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Good to see you back BlueDog. Missed ya' ! Shep
Shep, it's been quiet around here..... 
Interesting article, but I got one chuckle out of it. Anyone who thinks a 4-seam fastball can't rise obviously never saw Jim Palmer pitch. By the reasoning used in this article, airplanes don't take off, either; it's just an optical illusion. You're really going down the whole time.
Years ago there was some physicist who contended that a curve ball doesn't actually curve -- just an illusion, they said. It takes someone who's never played or even seen a game to say that, of course. Now ESPN has that pitch tracker thing that shows the curved trajectory of the ball.
There are actually sound physics explanations for both the curve ball's curve and the 4-seamer's lift. Some of these guys need to get back to the books until they understand how to explain it, instead of claiming that because they can't explain it, it must not be so.
Years ago there was some physicist who contended that a curve ball doesn't actually curve -- just an illusion, they said. It takes someone who's never played or even seen a game to say that, of course. Now ESPN has that pitch tracker thing that shows the curved trajectory of the ball.
There are actually sound physics explanations for both the curve ball's curve and the 4-seamer's lift. Some of these guys need to get back to the books until they understand how to explain it, instead of claiming that because they can't explain it, it must not be so.
Bluedog, if you mean down in hitting threads, I agree. Very quiet since your earlier departure, for sure.
We all know who knows hitting and it's you Bluedog. When you left, everybody just stopped posting. Like a mass exodus concerning hitting instruction down in threads, thereof. Many coaches, several scouts, professional players, former professional players, college and HS players, they all just stopped posting. Thread would go dormant for days sometimes.
I have gone back and read a great deal of threads in Hitting Forum and have found "everything" a serious hitter needs as far as "How To Hit" thanks to your contributions and many others. Anyone who truly seeks, will find a wealth of info in these Hitting Threads. There is a lot of repeat info as well. A book could be written from threads if your interested, seriously. Since you were the chief scribe, so to speak, I wouldn't have a problem with it and don't know about the others who have contributions therein but they shouldn't if it will benefit others, IMHO.
Seen many baseball games since you announced your "temporary", I hope, sabbatical and looked at many things we discussed at all levels of hitting as well as pitching. Most educational indeed watching in practical game situations the aspects of how the body works or should work in order to reach maximum efficiency. Our earlier conversations have really helped my observations and taken me to the next level, for that I would like to thank you and others here. Not only can I naturally do...I can now explain in depth how I accomplished what I did as hitter and can also see why the best pitchers are the best.
As a hitter, it was a process that unfolded in my career by doing the right things by common sense approach and persistence to do the things necessary off the field as well as on the field. Nutritional habits as well as baseball related workouts with much flexibility mixed in with plyometrics, theraban hoses, treadmill, step-climber, running and most importantly, CENTER BODY WORKOUTS which I now believe to be the key. I did all of these things and mostly in early evenings of every day of every week for five years while a student/athlete in college. That's the reason I had my success, I paid the price of preparation meets opportunity over a period of time and made many personal social sacrifices to do so, and completely devoted myself to baseball and school-work, 100 percent of the time, not just sometimes. Ultimately, this is the price and sacrifice one has to make to ensure best results on field when the chips are down. Got to go worship the God who gave me this body to improve upon and this brain to further develop. Bluedog, you da' man sir and guess what, I am really glad your back, and by the way, enjoyed the link and article and if you know Ken Fuld from NH, tell him Shep Cares. peace, Shep
We all know who knows hitting and it's you Bluedog. When you left, everybody just stopped posting. Like a mass exodus concerning hitting instruction down in threads, thereof. Many coaches, several scouts, professional players, former professional players, college and HS players, they all just stopped posting. Thread would go dormant for days sometimes.
