Dartfish

I still tend to think of "technology" as something profound and separate from me, despite my frequent use of my cell phone and computer. I'd forgotten about the video camera: that rectangular object which has dropped in mass and bulk over the years, capturing family events, my personal "artistry" as I filmed in high school, and all of my gymnastics meets.

Our coach at Cortland breaks out the Dartfish program from time to time. The website boasts that the program can do all sorts of grand things. I've experienced Dartfish as video feedback playing on a computer screen. A certain amount of time will be incorporated as a delay -- for example, ninety seconds -- which gives the athlete a sufficient amount of time to perform the skill, then walk over to watch it on the screen. The experience is more immediate than recording the skill on video and watching it later.

Then again, one can't knock the family video camera. Yesterday I watched a meet that my mom had taped. While actually doing the routine, I felt like death was imminent as I went into the air for my last tumbling pass. I landed safely and a bit surprised.

On screen, Diana ran across the floor. There she goes...hey, that didn't look nearly as bad as I'd thought! (Of course, the reverse can often be true.)

The video camera is a technology that keeps quietly reinventing itself, now recording to mini tapes or DVD. It's also a technology that actually serves a purpose, either for education or for simply capturing memories. (Which may not be so "simple" after all.) I'm excited to be working with a camera again for this upcoming project, and I'm thinking about proposing an idea that involves athletics.