- Jun 18, 2010
- 2,615
- 38
ouch- I don't know the distance but I started and landed on the same lines on my floor. I my have replanted a little on the drag trial though.
I freaking love science!! THANK YOU, JJ!!!! Diligent research, now published and peer reviewed. Ladies and gentlemen, the science is settled.
Obviously there is no advantage for leaping. In the mens game it is only done to garner style points.
I would say that it's not natural to drag your toe or foot. When faced with a choice would you drag it or not?
Your stance seems to be that they are gaining some unfair advantage in either speed or reaction time (distance).
I am not seeing it or if it is present it's trivial.
What about the release being that much closer to the batter reducing reaction time? A reduction of reaction time has the same result as a speed increase.
Agreed-100%- maybe it is a small advantage, but not enough to really make a difference or justify a baserunner advancing. The one sticking point I have is that the fastest pitcher in the world, the one that has gone on record that she very much wants to be the first woman to throw an 80mh pitch does not leap when competing in organizations that allow it. She managed to find that a little gym step helped her speed but somehow missed that a leap would help more? I don't buy it.
The only advantage that I see to the leap is the secondary push off point that a pitcher has on the landing. It places the pitcher about 3 feet closer to the batter when the second push off occurs. In those cases, after the leap, the foot remains in contact with the ground when the ball is released. IMHO it seems as though the energy transfer from the legs through the arm whip is diminished when contact with the ground is lost and the ball is released. To illustrate, jump (or leap) in the air (both feet off the ground) and throw the ball, then throw the ball again keeping your drive foot in contact through delivery and see which one throws faster.