Understand Motor Preferences
Identify each athlete’s Motor Preferences to guide how we coach and train.
The foundationNorman, Oklahoma · Softball headquarters
The Gasso MPE Center of Excellence is the national training headquarters for Motor Preferences in Softball.
30
NCAA Division I schoolsuse the same training system
Individualized by designGasso · MPE · Norman, OK
SoftballNational Motor Preferences training
Motor PreferencesThe foundation of our assessment and coaching
In person + remoteTraining for athletes, groups, and teams
Visit us in Norman
Gasso Center of Excellence
3535 SE 44th StNorman, OK 73072
How we work
Understand the athlete.
Build the plan.
The Motor Preferences Assessment helps us understand how an athlete moves and expresses their qualities. That profile informs hitting, strength and conditioning, and the athlete’s development plan.
Individualize
Use the athlete’s profile, sport, goals, and available performance data to guide coaching and training choices.
Athlete-centeredDevelop
Connect hitting and strength and conditioning through private lessons, group and team training, or remote coaching.
Individual, group + teamStart with Motor Preferences.
Tell us which training or Motor Preferences Assessment option you’re interested in.
The framework behind the training
Motor Preferences
starts with the individual.
Motor Preferences gives coaches a way to observe how an athlete naturally organizes movement. It helps us ask better questions about how to coach and train that person.
Athletes do not all move, feel, or respond in the same way. Motor Preferences helps describe those individual movement tendencies so training can be considered in context.
We use the Motor Preferences profile alongside the athlete’s sport, experience, goals, and the demands of each task. It can inform how we select drills, positions, cues, and strength work for baseball and softball.
The aim is to understand the athlete more clearly and build a useful development path—not force everyone into one model.
01
Observe how the athlete movesLook for tendencies across movement and performance tasks.
02
Interpret the full contextConsider preferences alongside goals, skills, and measured qualities.
03
Apply it to coachingUse the information to guide individualized hitting and strength work.
Motor Preferences is not a fixed label. It is a framework for understanding an athlete’s natural movement tendencies. A preference does not define everything an athlete can do or limit how they can develop.
Part of the Motor Preferences Assessment
Why include
primitive reflex screening?
We screen primitive reflexes because they may influence posture, coordination, and movement control.
This adds context to the athlete’s Motor Preferences Assessment and helps us individualize coaching and training.
The Motor Preferences Assessment
Start with the athlete’s
movement preferences.
The core Motor Preferences Assessment builds an individual movement profile. Extended profiles add force and power testing or a joint-by-joint view of range of motion and muscle function.
CORE MOTOR PREFERENCES PROFILE
Motor Preferences
Assessment
The core profile: understand how the athlete organizes movement and responds during foundational tasks.
- Motor Preferences profile
- Primitive reflex screening
- Sensor Edge standing posture analysis
- Countermovement jump (CMJ)
EXTENDED PROFILE · FORCE + POWERMore output detail
Performance
Output Profile
Builds on the core Motor Preferences profile with testing that adds detail about the athlete’s force and power output qualities.
- Core Motor Preferences Assessment components
- Beyond Power VOLTRA upper-body testing
- Additional force plate measurements
- KINVENT K-Power output measures
EXTENDED PROFILE · JOINT + MUSCLE
Joint & Muscle
Profile
Adds a full joint-by-joint view of range of motion and muscle function to the athlete’s Motor Preferences and performance profiles.
- Motor Preferences and performance profile context
- Joint-by-joint range-of-motion testing
- Muscle testing throughout the body
- A more complete profile of what the athlete can do
Motor Preferences
The central lens for understanding how an athlete naturally organizes movement and applying that insight to sport and training.
Primitive reflex screening
Screens primitive reflexes to understand whether they may affect posture, coordination, and movement control, helping us individualize training.
Force and power
Shows how the athlete produces output during testing so the coach has objective information to consider when planning training.
Services for athletes and teams
Training built around
baseball & softball.
Motor Preferences guides the way we assess, coach, and train through hitting, strength and conditioning, group development, and team services.
Individual athlete services
Motor Preferences Assessment
The core profile maps movement preferences. Additional options add performance output testing or full joint-by-joint range-of-motion and muscle testing.
Private hitting lessons
In-person one-on-one baseball and softball hitting, informed by Motor Preferences, the athlete’s goals, and the Motor Preferences profile and assessment findings when available.
Private strength & conditioning
In-person individual training guided by Motor Preferences, the athlete’s physical qualities, and development needs.
Remote training
Remote individual hitting, strength and conditioning, or a combination. Remote coaching begins with a Motor Preferences Assessment so the program is based on the athlete’s movement profile.
