Category Archives: Tech of Sports

From the shoes we wear on our feet to the high definition televisions in our living room, wearable devices, the sports universe is a breeding ground for technology. Writer and Photographer Rick Limpert will examine this each week on The Tech of Sports – With guests which include athletes, inventors and journalists that cover the intersection of sports and technology.

Chip Beck, PGA Tour Winner for Pitchfix

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Rick is joined by PGA Tour winner and all around nice guy, Chip Beck at the 2020 PGA Show, where he was appearing again for Pitchfix.

Chip Beck is a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia. He has four victories on the PGA Tour and twenty runner-up finishes. He spent 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1988 and 1989.

He was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was the runner-up at the 1993 Masters Tournament, and was tied for runner-up at the 1986 and 1989 U.S. Open championships. He is also noted for his stellar play at the 1991 Ryder Cup held at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort and is a three-time Ryder Cup participant, also playing in 1989 and 1993 at The Belfry Golf & Country Club in Sutton Coldfield, England. He won the Vardon Trophy in 1988.

Beck shot a round of 59 in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational on the Sunrise Golf Club (par 72) in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of only six players in the history of the PGA Tour ever to do so. His round included 5 pars and 13 birdies (a PGA Tour record for birdies in one round) including a three footer on the 18th hole. Beck finished tied for third in the tournament. He also shot a hole-in-one (also a double eagle) at the par-4 9th hole in the first round of the 2003 Omaha Classic, a Nationwide Tour event. It was the first in Nationwide Tour history and second recorded in the history of the PGA Tour umbrella combined. Chip also has played on the PGA Tour Champions.

Pitchfix’s new products will broaden the company’s product portfolio beyond divot tools. In addition to the Greenkeeper Pro divot repair tool, the PickCup, AquaBrush and AimPRO are going to be offered in 2020.

The Greenkeeper Pro is being reintroduced at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show and now features a more flexible green maintenance solution for all playing surfaces. After significant on-course testing with professional greenkeepers around the world, Pitchfix has developed the Greenkeeper Pro to provide a simple but effective professional ball mark repair solution for all greens surfaces. Utilizing the company’s proprietary RepairTech pin technology, the Greenkeeper Pro is now the most complete repair tool available for professional greenkeepers and golfers alike.

The 33” Greenkeeper Pro is constructed of a rubberized handle, carbon fiber shaft and a spring loaded steel cast head with stainless steel ‘teardrop’ pins. With one push down on the handle into the ball mark, the stainless steel prongs in the head pull up, creating a level surface and a perfectly fixed ball mark without bending down.

The Greenkeeper Pro comes in a two-pack with each tool designed for varying degrees of green hardness.

PickCup is a device designed to improve the efficiency of removing golf balls from the cup while maintaining the integrity of the grass surrounding the hole.

The creation of PickCup is in large part a result of the new R&A and USGA rule that now allows flagsticks to remain in the hole while putting a ball from on the green. Many golfers, when removing the ball from the cup, will insert their hand or putter between the flag stick and the edge of the hole, creating damage to the hole edges. This causes the greenkeeper to move the hole around the green, creating extra repair and maintenance work.

The PickCup solution, easy to install and replace, has a soft edge to protect the grass around the hole and easily fits on any flagstick. PickCup helps improve speed of play, eliminates damage to the edge of the hole, reduces the need for new pin placements and eliminates the requirement to bend over to the retrieve balls.

AquaBrush is a new essential device for golf bags, fitted with interchangeable and replaceable brush-heads and a water reservoir used to clean club heads. Press the button on top of AquaBrush and a spray of water shoots out and on to the club face. Wipe it clean with a towel or the brush attached at the base of the grip.

Aquabrush is available in multiple colors and as with Pitchfix’ range of award winning divot tools, can be logo’s with a club crest, tournament brand or logo.

AimPRO is a compacts, circular ball marker with a mirror on top designed as a practice aid to help golfers learn and master the Aimpoint method of reading the break of a putt. The mirrored surface is placed upon the putting green and helps the golfer learn how to calculate the correct scale of any slope on the green and adjust their aim accordingly. The system promises to help users find the right line and improve the accuracy of their putting. AimPRO is designed to help golfers of any ability learn this relatively new method of reading the break that is proving increasingly popular with Tour Pros.

