Jason Fass is the CEO, at Zepp Labs
located in Los Gatos, CA. The Zepp sensor is a new sport technology
that enables, baseball players, tennis players, golfers and their
coaches to analyze data from a players swing. Players at any level can
use the app as a training tool. Prior to becoming the CEO at Zepp, Fass
held positions in product management for Apple, Cisco and Jawbone.
Fass recognized a huge opportunity to develop sensor-based products
that change the way people practice, play and experience sports. The
Zepp multi-sport sensor and training system is used for baseball/softball, golf and tennis and is sold in retail stores around the world including Apple, Best Buy, Verizon and Amazon.
SZ: What sports did you participate in growing up? Would a Zepp device been helpful to you then?
JF: I’ve always loved sports! As a kid I played football, soccer and even baseball, but really loved to ride my skateboard and bmx bike. And today I’m still really passionate about board sports and absolutely love riding my bike (mountain bike these days). I wish I had a Zepp sensor when I was a kid to help me improve my game, prefect my tricks, and connect with pro athletes.
SZ: In 2012 you were inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by a kite boarding team. What was your role in this feat? What type of technology metrics were involved both on the kite board and by the support team that helped your team achieve this accomplishment?
JF: I was one of the 9 riders to cross the channel. We used GPS trackers to time the crossing and all of us were outfitted with safety equipment.
SZ: How does Zepp technology work? What is in the device that captures metrics such as racket speed, ball speed potential, spin, backswing time and impact time? How accurate are the measurements?
JF: Each sensor has 2 accelerometers and a high performance Gyro that all work together to capture 1000 data points per second for your sports. All of this data is processed by our Zepp motion engine and sent via Bluetooth to your mobile device where you can see very helpful information to help you improve your game. The measurements are extremely accurate.
SZ: The golf and baseball app feature a very cool 3D model that shows the swing from start to finish and has the ability to rotate the figure 360 degrees to catch every angle of the move. The tennis app has this feature for the serve. Will the tennis app be developed to have the 3D model for groundstrokes and volleys in the near future?
JF: There’s a lot we can do with our 3D technology and we may add it to your groundstrokes in tennis, however tennis is a very dynamic game. It’s different than golf or baseball (batting) where the athlete is stationary and working on dialing in a very specific movement. In tennis, this scenario and learning model is most applicable to the serve. However we are looking to make some very cool updates to the tennis app this year that we think players are going to love!
SZ: Zepp has partnered with several major league players and golfers from the PGA so Zepp clients can match their swing from any angle against players like David Ortiz in baseball or golfer Keegan Bradley. Swing technology is one component of a sport do you see Zepp branching out their partnerships to include nutrition, physical training or sport psychology so clients can track all their sport performance data in one place? For example if an athlete’s nutrition is lacking it can easily impact their ability to focus on the ball and hit at full capacity. Or if an athlete is not mentally focused he/she can easily be distracted and not watch the ball well enough to hit it consistently.
JF: Everything we’re doing now is to help players and coaches improve. I think that mission has a natural extension into things beyond the swing analysis we’re doing now. The sports technology market is enormous and full of opportunities.
SZ: Senior players ages 45+ have natural decreases in their swing speed, and their muscles reduce strength with age. Will there be a Masters level swing analysis for older players?
JF: We’ve designed Zepp to be used by players of all ages. In fact, you can customize your goals in the apps based on your age and/or ability.
SZ: What are the psychological advantages you see in an athlete using a Zepp as part of their overall training?
JF: While we’re not quite measuring the psychological advantages yet, we hear from athletes every day who are feeling more confident in the their skills and improving their games.
SZ: What are some surprising things you didn’t anticipate from client experiences using a Zepp to help their athletic skill development?
JF: We’ve been blown away by the interest in using Zepp by the coaching communities in baseball, softball, golf and tennis. While a lot of technology companies talk about “replacing the coach” I like to think we’re embracing the coach. You’re going to see a wealth of new features and functionality along these lines coming from Zepp in the near future.
SZ: Jason thank you for taking time out of your busy day for this interview.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
*This article may also be read @ Examiner
SZ: What sports did you participate in growing up? Would a Zepp device been helpful to you then?
JF: I’ve always loved sports! As a kid I played football, soccer and even baseball, but really loved to ride my skateboard and bmx bike. And today I’m still really passionate about board sports and absolutely love riding my bike (mountain bike these days). I wish I had a Zepp sensor when I was a kid to help me improve my game, prefect my tricks, and connect with pro athletes.
SZ: In 2012 you were inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by a kite boarding team. What was your role in this feat? What type of technology metrics were involved both on the kite board and by the support team that helped your team achieve this accomplishment?
JF: I was one of the 9 riders to cross the channel. We used GPS trackers to time the crossing and all of us were outfitted with safety equipment.
SZ: How does Zepp technology work? What is in the device that captures metrics such as racket speed, ball speed potential, spin, backswing time and impact time? How accurate are the measurements?
JF: Each sensor has 2 accelerometers and a high performance Gyro that all work together to capture 1000 data points per second for your sports. All of this data is processed by our Zepp motion engine and sent via Bluetooth to your mobile device where you can see very helpful information to help you improve your game. The measurements are extremely accurate.
SZ: The golf and baseball app feature a very cool 3D model that shows the swing from start to finish and has the ability to rotate the figure 360 degrees to catch every angle of the move. The tennis app has this feature for the serve. Will the tennis app be developed to have the 3D model for groundstrokes and volleys in the near future?
JF: There’s a lot we can do with our 3D technology and we may add it to your groundstrokes in tennis, however tennis is a very dynamic game. It’s different than golf or baseball (batting) where the athlete is stationary and working on dialing in a very specific movement. In tennis, this scenario and learning model is most applicable to the serve. However we are looking to make some very cool updates to the tennis app this year that we think players are going to love!
SZ: Zepp has partnered with several major league players and golfers from the PGA so Zepp clients can match their swing from any angle against players like David Ortiz in baseball or golfer Keegan Bradley. Swing technology is one component of a sport do you see Zepp branching out their partnerships to include nutrition, physical training or sport psychology so clients can track all their sport performance data in one place? For example if an athlete’s nutrition is lacking it can easily impact their ability to focus on the ball and hit at full capacity. Or if an athlete is not mentally focused he/she can easily be distracted and not watch the ball well enough to hit it consistently.
JF: Everything we’re doing now is to help players and coaches improve. I think that mission has a natural extension into things beyond the swing analysis we’re doing now. The sports technology market is enormous and full of opportunities.
SZ: Senior players ages 45+ have natural decreases in their swing speed, and their muscles reduce strength with age. Will there be a Masters level swing analysis for older players?
JF: We’ve designed Zepp to be used by players of all ages. In fact, you can customize your goals in the apps based on your age and/or ability.
SZ: What are the psychological advantages you see in an athlete using a Zepp as part of their overall training?
JF: While we’re not quite measuring the psychological advantages yet, we hear from athletes every day who are feeling more confident in the their skills and improving their games.
SZ: What are some surprising things you didn’t anticipate from client experiences using a Zepp to help their athletic skill development?
JF: We’ve been blown away by the interest in using Zepp by the coaching communities in baseball, softball, golf and tennis. While a lot of technology companies talk about “replacing the coach” I like to think we’re embracing the coach. You’re going to see a wealth of new features and functionality along these lines coming from Zepp in the near future.
SZ: Jason thank you for taking time out of your busy day for this interview.
*Featured guests are not current nor former clients of Susan Zaro
*This article may also be read @ Examiner
