AthletiCo Introduces Video Throwing Analysis Service Line
AthletiCo recently introduced a Video Throwing Analysis service (VTA) that will help improve athlete performance using software developed by industry leader Dartfish and Kinovea. The VTA service allows AthletiCo’s team of physical therapists, occupational therapists, athletic trainers, and physical therapy assistants to perform powerful and biomechanical analyses to help athletes achieve optimal throwing efficiency.
Athletico offers two options for motion analysis software; Dartfish and Kinovea that provides slow-motion video analysis, joint angle analysis, and multi-angle video throwing analysis that is easily communicated to patients and clients through high-quality video footage, which is copied to a customized report.
“This is a unique service to the community,” said Jason Bannack, AthletiCo’s Director of Athletic Training Services. “Our model is based on the success of our Video Gait Analysis service, which also uses the Dartfish and Kinovea software. AthletiCo’s goal is to continue to educate athletes and coaches at every level on proper throwing mechanics.”
The VTA service represents the culmination of AthletiCo’s recent emphasis on baseball injuries, rehabilitation, and shoulder strength maintenance. In November, AthletiCo hosted its first Winter Baseball Symposium in conjunction with its in-house continuing education program, AthletiCo University. More than 65 people attended the four-hour program, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and performance enhancement specialists. The program featured head athletic trainers, Mark O’Neal of the Chicago Cubs, and Herm Schneider of the Chicago White Sox, as well as Chicago White Sox head team physician, Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush.
Both head athletic trainers from the north and south side of town see this service as an important means of keeping athletes healthy and playing the game. For the Cubs’ O’Neal, he believes that the use of AthletiCo’s VTA service can be instrumental in helping coaches, parents, and athletic trainers identify deficits and keep kids, athletes, and professionals on the field where they belong.
The White Sox’s Schneider sees the benefits in the form of improved mechanics. “By incorporating the Dartfish and Kinovea software, AthletiCo’s Video Throwing Analysis service is a great way to identify mechanical deficits throughout every phase of the throwing motion.”
Tony Garofalo, AthletiCo’s regional athletic training coordinator and former head athletic trainer for the Chicago Cubs, and Jason Myers, PT, AthletiCo Schaumburg, were the driving forces in the setup and rollout of the Video Throwing Analysis service. They collaborated with Bannack on internal workshops for the 35 AthletiCo clinicians who will be performing this service at more than 30 AthletiCo facilities in the tri-state area.