Founded in 2005, Pitchfix is the market leader for switchblade divot tools and other golf green related products in Europe and Asia and is renowned for its high standards in design and product quality. It aims to be the market leader in divot tools and other golf related products in the United States by designing, manufacturing and distributing an ever-growing line of high quality and innovative European designed products through selected distribution partners.

Pitchfix currently offers an array of diverse and innovative products for golfers worldwide: Twister 2.0 Divot Tool; Classic Divot Tool; Hybrid 2.0 Divot Tool; XL 3.0 Divot Tool; Alignmee Marker Alignment Tool, Hatclip Ball Marker, The Tour Edition and Tour Edition 2.5 Divot Tool, the Multi Marker Chip, Greenkeeper Pro, PickCup, AquaBrush and AimPRO.

The Pitchfix Fusion 2.5 was named “Best Divot Repair Tool” by Golf Digest in its 2019 Editors’ Choice Awards for the third consecutive year.

John Smoltz, Baseball Hall of Famer, Bridgestone Golf

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Rick is joined this week by Baseball Hall of Famer and Atlanta Braves legend, John Smoltz.

Smoltz played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 2009, all but the last year with the Atlanta Braves. An eight-time All-Star, Smoltz was part of a celebrated trio of starting pitchers, along with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who propelled Atlanta to perennial pennant contention in the 1990s, highlighted by a championship in the 1995 World Series. He won the National League (NL) Cy Young Award in 1996 after posting a record of 24–8, equaling the most victories by an NL pitcher since 1972. Though predominantly known as a starter, Smoltz was converted to a reliever in 2001 after his recovery from Tommy John surgery, and spent four years as the team’s closer before returning to a starting role. In 2002, he set the NL record with 55 saves and became only the second pitcher in history (joining Dennis Eckersley) to record both a 20-win season and a 50-save season. He is the only pitcher in major league history to record both 200 wins and 150 saves.

Smoltz was one of the most prominent pitchers in playoff history, posting a record of 15–4 with a 2.67 earned run average (ERA) in 41 career postseason games, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1992 NL Championship Series

I caught up with Smoltz not in Atlanta, but at a Bridgestone Golf event that was part of the 2020 PGA Show in Atlanta.
Smoltz has now turned his attention to golf and recently won another celebrity tournament. He’ll be making some starts on the PGA Champions Tour and hopes to qualify this year again for the U.S. Senior Open.

Smoltz is also now a respected voice in the baseball broadcast booth. Hard pressed to find someone better to explain the game than Smoltz.

NCAA Final Four Coming to Atlanta with Duke AD Kevin White and Dan Gavitt of the NCAA

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Even if you don’t have a ticket to the games being played, there will be plenty of things fans can do leading up to the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Atlanta, April 3-6, 2020.

Rick talks about that and more with Kevin White, who is best known as Mike Krzyzewski’s boss as the AD at Duke. He is also Chair of the NCAA DI Basketball Selection Committee. Rick also is joined by Dan Gavitt the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball.

Once again, leading up to the DI semis, the NCAA Men’s Division II and III National Championships will be held on Sunday, April 5, at State Farm Arena. The Division III game will tipoff at 12:30 p.m. and the Division II game will begin at 4 p.m. The games are free and open to the public.

Youth basketball fans ages 18 and under can also be part of the Final Four action with the NCAA Final Four Dribble presented by Buick. The one-of-a-kind and free Final Four event will take place on Sunday, April 5, beginning with check-in at 1 p.m. in downtown Atlanta. Fans can bounce into action and dribble their way through the heart of downtown. To register for the event, fans should visit participating Buick dealerships beginning January 15. The first 3,000 participants will receive a NCAA Final Four Dribble t-shirt, a Wilson basketball and free entry into the Final Four Fan Fest presented by Capital One for Dribble participants and accompanying adults. Immediately following, fans are encouraged to head over to State Farm Arena for the free NCAA Men’s DII and DIII National Championships.

“Conducting all three national basketball championships in one city on the same weekend provides student-athletes from each division, as well as their fans, a special experience,” said Gavitt. “We’re thrilled about all the games and the fan events we have planned for the Final Four weekend, leading up to the Division I National Championship Game.”

The NCAA Final Four Semifinals will take place on Saturday, April 4 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The winners of the two games will advance to the NCAA Final Four Division I National Championship on Monday, April 6.

Atlanta is no stranger to hosting huge events and this is another big to anticipate and enjoy.