Groups, teams, and organizations
Group training
Structured group training for athletes developing movement, hitting, strength, and sport performance.
Team training
Team-based athlete development and practical application of Motor Preferences in training.
Group & team Motor Preferences Assessments
Group Motor Preferences Assessment options help coaches understand each athlete’s movement preferences and apply that information to team development.
Consulting & coach education
Support for high schools, colleges, teams, and organizations applying Motor Preferences to athlete development.
Training fees are not listed here. Use the inquiry form to discuss Motor Preferences Assessment and training options.
Programs, teams, and schools
Work that reaches
beyond one athlete.
Gasso Center of Excellence works with athletes and organizations, while Motor Preferences is used by college programs across the country.
College, high school, and team experience
Programs connected
through Motor Preferences
Schools and programs connected to Motor Preferences and the Gasso Center of Excellence.
University of Missouri
University of Maryland
University of South Carolina
University of Oregon
University of California, Los Angeles
Arizona State University
University of Nevada, Reno
Duke University
University of Oklahoma
Sacramento State University
University of Arkansas
Oklahoma State University
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Texas A&M University
University of Washington
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of South Alabama
Northeastern State University
North Gwinnett High School
Jesuit High School of New Orleans
Hoover High School
Bring Motor Preferences to your group.
Share your school or team, age groups, and what support you’re looking for.
Measurement + training environment
Technology with a
purpose in the process.
Motor Preferences remains the foundation. Our tools add objective information about movement, force, power, and hitting performance to help coaches build a clearer picture of each athlete.
Performance technology
Sensor Edge plates
Used for standing posture analysis to observe how pressure is distributed while the athlete stands naturally.
KINVENT force plates
Provide objective force measurements during performance testing, helping us understand how the athlete produces output.
KINVENT K-Power
Measures movement speed and power output to add context to physical performance and training.
Beyond Power VOLTRA
Used for upper-body testing and adaptable resistance work, with output information available to guide training.
Full Swing monitor
Supports hitting work with measurable ball-flight feedback. We track indicators such as exit velocity, bat speed, and other batted-ball metrics.
Joint + muscle testing
Joint-by-joint range-of-motion and muscle testing build a fuller profile of the athlete’s physical capacities.
Gasso Center of Excellence · Norman, OK
8,000Weight roomStrength and conditioning
Batting cagesHitting development
Softball fieldOn-field work
Baseball fieldOn-field work
Football fieldField training space
Grass areaMovement and team work
Visit us in Norman
Gasso Center of Excellence
3535 SE 44th StNorman, OK 73072
Find the facility and get directions to your training session.
Train in Norman or remotely.
Remote individual training begins with the Motor Preferences Assessment. In-person, group, and team options can be tailored to the athlete’s or program’s goals.
The people and the purpose
Gasso roots.
Individual development.
The Gasso Center of Excellence brings together a long softball coaching legacy and the Motor Preferences approach to individualized athlete development for baseball and softball.
Jim Gasso
Owner & Director
Jim Gasso leads the Center of Excellence in Norman. His coaching and athletic administration experience spans youth, high school, collegiate, and professional levels.
Casey White
Director of Performance
Casey leads Motor Preferences-based performance development through strength and conditioning, hitting, and individualized athlete coaching.
Helpful details
Questions,
answered.
When is the Motor Preferences Assessment needed?
Remote individual training begins with the Motor Preferences Assessment so coaching and programming can be based on the athlete’s profile. For in-person lessons, groups, and team services, the assessment option can be matched to the athlete’s or program’s goals.
What is included in the core Motor Preferences Assessment?
Motor Preferences profiling, primitive reflex screening, Sensor Edge standing posture analysis, and a countermovement jump.
Do you offer both baseball and softball training?
Yes. Gasso offers baseball and softball hitting and athlete development services.
Can athletes train remotely?
Yes. Remote hitting and strength and conditioning are available. Individual remote coaching begins with the Motor Preferences Assessment, which gives the coach the profile needed to individualize the program.
Do you work with teams and schools?
Yes. Services include team training, group and team Motor Preferences Assessments, and consulting and coach education for high schools, colleges, teams, and organizations.
Are prices listed online?
Training and Motor Preferences Assessment options are discussed through the inquiry form so we can understand the athlete’s or group’s goals.
All inquiries start here
Tell us what
you’re looking for.
Use one form for the Motor Preferences Assessment, private lessons, group training, remote coaching, and team or school services. The details you share will help us make the first follow-up useful.
Remote individual training begins with a Motor Preferences Assessment.
In-person lessons, group training, and team services can be discussed through this form.
In-person lessons, group training, and team services can be discussed through this form.
Motor Preferences & training inquiry
Share a few details. Fields that appear depend on the service you select.