Yes, which all points out the absolute necessity of a swing with the minimum time possible from decision to contact while still having reasonable bat speed.
Hi Ken.
The travel time from the pitcher's hand to the hit zone is normally around 4/10 of a second.
They see it coming and they see it coming on an upwards angle. At around the halfway point of travel they must decide if they are going to swing or not and they have to start that swing.
Before they start their swing, in the first 2/10th of a second, or so, they must also decide if that ball coming up at them is going to stay in the strike zone and get called for a strike or if it is going to climb so high it will be called a ball and they should NOT swing at it.
THEY ARE FORCED TO WATCH THE BALL TRAVEL and that takes time they do not have. They might be good but they aint Superman! It is a matter of time, simple as that. The faster you can throw it, the less time they have to see what they have to, decide on what to do AND do that.
If a pitcher can make a batter think about every pitch they see, the pitcher owns them!
Ok, but if they recognize it's going up, and it doesn't go up quite as much as they thought (based on what we're seeing on video), shouldn't they be swinging over the pitch instead of under it? Or are you saying they're making a decision it will be a high strike and thus they swing at the top of the strike zone (or slightly over it)? Seems like there's more going on than just timing issues.
Hi Rick,
I concede that your practical experience trumps my theoretical experience!
My thinking was...a smooth ball wouldn't break at all based on spin. The only reason spin causes break IS because the ball has seams.
Keith