I have gone back and read a great deal of threads in Hitting Forum and have found "everything" a serious hitter needs as far as "How To Hit" thanks to your contributions and many others. Anyone who truly seeks, will find a wealth of info in these Hitting Threads. There is a lot of repeat info as well. A book could be written from threads if your interested, seriously. Since you were the chief scribe, so to speak, I wouldn't have a problem with it and don't know about the others who have contributions therein but they shouldn't if it will benefit others, IMHO.
Seen many baseball games since you announced your "temporary", I hope, sabbatical and looked at many things we discussed at all levels of hitting as well as pitching. Most educational indeed watching in practical game situations the aspects of how the body works or should work in order to reach maximum efficiency. Our earlier conversations have really helped my observations and taken me to the next level, for that I would like to thank you and others here. Not only can I naturally do...I can now explain in depth how I accomplished what I did as hitter and can also see why the best pitchers are the best.
As a hitter, it was a process that unfolded in my career by doing the right things by common sense approach and persistence to do the things necessary off the field as well as on the field. Nutritional habits as well as baseball related workouts with much flexibility mixed in with plyometrics, theraban hoses, treadmill, step-climber, running and most importantly, CENTER BODY WORKOUTS which I now believe to be the key. I did all of these things and mostly in early evenings of every day of every week for five years while a student/athlete in college. That's the reason I had my success, I paid the price of preparation meets opportunity over a period of time and made many personal social sacrifices to do so, and completely devoted myself to baseball and school-work, 100 percent of the time, not just sometimes. Ultimately, this is the price and sacrifice one has to make to ensure best results on field when the chips are down. Got to go worship the God who gave me this body to improve upon and this brain to further develop. Bluedog, you da' man sir and guess what, I am really glad your back, and by the way, enjoyed the link and article and if you know Ken Fuld from NH, tell him Shep Cares. peace, Shep
Shep, we all learn from each other by discussing, arguing, questioning and whatever else anyone wants to call it..... 
We mix it up pretty good and let the mind reach a conclusion.....I can only speak for myself, but, I go out and test my conclusion by trial and error.....If it works, I adopt it....If it doesn't work, I trash it......
Mike Epstein coined a phrase which is quite prophetic....."We see what we want to see"......I have found this to be true.....If someone really wants the truth, they will seek it out and find it, or at the very least, get closer than they were to it..........Not everyone is on this mission....Some Coaches and baseball people truly do see what they want to see......So, some will stay stuck in tradition and some will open thir mind and keep learning.....
I guess it's a question of how bad do you want it......You wanted it alot and somehow found a way to overcome the odds and learn to do the things you needed to do to move your body efficiently enough to be successful at playing baseball on a high level.....
The person who remains nameless on this site, and who has a wealth of hitting knowledge, made me realize that there's only room at the top for a few.....This definitely changed my way of thinking about who and how many players I cared to worked with........Because, truthfully, there are only a few who really want it.....The correlation between those few and where and how they seek learning is a subject worth exploring in itself, IMO.......Something you know more about than me because you experienced it.....
I guess my point is, message boards such as this one can be a useful resource to these players/parents because of people like yourself who care enough to help them......
We mix it up pretty good and let the mind reach a conclusion.....I can only speak for myself, but, I go out and test my conclusion by trial and error.....If it works, I adopt it....If it doesn't work, I trash it......Mike Epstein coined a phrase which is quite prophetic....."We see what we want to see"......I have found this to be true.....If someone really wants the truth, they will seek it out and find it, or at the very least, get closer than they were to it..........Not everyone is on this mission....Some Coaches and baseball people truly do see what they want to see......So, some will stay stuck in tradition and some will open thir mind and keep learning.....
I guess it's a question of how bad do you want it......You wanted it alot and somehow found a way to overcome the odds and learn to do the things you needed to do to move your body efficiently enough to be successful at playing baseball on a high level.....
The person who remains nameless on this site, and who has a wealth of hitting knowledge, made me realize that there's only room at the top for a few.....This definitely changed my way of thinking about who and how many players I cared to worked with........Because, truthfully, there are only a few who really want it.....The correlation between those few and where and how they seek learning is a subject worth exploring in itself, IMO.......Something you know more about than me because you experienced it.....
