94Fifty Sensor Basketball

This is pretty crazy.

Nike+ monitors your physical stats and for some of us… we are limited by our own physical capabilities but this 94Fifty sensor basketball from InfoMotion Sports Technologies monitors your ball handling, handling speed, shot, where its releasing, how its releasing and a ton more. I think what Nike has done is really cool but this is something that can help all ballers around the world as these are the types of things that we can use to help the part of our game that matters most… our skills versus trying to boost our athleticism.

Hit the jump for much more information which includes a video on the technology and let me know if you think this is something that is less gimmicky and more helpful.

Until now, only elite athletes had access to the best training technologies or personal trainers. If you had tens of thousands of dollars, you could have that that advantage too. For the rest of us, InfoMotion products are designed to bring that same level of sophisticated training tools to any athlete at an affordable price.

The reason for starting this project is simple: what gets measured, gets improved – andwe have a passion for improvement. But for some sports there are no low-cost sensor and tracking technologies to objectively measure muscle memory skills that enhance basketball performance. In basketball, it is not enough to simply know how fast you run or how high you jump. You must develop skill. These skills have been impossible to measure and quantify, but now athletes at any level can get real time feedback in a personal, engaging way as if they had the world’s best coaches working with them on a daily basis. There is nothing more fulfilling than to see players with simple goals experience success, but many players simply don’t have access to the people or coaching to know how.

What It Is and What You Get

– Regulation size, weight, and spin indoor/outdoor Bluetooth enabled sensor basketball
– Downloadable app packed with ways to measure stuff that helps you to get better faster
– Wireless Qi charging pad

Features

– Instant feedback – shot by shot or every dribble
– 50 different head-to-head competition choices
– Skill-based leveling workouts that get more difficult as you improve
– QuickTrain shot analyzer for shot speed, shot arc, and backspin
– QuickTrain ball-handling for power dribbling, speed dribbling, and off-hand dribbling
– Stores workout and competition history for up to 4 players for 3 months
– Indoor/Outdoor synthetic leather cover
– Wireless recharging and up to 8 hours of battery life
– Up to 90 ft. range from hand held
– Men’s and women’s/youth sizes
– Works with Android 4.0.4 and later and iOS 5.0 and later devices

Why Put Sensors in a Ball?

We asked the same thing 5 years ago when we were working to determine how best to measure important elements of skill. It turns out that the ball is simply a receiver of force, and those forces are applied by the player. It goes where the player tells it to go. By measuring all the forces put into or taken out of the ball, and the consistency at which the player can apply forces at game speed, we actually get an amazing picture of how well that player can perform under pressure. (And in some sports like basketball and soccer, there is always some kind of pressure)

The sensors inside are programmed to recognize and measure stuff we can’t see with the human eye, but when we can measure that same stuff and display it for the player to see, we can quickly improve shooting and ball-handling skills, such as:

– Shooting accurately and quickly (Did you know that great shooters can shoot the ball after the catch in less than .75 seconds with great accuracy?)
– Shooting with ideal arc (Did you know an ideal shot has an entry angle between42 and 48 degrees to the basket?)
– Shooting with proper release and backspin (Did you know that the ideal backspin generated on a shot is between 135 and 150 revolutions per minute?)
– Dribbling with force/confidence (Did you know that great ballhandlers dribble with forces greater than 6 g’s with either hand?)
– Dribbling with speed (Did you know that putting down 150 dribbles in less than 20 seconds puts you at the top limits of human hand speed?)

Players simply use the ball when they practice or to test for improvement, to compete with other players to see who has the best skills, or to focus on a specific weakness that is important. But more about the App in a second. A few final details about the ball: The range of the Bluetooth is up to 90 feet from the handheld, and the results are displayed instantly. You can see every dribble counted and get results after each shot. It’s fast – about 100 millisecond speed from action to visual display. And it measures any forces applied to the ball – spin, acceleration, you name it. A full 360 degree view of the ball – and the player that moves it. The ball is going to give you data and feedback about your game that is smart, precise, and freakishly accurate. Yeah, it’s that good.

How it Works
To get started, you download an app to your phone or tablet and bounce the ball three or four times to connect it to the app – that’s about it. We have taken great care to make this a very easy and reliable process.

It can be used by a single player working on their game. By rec players trying to get an edge. By parents helping their kids improve. By coaches and trainers developing skills. Or by elite players wanting to get to the next level. If there is a goal to be achieved, this is the answer.

The 94Fifty sensor basketball feels and weighs the same as any basketball. But embedded inside, the ball has an array of 6 sensors, a Bluetooth radio, and battery positioned in a holder engineered to minimize vibrations on the sensors and maximize ball performance. The entire ball is engineered to counterbalance the extra weight so you can’t feel it when you play. Oh yeah – it’s also very rugged. We provide a 1 year warranty on the components as long as you don’t use it in the pool or fire it out of a cannon against a wall. Otherwise, its built for normal use. We use Qi wireless charging, so it comes with a small re-charging pad. Simply put the ball on the pad to add power. The battery can last up to 8 hours of normal use before you need to charge it again.

Wirelessly charge the ball with a 94Fifty Qi charging pad. Place the ball on the pad and Qi does the rest.

What’s in the App?
There are four distinct functional areas within the base app you get with the ball, and all of them have a well-thought purpose. The App contains:

– Workout – to improve skills and motivate practice
– QuickTraining – to focus on specific areas of skill
– Compete – for head to head competition for up to 4 players
– Challenge – to interact with other players around the world.

Workout

Workout mode gives you 50 challenges over 4 different levels for shooting and ball-handling. Track your history. Get better.

– Focus is on skill development for ball-handling and shooting.
– Timed, Pre-defined drills – Player performs at game speed while app measures specific skill metrics.
– Performance history – record personal bests for 3 months of each drill.
– Instant results and personal feedback.
– Uses leveling to motivate practice (4 levels from Playground to Pro).

QuickTraining

Do a quick workout with instant coaching tips given.

– Free form – perform any drill you want and measure what you want.
– Instant results with no history – designed for quick muscle memory learning.
– Choose to measure shot speed, shot arc, backspin and dribble force for quick feedback on your priorities.

Compete

Compete head-to-head against anyone, anywhere. Up to 4 Players can be in a competition.

– Instant head-to-head competition, anywhere, anytime.
– Choose from over 40 drills to compete.
– Choose different ways to score your competition (most dribbles in 20 seconds, or most powerful dribble, or most accurate shooter with the fastest shot release).
– Instant scoreboards to see who wins.
– Running leaderboard for 4 players (to see who gets bragging rights) History kept for three months.

Challenge

Use Twitter to join competitions against anyone in the world.

– Uses Twitter to allow players to compete in real time from anywhere in the world.
– Follow favorite players, watch for challenges, and compete against the world. (Trash talk optional)