SUNY Cortland senior, Matt Martone, teamed up with former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, CJ Stewart, the founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, using Dartfish Technology in 2013 Summer Internship. “Dartfish allows for a more in depth analysis of a client, allowing CJ to give the best feedback and coaching possible” states Dartfish Intern Matt Martone.
C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an area scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development in Atlanta, GA, CJ has over 12 years of player development experience, building an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today.
Q&A with Matt Martone
Dartfish – How did you use Dartfish and how did it benefit Diamond Directors?
Matt Martone – There are multiple benefits with using Dartfish with Diamond Director’s unique 3K Swing Club. As clients work within the program, they are continually recorded, analyzed, and given immediate feedback using Dartfish and reinforced for applying well executed technique. Having the ability to review a client’s video after the fact, allows a coach to really focus on the small details, because there is too much to note, within the coaching moment.
DF – Which parts of Dartfish technology did you use the most and how often?
MM – We used Dartfish for every 1-on-1 client session. For each session, CJ had the computer and camera set up in the cage, to use Dartfish for immediate feedback. If CJ saw something he didn’t like, he paused to see if the athlete caught his mistake. If he didn’t, CJ pointed it out, so they could correct it, before it became permanent. By catching these bad habits early, CJ could prevent them from becoming habitual, with emphasis on reinforcing the proper technique.
DF – How is Dartfish TV used by Diamond Directors?
MM – With Dartfish TV, CJ keeps a running catalog of each client’s performance, accurately tracking their swing progression. CJ keeps libraries of all his clients’ videos, stored in individual private collections on his Dartfish TV channel. It serves as an online video reference library for himself and his clients. This allows him to easily view a client’s history and watch, in detail, the progress of the swing, providing understanding of his clients’ needs, so that he can better serve them as a coach.
DF – What insights did you gain interning as a Certified Dartfish Technologist?
MM – The major idea I learned was when working as a Dartfish Certified Technologist, my goal should be to adapt my skills and the software features used, to provide what a coach needs to improve the service they provide for each client. Once I focused on simplifying, I became much more effective as a Dartfish Technologist.
I learned as well that Dartfish brings both motivation and results to CJ’s clients. For some of his younger clients (those in high school and below) being videoed/analyzed is a very unique experience for them. No one else on their team is treated like a pro baseball player, having their every move filmed, critiqued, and analyzed with extreme detail, exactly what CJ does with his MLB clients such as Jason Heyward and Dexter Fowler.
What could possibly motivate a young athlete more than being treated and coached like the pros?
CJ’s clients experience success, both in the cage and on the field, because with each session, the athlete’s skills improve. Their success increases confidence, so they go out on the field and play their best, knowing they have developed the skills to succeed.
