collegebaseballrecruitingguide posted:FWIW, calling a long timemember of this community and also my friend, an a$$hole, is really unnecessary.Maybe starting a post by saying “no offense, but....I’m going to offend you anyway” is a BS move on a board like this, maybe you should look at yourself in a mirror if you think that is ok. Hear from others on here you are real piece of work too, man, birds of a feather must flock together.
OK, first, an attempt to move past this part of the debate as the topic is a good one...
BOF's comment, "do you live in a cave", taken in context with the rest of what he said can be interpreted a few different ways. He alluded to the fact that you've been on this site for a while, suggesting (I think) that he is surprised that you haven't seen some rather detailed support to the spin science here by now and then offered direction to a solid reference source. Also, if you pay attention to BOF's contributions, they are rarely if ever offensive. So I would lean pretty heavily on the much less offensive interpretation. You responded with "A-hole". OK, I get the possible misinterpretation. TPM says "not necessary". Hardly harsh or offensive on her part. You then took it up a couple notches and went with "BS", "hear from others.. you are a real piece of work", "birds of a feather". I'm gonna have to go with the flock on this one. Let's move on.
The general result of "more movement" has been touched on. The "ride" and "tail" have been expanded on nicely. But I think it is important to look at totality. With high spin (and a reasonable velo), a 12-9 has a bigger drop and lower bottom, a slider or cutter has more lateral and a good FB has more ride/tail. When combined with gravity, the high spin curve can be substantially sharper. Then there is perception. A hitter perceives movement of a pitch to be more significant than it is. I can't explain that part but I sure as heck know it to be true, at least for most. i.e. - the tailing FB DOES look like it rises, etc. Combine all of these factors in totality and you definitely have a significant factor, despite any limits to the cumulative added revs over the distance of a pitch.
How much is natural and how much can be manufactured? At what age/velo does it start to come into play? I will admit that I am probably more in the camp with CBRG and Adbono on this one. I certainly believe a pitcher should throw, as much as possible, with a delivery that is natural to him. I also believe that the trained eye of a good P coach/baseball person can most often recognize spin or lack thereof and steer a P toward adding via different grips, pressures, releases, etc. That has been around forever. As someone stated, there was also the "well, this didn't work, let's try this" process. That said, I think the evolution of the technology combined with learning how best to experiment with and act on the data will allow for a quicker and more thorough learning curve and, thus, improved results. On the other side of the coin, I agree that it is relatively meaningless at the lower levels where velo won't produce different results. That said, I think it is still to be determined whether there will be advantages to applying the findings to the mechanical teachings of younger pitchers. I suspect that eventually, there will be.
Launch angle - many players at higher levels purposely adjust swings to attain a higher launch angle and many focus on swings on plane and high solid contact rates or just squaring up the ball. There is give and take. I think the best approach varies from player to player depending on strength and skill set and how it plays out within whatever environment they play in. I certainly think an on-plane swing is the best teach for a young developing player. Adjustments such as launch angle/swing plane can be made later.
Exit velo - much the same as spin rate, I think the technology will eventually lead to improvements in swing mechanics that will allow for better power for the average hitter but not as much for the ones who seem to find the top limits naturally. Again, context is key. A hitter should develop his whole swing and approach, not just more exit velo.