Bought a couple of the baseballs with built in speed readings. They seem to be fair as long as you dont hit the ground first. How accurate do you think these things are as compaered to a radar gun??
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They use a doppler style radar, I believe.
7 to 8 mph slower then a regular radar gun.
They pick-up the actual speed at the plate not the release point from the pitcher.
EH
7 to 8 mph slower then a regular radar gun.
They pick-up the actual speed at the plate not the release point from the pitcher.
EH
There is no radar used, whatsoever! The CPSC would surely ban that.
The one we had way-back-when used a clock and sensor of some type built in. It started the clock at the release, (not always detected) and stopped it at the impact of the glove (or ground
). It would calculate the time traveled over a fixed distance to come up with a speed. There are too many uncontrollable factors for this to be acurate.
It was a fun toy, though. We had lots of good times with ours... when infidel_son was 7 or so.
The one we had way-back-when used a clock and sensor of some type built in. It started the clock at the release, (not always detected) and stopped it at the impact of the glove (or ground
). It would calculate the time traveled over a fixed distance to come up with a speed. There are too many uncontrollable factors for this to be acurate. It was a fun toy, though. We had lots of good times with ours... when infidel_son was 7 or so.
We played with one as well that was based on some kind of accelerometer - it measure how long it took to slow down.
Not accurate at all - we did however have fun trying to manipulate the results...
Not accurate at all - we did however have fun trying to manipulate the results...
quote:Originally posted by 08Dad:
- we did however have fun trying to manipulate the results...
That may have been the best part.
The radar ball has nothing to do with radar as infidel 08 says. It is just a basic timer that is activated by the release of the ball by the pitcher and stopped by the impact of the ball in the mitt. The ball (basically a stopwatch) then measures the elapsed time and displays it in mph. The distance is adjustable by pushing on the pressure sensitive baseball which activates "switches" inside the baseball. It's basically a "gimmick". Accurate? Effective? Not really but there are a lot of things in baseball that aren't accurate or effective but that doesn't seem to impact the way parents spend. The radar ball at $29.95 (on sale for $19.95) at Tron Link Enterprises Co., Ltd. looks like a bargain. 
I would buy one ----- again.
Fungo
I would buy one ----- again.
Fungo
Just a toy, not worth the $$.
The best low cost way to get velo is the "Glove radar" around $79. I used one when my son was younger, not to figure out his accurate peak velo but to get relative speed differences between pitches, and to track his progress. Velo is around =/- 1 MPH.
The best low cost way to get velo is the "Glove radar" around $79. I used one when my son was younger, not to figure out his accurate peak velo but to get relative speed differences between pitches, and to track his progress. Velo is around =/- 1 MPH.
quote:Originally posted by BOF:
"Glove radar"
The web site suggests that this is what theEH was talking about.
Interesting. I guess the radar signal strength is negligible or the CPSC hasn't found out about it yet.
The problem with the glove device is it's on the outside of the glove. While you're focusing on getting a good reading, you can end up muffing the ball and getting hit in the face! (But of course, if it went INSIDE the glove, it wouldn't be long before it got broken.)
We had one of those RADAR balls. The description of how it works above is correct. So, the key is to measure the distance accurately. If you use it correctly, it will give you a readout on about 1 of every 3 pitches. The readouts are actually pretty accurate. But it's nothing but a cheap way to guesstimate, useable with a Little League team or such.
If you really want to know speed, visit a baseball academy and get your players gunned. After a while you'll learn what 50, 55, 60, 65 etc. look like and you can get pretty good at making your own estimates when you see pitches. It's no different than a cop being able to tell you how fast the car that just drove by him was going even without a gun reading.
Occasional checks on your speed are all you really want, anyway. You want to check progress, and it's a fun thing to know, but if you're constantly checking, you can lose focus on the more important things.
We had one of those RADAR balls. The description of how it works above is correct. So, the key is to measure the distance accurately. If you use it correctly, it will give you a readout on about 1 of every 3 pitches. The readouts are actually pretty accurate. But it's nothing but a cheap way to guesstimate, useable with a Little League team or such.
If you really want to know speed, visit a baseball academy and get your players gunned. After a while you'll learn what 50, 55, 60, 65 etc. look like and you can get pretty good at making your own estimates when you see pitches. It's no different than a cop being able to tell you how fast the car that just drove by him was going even without a gun reading.
Occasional checks on your speed are all you really want, anyway. You want to check progress, and it's a fun thing to know, but if you're constantly checking, you can lose focus on the more important things.
Yes thats correct, I screwed up, and got my devices or was it my vices messed up. Well anyway.
EH
EH