Cincinnati Reds became the sixth major league club to agree to use what are being called “Flight Simulators” for hitters.
The Reds purchased two of ProBatter Sports’ flagship model PX2 pitching simulators. The model is considered to be the most complex baseball training tool ever invented and does by far the best job of simulating real life batting situations.
The Reds wasted no time bringing their new toys to their players as they installed them in their spring training complex in Sarasota, Florida even though they will be moving spring training complexes next season to join their state rival the Cleveland Indians in Goodyear, Arizona.
The other clubs who have the systems in the majors are the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets. The first three teams have the device installed at their home ballparks in addition to their spring training complexes.
According to president of ProBatter Sports, Adam Battersby, the company is “thrilled to see ProBatter continuing to expand across the baseball landscape as a must-have tool for any team striving for peak performance from its players.”
This simulator is part video game and part real life as the batter sees an image of a pitcher going through a windup on a screen and just as the ball would come out of their hand, an actual baseball is shot through a hole in the screen. The machine can throw everything from a fastball to a sinker to a cutter or a curve and even a slider and a change-up and can reach speeds of up to 100 mph. The pitches can also be thrown with great accuracy giving hitters a chance to practice on their weaknesses without wearing out their own pitchers.
ProBatter is also prevalent on the college level as well as Division I colleges Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Connecticut, Maine, Ohio, Navy, Old Dominion and Nevada have all introduced the product to their programs.
Many players, including Trot Nixon and Jason Giambi, have started using the product on their own in their private gyms during the off season.
ProBatter Sports was invented in 1999 and has been serving the world wide baseball community since that time.
Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at BillJordaniv@yahoo.com.
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