I guess my point is, message boards such as this one can be a useful resource to these players/parents because of people like yourself who care enough to help them......
Midlo Dad, I thought about letting your comments go unanswered.......Then, I read a couple of your posts........I must say this, you can learn alot about hitting around here if you listen........I know I do.....If I may be so bold to suggest this to you......
FWIW, baseballs don't have wings......I know some people see what they wanna see, but.......
FWIW, baseballs don't have wings......I know some people see what they wanna see, but.......
quote:Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Interesting article, but I got one chuckle out of it. Anyone who thinks a 4-seam fastball can't rise obviously never saw Jim Palmer pitch. By the reasoning used in this article, airplanes don't take off, either; it's just an optical illusion. You're really going down the whole time.
Years ago there was some physicist who contended that a curve ball doesn't actually curve -- just an illusion, they said. It takes someone who's never played or even seen a game to say that, of course. Now ESPN has that pitch tracker thing that shows the curved trajectory of the ball.
There are actually sound physics explanations for both the curve ball's curve and the 4-seamer's lift. Some of these guys need to get back to the books until they understand how to explain it, instead of claiming that because they can't explain it, it must not be so.
Sorry, but the only way a fastball rises is if it is thrown submarine.
I'm sorry but you are very mistaken in much of what you say. Airplanes are powered and have airfoils.
The curve ball will drop faster than a fastball due to the forward spin and Magnus effect. There is a physics explanation for this.
But the Magnus effect cannot (in pitching) exert enough of a force to overcome gravity's effects.
God is the only one who can break the laws of physics.
Gee, guess my college physics professor has some explaining to do! And the author of our textbooks ....
Bluedog, I thought the thrust of the article you posted was about the study's results on how the batter sees the ball (or may not, as the article notes). Pretty interesting stuff. I meant to add merely a footnote. No reason for you to take it as some personal affront.
Suffice it to say, there are several forces at work on a baseball traveling in flight. Gravity is one of those forces, but not the only one. There are times when the other forces exert an upward pull that is greater than gravity's downward pull. When that occurs, yes, a fastball can rise. So if you have thought in the past that you saw a fastball rise, you may well have been right.
Bluedog, I thought the thrust of the article you posted was about the study's results on how the batter sees the ball (or may not, as the article notes). Pretty interesting stuff. I meant to add merely a footnote. No reason for you to take it as some personal affront.
Suffice it to say, there are several forces at work on a baseball traveling in flight. Gravity is one of those forces, but not the only one. There are times when the other forces exert an upward pull that is greater than gravity's downward pull. When that occurs, yes, a fastball can rise. So if you have thought in the past that you saw a fastball rise, you may well have been right.
Late breaking curves, exploding fastballs and rising fastballs are illusions that are being explained away as something else.....These pitches don't really exist except in some people's minds........ 
Food for thought.....if a fastball "doesn't" rise, how does a knuckle ball jump/flutter? 
Watch the videos of the pitches noted
Then get in the batters box and see what happens from that perspective when those pitches that dont do those things are thrown at you
Makes me wonder if the naysayers ever faced a "real love pitcher"?
Then get in the batters box and see what happens from that perspective when those pitches that dont do those things are thrown at you
Makes me wonder if the naysayers ever faced a "real love pitcher"?
I remember Jim Palmer pitching vividly in my mind and I saw the ball rise above the hitter's hands. He had an explosive fastball. That is my story and I am sticking to it 
By the way....golf balls rise too. 
