It’s Batter Up : Sports Instruction Is Entering Computer Age

One of the computer industry’s leading software companies has launched a line of programs designed to teach the intricacies of various sports.

The company is Avant-Garde and its first sports-related product is Dave Winfield’s Batter Up.

“We are not a game company,” said Tom Measday, the firm’s president. “We are manufacturers of educational software. Going into sports is just a natural outgrowth of being in the teaching industry. We certainly haven’t been surprised by the strong response. We knew it would be there.”

The Winfield program began by accident. The New York Yankee outfielder was seated next to the company’s major investor on a cross-country flight. By the time the plane landed the idea for the program was born.

The project was unique to the computer field. The Winfield program shows, among other things, 64 ways a pitch may come at a batter. Highly refined graphics provide a view of the pitch and how the participant responds.

“Instead of letting the computer play for you,” Measday said. “You are actually playing against the computer. It will tell you how well you’ve done and what you did wrong. The object is to teach and for the user to apply that knowledge.”

The company launches its second sports related project in New York on Nov. 5, Joe Theismann’s Professional Football.

“The Theismann program will teach the user about offensive and defensive formations,” Measday said. “It will allow the user to play in a simulated game to see how his strategy would work.”

The company plans a tennis format featuring Chris Evert Lloyd in December. Magic Johnson’s basketball program is due next summer and Jackie Stewart’s on auto racing will hit the market some time in 1986.

“Jackie Stewart’s driving program may be one of the most challenging for us to do,” the company president said. “How do you duplicate a Formula One course, or a road course? We will also likely program in some tests for defensive driving.”

Measday said the programs--which cost from $34.95 to $39.95--are aimed at high school and college students still learning the fine points of their sport.

“The programs give the user the opportunity to see how the things a coach is telling them works,” he said. “Like a high school football player who is just learning about plays. He can call up a defense on the program and see where the openings will be for a pass play.”

Measday said the sports programs may eventually constitute two-thirds of his company’s business.

“The reason for the projected growth is that we are the only firm that currently is producing this kind of material,” he said. “With our success though, we expect competition in this field to begin at any time.”