Advantages for Athletes
1. Watch yourself play: Athletes, one of the best ways to improve your own performance is to study game film and evaluate your own technique and game performance. Often it's only by watching yourself that some of the coaching tips you get begin to make sense. If you don't believe us read this about Tony Gwynn, one of baseball's most prolific hitters, and see what he has to say about the benefits of game film:
"Tony Gwynn is king of the videos. He is obsessed with studying his batting style on film. What began as a casual "let's take a look at how I swing" Has developed into a Spielberg-like production.
On the road, Gwynn carries two extra bags packed with video equipment and supplies. He has tapes of himself against every pitcher he has faced in the National League, showing every at-bat he has been able to film.
In his hotel room, before every game, he uses a small video replay machine to review the tape of that night's pitcher.
"I kind of take things to an extreme," said Gwynn, who edits and compiles his own tapes. "I know all I have to do is see the ball and hit the ball and I will put my bat on the ball. I know that, but it's not enough.
"In 1983, I was hurt the first half of the year and after finishing rehab, I was called back up and struggled for about a month. I didn't know what was wrong. I had never really concentrated on what I do at the plate, what I do well, what I don't do well. I never had to. So I bought a VCR and started taping games. I came back from a trip and looked at the tapes and I knew immediately what was wrong. From that point on, I hit like .350 and had a 25-game hitting streak.
"I don't keep a journal. Most of it is mental anyway. Once you watch these tapes as much as I do, you know. I think I would be as good a hitter without the tapes, but this is fine tuning. I really don't look at myself that much, but rather I look at how the guy has pitched me in the past. Maybe they will try it again, maybe not. But it will be in my mind knowing what they might do, and that is an advantage to me as a hitter."
"I have one of my 1987 season, when I hit 24 home runs," he said. "I go back and look at that one, to look at the swing. But otherwise, it's all in the brain -- everyone I have faced, what they threw.
"I can remember everything, like a computer. I file it up there. I don't write anything down because you can lose it. I can remember what someone threw me in 1983, the sequence of pitches. I don't want to rely on anything else rather than myself. I can step into the batter's box and feel how I swing rather than go back on tape and slow it down. I can feel it as soon as I start the bat.
Perhaps the most vivid evidence of Gwynn's dedication to hitting was housed in a former storage closet at Qualcomm Stadium. There, he maintained an extensive videotape collection of his previous at-bats. Dubbed "Captain Video" Gwynn bought his first VCR for $500 in 1983; a decade later, he spent nearly $100,000 to install a state-of-the-art taping facility in the Padres' clubhouse. The investment paid off for Gwynn's teammates as well -- so much so that when slugger Greg Vaughn was traded from San Diego to Cincinnati in February 1999, he fell into a slump after unsuccessfully trying to lure the Padres' video technician to the Reds.
BaseballLibrary.com
2. Save the memories-- It may not seem like much to you now but at some point you will love the opportunity to go back and watch yourself play. It's well worth a few dollars to save a season of memories.
3. Raise money for your team-- It really doesn't get any easier than this. As a child I spend countless hours going door to door selling popcorn and car wash tickets--and most of that to strangers.
4. Share your season with those closest to you-- Now instead of just calling and telling your grandparents about your great game they can actually watch it and share it with you!