Sorry guys, the "rising" fastball is a myth and always has been. The ball doesn't rise, it just doesn't drop as fast as other pitches. Here's an simple article from a physicist writing in Popular Mechanics showing that it is a myth:
Myth of Rising Fastball
Myth of Rising Fastball
Nice article but I think Rivera throwing 98 is a bit of an exxageration.
come catch my son's 4 seamer and say that I cant catch it anymore..... without a mask
Sorry Midlo dad in 99.9% of the cases it is an optical illusion and throwing downhill like he did Jim Palmer's fastball never rose. The rising fastball appears to rise because the hitter loses track of it. Based on experience he expects the ball to drop a certain amount and when it does drop but not as much as expected the brain processes it as a rising fastball. Think back to your early days in LL. We all know now that the pitches were looping in there, but as kids we saw the ball coming in on a straight line because we picked up the release point and rapidly moved our eyes to where we expected the ball to be, losing sight of the ball in the process. Our brains then filled in between the lines and told us we'd seen the ball come in a straight line. This is the same reason lefties seem to have more movement than righties. Our brains get wired to process the natural tail on a righties fastball as coming in on a straight line and when a lefty's fastball tails the same amount in the other direction we see it as moving twice as much as it actually is. My guess is that professional hitters, who eventually see a lot more lefties than we ever did re-wire the brain at some point and have a more realistic view of the movement.
As far as the possibility of a fastball rising it may be possible for a very hard throwing pitcher who gets very low, like Seaver did, and has a low release point also such as Martinez in his prime to actually have the ball level or perhaps once in a blue moon rising slightly on a high fastball as it approaches the plate. This is due to a combination of the spin and releasing the ball upward from a relatively low point. The ball is dropping relative to it's initial trajectory but still may be going upward or level as it reaches the plate. This is why some shorter, hard throwing pitchers can pitch very effectively up in the zone.
For example, a 95 mph fastball (assume a 7 mph decrease by the time it reaches the plate) released from 55.5 ft away with an upward velocity of 8 ft/s from a height of 4 ft would reach the plate at a height of just under 6 ft and an upward velocity of over 1 ft/s if the spin on the ball could produce an acceleration of 16 ft/s/s upward to partially counter the 32 ft/s/s downward acceleration due to gravity. All you physics majors please check my math.
This equation is very sensitive to the assumption of how much acceleration there is due to the spin and dropping to 12 ft/s/s upward you've no longer got a rising fastball. Surprisingly it isn't as sensitive to velocity and one doesn't have to throw anywhere near 95 mph to achieve a rising fastball on a high pitch if they've got enough spin on the ball.
In my opinion, Pedro Martinez and a lot of other pitchers have been able to throw rising fastballs that ended up out of the zone but were swung at. None of them were able to throw a rising fastball for a called strike unless the umpire blew the call or Randy Johnson was at the plate.
As far as the possibility of a fastball rising it may be possible for a very hard throwing pitcher who gets very low, like Seaver did, and has a low release point also such as Martinez in his prime to actually have the ball level or perhaps once in a blue moon rising slightly on a high fastball as it approaches the plate. This is due to a combination of the spin and releasing the ball upward from a relatively low point. The ball is dropping relative to it's initial trajectory but still may be going upward or level as it reaches the plate. This is why some shorter, hard throwing pitchers can pitch very effectively up in the zone.
For example, a 95 mph fastball (assume a 7 mph decrease by the time it reaches the plate) released from 55.5 ft away with an upward velocity of 8 ft/s from a height of 4 ft would reach the plate at a height of just under 6 ft and an upward velocity of over 1 ft/s if the spin on the ball could produce an acceleration of 16 ft/s/s upward to partially counter the 32 ft/s/s downward acceleration due to gravity. All you physics majors please check my math.
This equation is very sensitive to the assumption of how much acceleration there is due to the spin and dropping to 12 ft/s/s upward you've no longer got a rising fastball. Surprisingly it isn't as sensitive to velocity and one doesn't have to throw anywhere near 95 mph to achieve a rising fastball on a high pitch if they've got enough spin on the ball.
In my opinion, Pedro Martinez and a lot of other pitchers have been able to throw rising fastballs that ended up out of the zone but were swung at. None of them were able to throw a rising fastball for a called strike unless the umpire blew the call or Randy Johnson was at the plate.
