Help from pitchers parents

[littlereddeer1]

My daughter has decided on doing her science project on pitching. She would like to compare the following.

speed with 11" and 12" ball.

If any of you have a radar gun and would like to clock 5 pitches of each and post either here or send me a message of the average speed and ball size. If you don't mind also give your daughters age and height. Thank you for any help.

I hope this makes sense

 

[littlereddeer1]

Throwing a fastball. If anyone has any suggestions for this project I would love to hear them.

 

[chinamigarden]

The distances will not matter as the radar gun will pick up the ball and give a reading based on where the ball is when its "read" The gun does not calculate for distance and then average out the time it took to reach home plate. Think about cameras, this would be more like a still camera and not a video camera where it gives you a snap shot, instead of the whole ball flight.

Just like a police radar does not average your speed based on the distance you traveled, but rather how fast at the time it detected you, and then it displays the fastest time for the officer to see.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

If you use a GloveRadar, you will have the consistent info that you need.

Would she need to know how long the girl has been pitching and how long she has had lessons? Because, if I give you the numbers from a first time 8yo - all of the numbers are going to be about 25 mph.

 

[howellhandmade]

The distances will not matter as the radar gun will pick up the ball and give a reading based on where the ball is when its "read" The gun does not calculate for distance and then average out the time it took to reach home plate. Think about cameras, this would be more like a still camera and not a video camera where it gives you a snap shot, instead of the whole ball flight.

Just like a police radar does not average your speed based on the distance you traveled, but rather how fast at the time it detected you, and then it displays the fastest time for the officer to see.

Exactly. The only material difference will be how fast a given pitcher can throw an 11" vs. a 12" ball. The difference in reaction time between 35 and 40 feet is just math, does not require throwing pitches from different distances. Guns like the Jugs will give you a highest-speed number, meaning that they will pick up the ball soon after it leaves the hand. GloveRadar will pick up the ball as it nears the glove so there the distance WILL matter. Pocket Radar reads the instant you push the button, so there's a considerable human element involved.

Really, the only scientific way to do it would be for your daughter to borrow a radar gun and record pitches from however many pitchers she can get. Maybe find a clinic to go to with the gun -- lots of pitchers in one place and they all want to know how fast they throw. Measuring them all at the same distance with the same gun would eliminate lots of variables. Otherwise, you either have to find a way to quantify and account for the different measurement techniques or let the margin for error possibly wipe out the experiment.

 

[littlereddeer1]

She was just trying to prove the correlation between the larger ball and the loss of speed. Wouldn't the loss in speed be about the same no matter which gun you used? She just thought it was a fun idea for a science project.

 

[howellhandmade]

It does sound like a fun idea, and I guess it can be as scientific as you want it to be. The smaller ball does go faster. Both balls slow down as they go further. I thought the only difference being studied was that due to speed. Sorry, didn't mean to sound discouraging, just thinking of how to reduce variables.

 

[ArmWhip]

There are also other variables, pitchers are not machines so their speed will vary by several MPH depending on how well they execute and how much effort they put into a given pitch. One variable which may prove useful is pitch location. Having 'gunned' pitchers for several years low pitches in general will read faster than high ones. Often when attempting to see how fast a girl can throw in terms of a personal best the high read will come on a pitch that is in the dirt. I suppose it must be gravity.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Here ya go. You should be able to find all kinds of data and ideas for your science project to be able to formulate your ideas.

The Physics of Baseball

 

[RookKev]

Of course, you could get an unexpected result as well. A girl with solid mechanics might surprise you. F=m*a. So, you might discover something crazy, the heavier softball being spun around the shoulder socket, might actually pick up a bit more force...and she may be able to achieve a higher velocity! I would pose her some off the wall problem like this to make the experiment a tad more interesting. The obvious answer is rarely the fun one...see if the off beat answer could use some disproving.