In Major League Baseball (MLB), “pitch design” has transformed how pitchers develop their skills. Using technology and data, pitchers now build new pitches with precision and control—something that previously relied heavily on trial and error. The ability to understand the physics behind a pitch and quickly measure success shortens the feedback loop, allowing players to fine-tune their movements much faster. The concept of ShotMetrics in basketball follows similar principles but from a different angle, providing deeper insight into a player’s shooting mechanics and refining their release for consistency.
From Curveballs to Fastballs: Lessons from Pitch Design
In baseball, pitchers learn to manipulate the spin of the ball to create different types of movement. A deceptive pitch like a curveball spins on a tilted axis, making it harder for batters to predict its path. However, throwing such pitches consistently requires tremendous precision. Before the rise of pitch design, players often struggled through a long, frustrating process of trial and error—mastering new movements, controlling them under pressure, and building trust in real game scenarios.
Thanks to technological advances, modern pitchers now understand exactly how to produce the spin needed for a given pitch. With tools like Rapsodo and TrackMan, players get real-time feedback on spin axis, velocity, and movement, allowing them to make precise adjustments quickly.
In basketball, the goal isn’t deception, but consistency. Weak shooters, however, often develop habits that cause them to inadvertently generate movements that resemble the basketball version of a curveball—an unstable, off-axis spin that leads to unpredictable misses. Just as a baseball pitcher needs to learn to throw a fastball with control, weaker shooters need to develop habits that produce a shot with clean, repeatable spin on a pure axis.
Translating Spin Metrics into Shooting Mechanics
In our research on the spin axis of basketballs, we’ve found that the purity of the spin axis correlates directly with the consistency of a shooter’s left-right misses. Simply put, better shooters create a fastball-like spin, where the axis of rotation stays pure, while weaker shooters often introduce tilt, leading to inconsistencies. This insight gives coaches and players a clearer understanding of how subtle hand movements at release can affect shooting outcomes.
Much like how baseball pitchers use pitch design to diagnose their tendencies—whether the ball breaks too much in or away from the batter—ShotMetrics allows basketball players and coaches to analyze the type of “spin” being applied to the basketball. Identifying unwanted tilt in the spin axis reveals flaws in the release that may not be visible to the naked eye.
For example, a player generating a spin that tilts towards the right side might be pushing unevenly with their shooting hand or applying force from their guide hand. These small, often invisible movements are equivalent to the fine motor adjustments required to change the movement of a baseball pitch. Once detected, ShotMetrics provides the foundation for designing drills to address these habits systematically.
Using Data to Design Effective Drills
Just as in pitch design, the key to improving shooting mechanics lies in feedback. A baseball pitcher might try various drills to improve their fastball command—relying on technology to measure whether the movement is improving or regressing. In basketball, ShotMetrics offers the same type of feedback. Coaches can design drills with the intention of improving a player’s Release Quality, ensuring that the shot is developing toward a purer axis of rotation.
The feedback loop becomes essential. If the drill isn’t producing improvements in Release Quality, it isn’t the right drill for that player’s habit. But when the drill succeeds in improving the spin axis, the coach knows the practice is effective and can progressively increase the difficulty of the drill. This ensures the shooter continues to develop control even under the varying conditions they’ll face in games.
A New Era of Precision in Shooting Development
Just as pitch design has reshaped how baseball pitchers develop their craft, ShotMetrics is revolutionizing shooting development in basketball. Both approaches rely on technology to make the invisible visible, providing immediate feedback and deep insights into mechanics that were previously understood only through trial and error. By identifying and correcting poor release habits, coaches can build consistency and control into a player’s shot—helping them move from throwing curveballs to fastballs, metaphorically speaking.
ShotMetrics allows players to stop relying on feel alone and start understanding the mechanics behind their performance. This nuanced, data-driven approach to shooting development ensures that every drill has a purpose, and every adjustment is based on clear feedback. The result is faster, more precise skill acquisition, shaping the future of shooting development just as pitch design has transformed baseball.
The era of guessing is over—whether on the mound or behind the three-point line.