All physics aside the "not quite dropping as much as it should fastball" is unlikely to replace the term "rising fastball" in most baseball circles. BTW none of you physics wizzes chimed in on the knuckler... None of it matters anyway, if you (the batter) perceive it you believe it.
quote:Suffice it to say, there are several forces at work on a baseball traveling in flight. Gravity is one of those forces, but not the only one. There are times when the other forces exert an upward pull that is greater than gravity's downward pull. When that occurs, yes, a fastball can rise. So if you have thought in the past that you saw a fastball rise, you may well have been right.
A human being is incapable of throwing (by half) a 4-seam fastball with enough spin to make it actually rise.
What actually happens is that a 4-seamer falls less than does a 2-seamer and appears to rise as a result (due to the action of the 4 seams energizing the boundary layer and paradoxically decreasing the drag on the ball).
As Einstein said, it's all relative.
quote:Originally posted by Beezer:
Food for thought.....if a fastball "doesn't" rise, how does a knuckle ball jump/flutter?
The lack of spin on the ball causes the boundary layer to detach at different, and unpredictable, spots depending on such things as the prevailing winds.
Knucklers tumble downward, not upward......
And Einstein never stood in the batters box facing a 90 plus fastball with movement nor a knuckler from Wilhelm or Niekro
Physics is fact regardless of what you do in life..........If you get in your head what the ball is really doing, you might be better able to hit it......Instead of listening to establishment baseball nonsense...... 
Physics always wins out, regardless of anything anyone might say. Fastballs don't rise, and neither do knuckleballs.
Physics?
Who cares?
Your job is to smack the hell out of it - and run like a wild dog.
Let the scientists and commentators do the calculations and the yacking. And you do the hitting.
LOL
Who cares?
Your job is to smack the hell out of it - and run like a wild dog.
Let the scientists and commentators do the calculations and the yacking. And you do the hitting.
LOL
quote:establishment baseball nonsense......
I'm in now BD
All establishment guys don't think alike.
The ball does tumble though
I personally like to see the ball stay up and on a good horizontal straight line parallel to the ground from side angle when observing any throws, especially SS
Peace,
Shep
Shep,
Never really cared how it came in. I just cared how it "went out". LOL
Never really cared how it came in. I just cared how it "went out". LOL
Me too ITS...(still laughing...) me too
It's not how fast the ball arrives but if the ball survives-LOL
That's another .60 departure time from plate to trees
Shep,
Its like when my sons say - "Dad - I am seeing it really good, but..."
But nothing - you can see it all you want - but you still gotta hit it hard - and then run like the devil. LOL
Its like when my sons say - "Dad - I am seeing it really good, but..."
But nothing - you can see it all you want - but you still gotta hit it hard - and then run like the devil. LOL
Wished I could get a few "hacks" at some of the "so-called" Div I pitching prospects at some of these ACC schools
Used to love hitting off Kevin Brown when he pitched at GA TECH
at some of these ACC schools Used to love hitting off Kevin Brown when he pitched at GA TECH
Shep, baseball establishment people is a broad brush, I admit........I should clarify that I mean 99 and 9/10ths percent of em......Not quite all...... 
Typical Blue Dog Tap dance !!!1
quote:Your job is to smack the hell out of it - and run like a wild dog
This is the key at the risk of sounding harsh
You are da man BlueDog ! TR, your are da man also ! That just goes to show you, there can be more than one !
Gotta grade @%$$@$@@#@@#%^* papers
Peace Everybody,
Shep Cares!!!
Like I said Shepster The EH is ready to go.
The Italian sausage Just make's me run faster.
TR get the strings ready you might have to hold me down.
I'm goin YARD, nothing stopping me now.
EH, EEEHHH, Stop DREAMING, It's time for you to go to Work.
Here's your Coffee. Thank You Dear.
