Caution on Speedtrac and Bushnell radar

I have a Bushnell and haven't used it for a couple years for several reasons:

1) On the varsity HS team, my son would kill me if he saw me pull out a radar gun during a game ... it crosses a line of too much parental involvement in what's happening on the field, and HS coaches in general are more sensitive about that. If the coach wants to know his pitcher's velocity, he pulls out the team Jugs and has one of the assistants get a reading. If my son wants to know his velocity, he asks the coach. Not to mention that I support the HS coaching staff's focus on good mechanics, good ball movement, and good location ... a radar gun sometimes encourages a player to focus too much on juicing it up.

2) I have plenty of opportunities throughout the year to get an unobtrusive reference check on his velocity just by politely peering over the shoulder of scouts or asking at things like showcases, playoffs, tournaments, etc., where they are using 'real' radar guns. Plus the HS team has their own Jugs on a tripod that they use with a big LCD screen for the first 4-5 games of the season.

3) I'd much rather spend my time lugging around my digital camera and foot-long lens to take lots of team pictures and just enjoy the game.

4) The Bushnell is pretty unreliable, particularly at 60'6" thru a fence, so really only marginally useful in the back yard. I'd almost have to stand right behind the catcher & ump to get a good reading ... see (1) above. It also requires fully charged batteries to give any type of accurate reading. So, given (2) above, there's really no justification for investing in a 'real' radar gun when I can just look at other people's.

To be honest, I feel I wasted my money on the Bushnell ... it's not very good, and I really don't need it that much. Of course, if you are investing in a Stalker or Jugs "for the team" to be used with/for the coaches benefit and approval, that's another thing altogether. That's a great idea ...

P, definitely agree with you. If I was able to peek over shoulders at events to get readings a few times a year, I'd never even consider dropping $750. Even with the parents' participation fees really paying for the one I'm getting, it's not an easy purchase to make. But it will be used only on a monthly basis as a motivational tool to keep the kids working at their long toss and running - to see results is a strong motivator.

I put the original Bushnell side by side with a Stalker Sport, but at 60' from gun to pitcher (e.g., as you might do working with a pitcher in a bullpen). It was extremely repeatable. It always read 2 mph lower than the Stalker. Forget trying to read anything from behind a backstop, though. Absolutely worthless for that. And there was some technique to releasing the trigger at the proper time.

I have not put the new Bushnell (called Velocity?) up against a Stalker. It is supposed to have a little longer range, but again I wouldn't expect it to work any farther away than the catcher. And its accuracy & repeatability should be verified against a Stalker.

Radar can be useful for working with pitchers. Provided it doesn't become the focus. And it isn't needed at every bullpen.

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Originally posted by pbonesteele:
... it crosses a line of too much parental involvement in what's happening on the field, and HS coaches in general are more sensitive about that...

If you don't want the reading that's fine. But, if you're avoiding an educational opportunity (using the gun, or taking video, or both, etc) because of peer pressure (what coaches and other parents think about you) then I think your not giving your son the best.

We've used several glove radars as I manage to lose or break them every few months. I've generally gotten a reading about 5 mph slower than a Jugs gun with each of them.

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Yesterday, received the brand new SpeedTrac unit (formerly SpeedChek). Highly touted online. Went and tried it out. Once again, a POS product. The highest reading obtained (and obtained repeatedly) was 54mph. No rose-colored dreaming here --

Our old SpeedCheck works well. It certainly reads accurately into the 80s. Don't know about above that

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3) I'd much rather spend my time lugging around my digital camera and foot-long lens to take lots of team pictures and just enjoy the game.

How does that show less parental involvement than a radar gun? A good radar can be used at the back of the crowd. I'm constantly dodging photographers who think they have a license to move in front of anyone.

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"Plus the HS team has their own Jugs on a tripod that they use with a big LCD screen"

Well DUH! No one would buy their own gun if many teams were so were equipped.

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How does that show less parental involvement than a radar gun? A good radar can be used at the back of the crowd. I'm constantly dodging photographers who think they have a license to move in front of anyone.

Well, It demonstrates parental involvement to the benefit of the entire team as opposed to behavior some people (like the coaches) might perceive as too narrow a focus on just my own son's performance ... particularly when they are trying to get the pitchers to NOT focus on gassing it up and losing their location control. The coaches don't want to see some dad standing right up to the fence with his POS Bushnell when they're telling the kid to stop trying to light up the gun and ease up a couple MPH to hit his spots.

I shoot over 150 still photos every game, all players, and video tape some of the more important games. I post-process all the photos and post them to our team website (www.knightsbaseball.com, which I maintain for the team. Then at the end of each season, I take the accumulated stills and video and compose a 30 min team video, with custom disc labels and photo jacket inserts, music audio track overlays, special effects, and then burn over 35 DVDs for the players, coaches, and school administration. All on my dime and nights and weekends. Lastly, I'll take the full resolution JPEG files (32+ Gb) and burn them to data DVDs for the coach to keep should a player ever come back as an alumni 20 years from now and want to get prints.

Now, if the coach knew I had a radar gun and he asked me to get a reading for him, no problem. I go get the reading. But with my POS Bushnell, no way I can be unobtrusive at my size (6'4" - 235) ... I literally have to put the stupid thing through the fence. I actually broke it when my son was a freshman: had it up to a hole in the fence to get an accurate reading, a hard FB was fouled straight back and hit the bottom of the handle through the fence, popped the cheap retention cap off the bottom, and the battery pack dropped to the ground and shattered. I took it as a message ... The team has a Jugs, so if I'm curious, I just ask. Plus, a reading off a "team gun" is a more believable, objective reading if anyone (e.g., a college coach) wonders if he legitimately can throw at the velocity I have posted on his player profile.

I just seem to have bad luck with the units I purchase. Like I said, it took 2 purcahses of the Glove Radar to get one that was right (and it matches up exactly with Stalker). But the Bushnell was awful, and obviously I received a faulty SpeedTrac. Sometimes I think I should change my screen name to BADLUCK SHLEPROCK.

It says right on the manual 40 feet distance for the Bushnell. Obviously it is not for high school 60'6". Also, you can't shoot through fences or strong angles. It is only for Little Leaguers.

I returned the Speedchek twice to the company and it still doesn't work. I then tried the Jugs sonic model and it is very erratic. If you're trying to do a weighted ball work out how is everyone else measuring velocity improvements?

I bought a Speedchek a few years ago and it is has been quite consistent even after lying in the garage for a couple years.

guys so what your saying is in the real world what bushnell says ain't so?

http://www.bushnell.com/products/digital/specs/10-1911.cfm

Bushnell claims a range of 75 feet for baseball, which is impractical, even if true. I certainly don't want to be 15 feet behind the catcher without a fence, which the Bushnell won't shoot through. You get what you payed fr with guns. There are reasons most everyone uses a Stalker.