Here is Rick with Kevin and Dan.

 

Daniel Pidgeon, President of Home Services at Goodman Networks

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As part of his look at CES 2020, Rick is joined by Daniel Pidgeon, President of Home Services at Goodman Networks, this week on “Tech of Sports.”

Goodman Networks is a leading provider of premium installation services for electronics brands and retailers.

CES 2020 showcased new improvements to audio and home theater as the home theater market that is projected to grow 8% by 2022.

Rick and Dan talk about the home theater market and how it is growing and relevant to sports fans. Hear what is coming and why this is important.

Daniel has more than 25 years of experience in the installation industry, previously serving as Chief Executive and Chariman at Starpower in Dallas, TX. Daniel and his work have been recognized widely across the Consumer Electronics industry including awards such as Dealerscope Magazine’s “Best of the Best”, “Best Specialty Audio Video Company in America” along with dozens of other trade and retail organization awards. In 2015, Daniel rose to become the Chairman of the Executive Board for CTA. CTA is the owner and producer of the largest trade show in the world, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES®) held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He is also a member of the Dallas, Texas Chapter of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), a member of Dealerscope’s “Hall of Fame”, a member of CTA’s Board of Industry Leaders, a board member of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) National Consumer Technology Board and the 2018 recipient of ADL’s Torch of Liberty Award recognizing his impact on the global consumer electronics industry. In addition, Daniel is active as a board member of many other high-profile national and local charities. Daniel started in his teens, working at a family-owned furniture company. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Economics.

Have a listen to Rick and Dan.

Kenichi Herano of ASICS Institute of Sport Science at CES

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Rick is joined by Kenichi Herano of ASICS, this week. He is Executive Officer and Senior General Manager at ASICS Institute of Sport Science.

What is ASICS doing at CES?

The ASICS Energy Research Lab is at CES to see sports innovation at work – and a look at the research.

This is the first time that we are bringing the ASICS Energy Research Lab to CES, as we celebrate our commitment to innovation and technology in 2020.

Our booth will lift the curtain on the incredible work done by our scientists at the ASICS Institute of Sports Science, bringing their lab into the real world and demonstrating the impact technology can have on performance.

What was going on at the Lab:

Discover ground-breaking science and technology that allows you to run further, faster and more efficiently
Hear (and see) our plans for how we innovate to revolutionize sport and movement, including a world-first reveal of our latest technology
Gain exclusive interview access and insight from our c-suite executives and ISS scientists

Three shoes were at CES, Evoride, as well as two other shoes — the Metaride and the Guidesole (both already released) — their Running Analyzer. The Running Analyzer involves running on a treadmill, wearing each of the three shoes, while a camera analyzes your movements. The Running Analyzer app assess your run to help you learn more about how you run and how you can improve your form (and of course also to determine which of the Asics shoes are best for you).

Have a listen and hear what is going on at ASICS.

Matt Lawler, Director Digital Media at AEG Global Partnerships on Digital Sports Marketing

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Rick is joined this week on “Tech of Sports” by Matt Lawler. Lawler, director of digital media at AEG Global Partnerships, is at the head of this. He will be speaking on the panel “The State of Sports Analytics” on Thursday, January 9 at CES in Las Vegas. Lawler gives a preview as to what he may be talking about on the panel as well as a look into the future of digital sports marketing.

AEG is the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company. Known for staying at the forefront of data and analytics, the company is discovering new ways of boosting fan engagement across 135 topnotch AEG assets, including more than 90 venues, 20 sports teams, events and festivals.

Matt is responsible for leveraging digital assets and creating massive brand partnership opportunities across professional sports teams (LA Kings, LA Galaxy), hundreds of venues (STAPLES Center, Dignity Health Sports Park) and thousands of live events each year including The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, Stagecoach and many more. Things Matt can speak on include:

-How advances in technology and data tracking are allowing teams and events to understand their fans to a greater degree.
-How to make sure to capture meaningful data before, after and during an event.
-The importance of sponsorship analytics: how analytics can create more effective partnership campaigns.
-How analytic strategies are driving the future of sporting ticket sales through an improved fan experience, maximizing revenue and overall increased attendance.

With millions of dollars invested in AEG, Matt is integrating cutting-edge digital capabilities into strategic media and marketing campaigns, engaging communities and building partner and fan-generated content.

Have a listen to Matt and Rick!