How Accurate is a Baseball Diamond Kinetics SwingTracker?

3 August 2022

The Diamond Kinetics SwingTracker is considered a highly reliable tool for tracking statistics about a baseball hitter’s swings. Reviewers and customers have presented a few concerns about the DK SwingTracker’s accuracy. However, some reviewers have indicated that SwingTracker’s app platform doesn’t always generate the most consistent 3D models.

The rest of this article will explain the usefulness of the SwingTracker, as well as some potential concerns about the device.

The Purpose of a SwingTracker

Baseball players ranging in age from Little League to high school and college players can use the Diamond Kinetics brand SwingTracker to track the science behind their bat swings. By attaching the SwingTracker to the grip-end of your bat and linking it to DK’s smartphone app, you can capture all kinds of data about the speed, angle, and other logistics of your swing.

You can use the SwingTracker to find out how much power you put into each swing, how hard you hit the ball, how efficient your swing is, how fast your swing accelerates, and the angle of your bat during the swing, exit velocity, and more! Not all of this information will be relevant to every player, but every hitter can learn something valuable about their swing tendencies with this tool.

In addition to the raw numbers, the SwingTracker creates a 3D representation of the player’s swing so that you can visualize what the swing looked like as you made it. The SwingTracker even allows you to display 3D images side-by-side so that you can compare and contrast two separate bat swings with each other.

How the SwingTracker Works

The SwingTracker relies on gyroscope technology, which is able to measure information about an object’s orientation in space and speed in space and is the same sort of technology that enables a smartphone or portable gaming device to know if you’ve rotated the item.

The SwingTracker’s gyroscope captures the real-time data of a player’s swing. The information is then transmitted to a smartphone app, which presents the swing analytics to the user using a combination of numbers, graphs, charts, and even 3D images.

All of these statistics are pulled together and combined so that players, coaches, and hitting instructors can all view the information and make a plan for how to improve batting form. With the app’s calendar feature, you can track how your swing has changed over time.

How Accurate is the SwingTracker?

The data captured by the SwingTracker is considered quite accurate for all kinds of play, from tee-ball and underhand tosses to regular live overhand pitching. BatDigest.com rated the accuracy of the SwingTracker’s statistics quite highly after using the device for four hours’ worth of live hitting, as well as viewing the device at a trade show.

However, this review noted that the SwingTracker system did not always generate an accurate 3D image, so it has the potential for error. Again, this applies to the 3D modeling and less to the real-time statistics captured by the SwingTracker device.

Customers have repeatedly attested to how well they were able to help their youth players adjust their swings and correct common areas based on information from the SwingTracker.

What Sets the SwingTracker Apart

Apart from capturing information about the physics of a swing, the SwingTracker app can also use a smartphone’s camera to capture video that syncs up with the data. That way, you can compare the statistics from the SwingTracker with real-time footage of your swing.

Another feature of the SwingTracker system is the app’s access to live support chat. If your coach or hitting instructor somehow isn’t available, you can hop onto the app and communicate with a real instructor via chat in order to receive help and advice.

The SwingTracker is now considered a relatively easy tool to get set up, with a user-friendly outlook and a lot of customer support. It doesn’t even need to be plugged into something in order to charge. It comes with its own cordless docking station.

Possible Drawbacks of the SwingTracker

Some users have noted that the SwingTracker’s Bluetooth doesn’t always stay connected properly, and most of the features listed above are only available if you purchase a premium DK membership. Buying the SwingTracker itself gives you a free 14-day trial subscription. After the trial period ends, the premium subscription costs $4.99 per month or $54.99 per year for each player.

Non-subscribers only have access to tracking and analysis for the following swing measurements:

  • Impact Momentum
  • Approach Angle
  • Max Acceleration
  • Max Barrel Speed

A related drawback for the SwingTracker is the fact that only subscribers have access to a calendar of their tracked data over time.

Apart from these issues, the DK SwingTracker is rated highly by coaches and parents of youth baseball players.