Peace Out. the EH
The Italian sausage Just make's me run faster.
TR get the strings ready you might have to hold me down.
I'm goin YARD, nothing stopping me now.
EH, EEEHHH, Stop DREAMING, It's time for you to go to Work.
Here's your Coffee. Thank You Dear.
Peace Out. the EH
OK, who's ready for today's physics class?
I have gone back through some threads about rising fastballs -- this one and some older ones -- and seen some interesting debates. Can't say as I've read all the articles out there, but I can say that just because someone writes an article on one side of an issue doesn't mean he represent consensus in the scientific community.
Many of the talks speak of "lift", and indeed their is a buoyancy effect with a baseball in flight, but not a Bernoulli effect as you get with an airplane wing (the shape of which is designed to take advantage of the effect by accelerating the air flow over the wing when compared to the speed of air traveling under the wing).
But as I said before, there are many forces in play with a baseball in flight, and gravity is only one of them. Another is a phenomenon that, at least back when I was in college physics class, they called "dipole moment". As I recall the lecture went like this:
Imagine you are standing at the midpoint between the pitcher and catcher and the ball flies through your field of vision. For the sake of consideration, imagine that the ball at this point is traveling on a path parallel to the ground. Draw a circle to represent the ball and then draw three parallel lines, one through the center of the ball, one tangent across the top, and one tangent across the bottom.
Through that center line, the ball is traveling at what we commonly consider its velocity. That is, if the ball is going 90 mph, the center of the ball is going 90 mph at that moment.
But at the top of the ball -- its north pole if you will -- the ball is not only moving forward in air space, but at that point also backward because of the ball's rotational direction. And at the bottom of the ball, the ball is going faster than at its center point, again because the rotational velocity at the tangent point adds to the forward velocity.
The result is that the north pole is moving forward slower than the south pole is. This is kind of counter-intuitive, because we think of the ball moving forward all as one unit, but in fact different parts of the ball are doing different things at any one point in time because the ball has both forward velocity as a whole and rotational velocity as it travels.
Now, compare this to being in a rowboat floating downstream in a straight line. You take one oar in your right hand and pull in the direction you are going. Will you continue in the straight line? Of course not, you will turn left. This is because you have made the right side of the boat move faster than the left, and it causes a turning effect towards the slower side.
With a curveball, you have forward spin, and this effect combines with gravity to turn the ball generally downward (though most curves are actually thrown with something of a diagonal spin). But with a fastball, the back spin on the ball creates an upward turning force.
There are indeed very few who can pull it off, but a pitcher who has very high RPM on his release can create a dipole moment upward effect that is greater than the downward effect of gravity. Palmer was one. Pedro's older brother, Ramon Martinez, also comes to mind as one who had a wicked rise on his four-seamer.
Incidentally, friction or traction between a ball with good back spin and the air can also add to the upward rising effect. But even if the ball were completely smooth and frictionless you would have some upward movement.
Maybe we have a physics professor out there who can check my memory on this particular lecture. As a baseball guy, this is one of the few things from that class that stuck in my mind!
BTW, don't most of you teach your fielders to throw with backspin, not sidespin? Why do you do this? Why, to keep the ball up, and straight. You know that if the rotation is on a diagonal axis, for example, the throw will tail and perhaps sink. With 12-6 backspin, though, the ball stays up. If you can understand this, then you should be able to understand that some folks can make it spin more than the average player, and they get more counteraction against gravity than the rest of us do. Gravity is constant for all of us, but the RPM we impart to a ball varies from person to person, and some of your MLB types are true freaks of nature as we all know.
For our next class, we can explain why Greg Maddux can make a 2-seam fastball that appears to have 12-6 backspin cut left, or tail right. Anyone up for that?
I have gone back through some threads about rising fastballs -- this one and some older ones -- and seen some interesting debates. Can't say as I've read all the articles out there, but I can say that just because someone writes an article on one side of an issue doesn't mean he represent consensus in the scientific community.
