GOOD DESIGN AWARD

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Special Award
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Award-winning item: Baseball spin analysis system [MA-Q]
Business Owner: MIZUNO CORPORATION
Category: Sporting goods
Company: MIZUNO CORPORATION (Japan)
Award Number: 20G040180
Outline of Good Design Award winners: Outline of Good Design Award winners 2020

Outline* The shown information is the one as of the awarded date and might has been changed.

Outline: MA-Q is a baseball with a built-in sensor which targets amateur baseball world. Not only it can measure spin rate, spin axis, and speed just by throwing the ball, but also could be controlled through an app on your smartphone. It is a tool for "designing" the pitching objectively based on performance of players and coaches.
Designer: MIZUNO CORPORATION Design Section, Global Equipment Product Department/ Sensing Solution Development Section, Global Research & Development Department
Already on the market: 2018/11/15

Evaluation

This is not just a measuring device; it is a product set to revolutionize practice in the world of amateur baseball. Compared with the U.S., where data-based baseball is already advanced, the Japanese baseball world is still mainly bound by illogical coaching practices. In the case of baseball players at high schools, which cannot afford expensive trajectory measuring devices, this device enables them to design their pitching based on numerical data. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that this product offers the same level of quality as conventional official balls.