{"id":23995,"date":"2014-01-27T07:15:06","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T12:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=23995"},"modified":"2021-05-12T09:46:29","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T13:46:29","slug":"94fifty-basketball-app-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/tech\/94fifty-basketball-app-review\/","title":{"rendered":"94Fifty: A Basketball That Records Every Shot and Dribble"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-23998\" alt=\"94Fifty Basketball\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/10052302\/94Fifty_2.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/10052302\/94Fifty_2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/10052302\/94Fifty_2-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><br \/>\nIf you\u2019re looking to improve your game, no matter the sport, you\u2019re probably living by the tried but true saying, practice makes perfect. And when it comes to basketball, it\u2019s one of the easier sports to practice on your own \u2014 you can dribble, shoot and rebound all sans opponent. But how do you know if you\u2019re getting any better? Besides making or missing a shot, it can be hard to calculate your progress alone. That\u2019s when you turn to coaches and teammates. Or, the <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.94fifty.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Inside this rubber ball live sensors that use point-of-force technology in order to analyze and provide feedback on an athlete\u2019s performance. The goal: to develop a better player. \u201cThe way people learn and want to learn has changed; they expect information to be fast, digital, engaging and objective,\u201d says Michael Crowley, founder and CEO of Infomotion Sports Technologies, the company that brought this ball to life. \u201cIf you can&#8217;t deliver it in that format, they don&#8217;t listen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4sNUwV-kOa0\" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While it may look, feel and even weigh the same as an ordinary, regulation basketball, the 94Fifty is equipped with motion sensors and a unique algorithm to track how consistently you perform a move, learn the strengths and weaknesses of multiple players at any level, and track progress over time. It also provides basic, intermediate and advanced level training in order for a player to build better shooting and ball-handling skills with the help of the accompanying <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/94fifty-basketball\/id724955707?mt=8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">94Fifty app<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When the app is launched it asks for basic info of the player including name and height, picture optional, for up to five players. (Note that there\u2019s always a \u201cguest\u201d option if a friend comes by and wants to challenge your skills.) Next, choose what you\u2019d like to focus on: a workout, head-to-head challenge, skill training or social challenge. A list of drills will then pop up that you will either perform alone or against an opponent. These range from dominant and non-dominant hand dribbling speed to crossover speed or shooter\u2019s touch (accuracy and arc wins) for competitions. And for individual training, athletes can get feedback on everything from consecutive dribbles in a certain time frame, to shot arc and shot backspin.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe are huge believers that even a series of tiny successes, strung together in sequence, will dramatically increase the probability that a player will continue to repeat something.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cEverything in the app has the underlying goal of improving skill, whether its\u2026the workout section, a head-to-head competition, social challenge, and so on,\u201d says Crowley, who played Division II ball in college. Plus, the app rewards users with bonus points when drills are mastered, which adds extra motivation.<\/p>\n<p>And just how accurate is the information? According to the manufacturer, combining a specific suite of inertial motion sensors (nine to be exact), which by nature are very accurate and precise, special algorithms and firmware that seek patterns of motion, the answer is very. The ball and app also provide voice and audio feedback to correct flaws in milliseconds on every shot and dribble. This real-time scoring is recorded under the player\u2019s individual profile and presented in the app on leaderboards. These charts show a player\u2019s daily and all-time personal bests. Plus, the ball can train anyone whose skills range from playground to pro level (100 NBA and NBA draft picks were used to test the pro level data).<\/p>\n<p>Elite teams and coaches are getting involved, too. \u201cOur ultimate goal and vision is to allow any player, anywhere in the world, to compete, learn from, and interact with other players and coaches in real time, with information about their skills that is unique to them,\u201d says Crowley. Coaches such as Bill Self, Mike Brey, Bo Ryan and Jamie Dixon support the ball. \u201cWe are huge believers that even a series of tiny successes, strung together in sequence, will dramatically increase the probability that a player will continue to repeat something,\u201d says Crowley. \u201cWhen that happens in a game like basketball, it\u2019s just amazing how fast improvement occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crowley and his team of engineers have already seen much success with the 94Fifty and developments of another basketball product are already underway \u2014 one that will focus more on live, game-time statistics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the end,\u201d Crowley says, \u201cthere is no more satisfying response from customers than when we hear that scoring has gone up, championships are won, or even just making a team that wasn&#8217;t thought possible, and our products had a hand in helping to achieve that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the $299 ball costs just a fraction of what continued elite-level coaching might cost, keep in mind that it won\u2019t be able to help you develop <i>all <\/i>aspects of your game, including court vision and defensive skills. You\u2019re on your own for those. To learn more about the 94Fifty or to purchase one, head to <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.94fifty.com\/collections\/products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shop.94fifty.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looking to improve your basketball skills? Get in extra practice time with the 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball \u2014 a regulation ball that records every move you make on the court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":23997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,25,10],"tags":[287,133,104,141,347,366,167],"class_list":["post-23995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apps","category-gear-gadgets","category-tech","tag-apps","tag-gear","tag-goals","tag-sports","tag-tax1family","tag-tax2family-fitness","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}