Many of the talks speak of "lift", and indeed their is a buoyancy effect with a baseball in flight, but not a Bernoulli effect as you get with an airplane wing (the shape of which is designed to take advantage of the effect by accelerating the air flow over the wing when compared to the speed of air traveling under the wing).
But as I said before, there are many forces in play with a baseball in flight, and gravity is only one of them. Another is a phenomenon that, at least back when I was in college physics class, they called "dipole moment". As I recall the lecture went like this:
Imagine you are standing at the midpoint between the pitcher and catcher and the ball flies through your field of vision. For the sake of consideration, imagine that the ball at this point is traveling on a path parallel to the ground. Draw a circle to represent the ball and then draw three parallel lines, one through the center of the ball, one tangent across the top, and one tangent across the bottom.
Through that center line, the ball is traveling at what we commonly consider its velocity. That is, if the ball is going 90 mph, the center of the ball is going 90 mph at that moment.
But at the top of the ball -- its north pole if you will -- the ball is not only moving forward in air space, but at that point also backward because of the ball's rotational direction. And at the bottom of the ball, the ball is going faster than at its center point, again because the rotational velocity at the tangent point adds to the forward velocity.
The result is that the north pole is moving forward slower than the south pole is. This is kind of counter-intuitive, because we think of the ball moving forward all as one unit, but in fact different parts of the ball are doing different things at any one point in time because the ball has both forward velocity as a whole and rotational velocity as it travels.
Now, compare this to being in a rowboat floating downstream in a straight line. You take one oar in your right hand and pull in the direction you are going. Will you continue in the straight line? Of course not, you will turn left. This is because you have made the right side of the boat move faster than the left, and it causes a turning effect towards the slower side.
With a curveball, you have forward spin, and this effect combines with gravity to turn the ball generally downward (though most curves are actually thrown with something of a diagonal spin). But with a fastball, the back spin on the ball creates an upward turning force.
There are indeed very few who can pull it off, but a pitcher who has very high RPM on his release can create a dipole moment upward effect that is greater than the downward effect of gravity. Palmer was one. Pedro's older brother, Ramon Martinez, also comes to mind as one who had a wicked rise on his four-seamer.
Incidentally, friction or traction between a ball with good back spin and the air can also add to the upward rising effect. But even if the ball were completely smooth and frictionless you would have some upward movement.
Maybe we have a physics professor out there who can check my memory on this particular lecture. As a baseball guy, this is one of the few things from that class that stuck in my mind!
BTW, don't most of you teach your fielders to throw with backspin, not sidespin? Why do you do this? Why, to keep the ball up, and straight. You know that if the rotation is on a diagonal axis, for example, the throw will tail and perhaps sink. With 12-6 backspin, though, the ball stays up. If you can understand this, then you should be able to understand that some folks can make it spin more than the average player, and they get more counteraction against gravity than the rest of us do. Gravity is constant for all of us, but the RPM we impart to a ball varies from person to person, and some of your MLB types are true freaks of nature as we all know.
For our next class, we can explain why Greg Maddux can make a 2-seam fastball that appears to have 12-6 backspin cut left, or tail right. Anyone up for that?
Plain and simple....A pitched ball cannot and does not rise.......
Next time I see my old professor, I'll tell him I know he was wrong, because BlueDog says so!
I guess he'll want to take it up with the institution where he got his Ph.D. I wonder if the statute of limitations has run, or if maybe he can get a refund?
I guess he'll want to take it up with the institution where he got his Ph.D. I wonder if the statute of limitations has run, or if maybe he can get a refund?
quote:EH, EEEHHH, Stop DREAMING, It's time for you to go to Work.
Here's your Coffee. Thank You Dear.
Who needs work EH...Just let me borrow a little oxygen, a few P72 bats and uniform and lets go to the ballparks. We can sell peanuts on the corner during the morning hours to pay for groceries.
You are da man maasstterr EEEHHHH