is anyone watching LLSWS?

[bmakj]

40 feet (or correct distance from pitcher’s plate to home plate) divided by the time from pitcher’s release to the catcher’s catch = speed in feet per second.

One foot per second = approximately .682 miles per hour.

Multiply the speed in fps by .681 to convert to mph.

Note this is still approximate since the pitcher does not actually release from 40 feet and the catcher does not actually catch the ball at 40 feet from the release.

biggest issue is the timing, would need to stopwatch it (and then human error on stopwatch gets involved, because timer on video is not precise enough (ie gonna need to go down to tenths maybe hundreds of a second).

 

[The Man In Blue]

biggest issue is the timing, would need to stopwatch it (and then human error on stopwatch gets involved, because timer on video is not precise enough (ie gonna need to go down to tenths maybe hundreds of a second).

Ya’ complain when there isn’t a solution ... Ya’ complain when there is a solution ...

I love when people aren’t willing to accept “human error” but rather insist on accepting the errors by a machine made and programmed by a human. Automated strike zone, anybody?

Dirty napkin calculation:

A 60mph pitch equals 88 feet/second. 40 feet/88 FPS = .454 seconds of “flight time”. Your smart phone has a stopwatch. See if it is close.

You don’t actually have 40 feet of flight time though ... figure a pitcher strides and releases 5 feet off the pitcher’s plate and the catcher is sitting 2 feet off home plate. So 37 feet of flight time ... 37/88 = .42 seconds of flight time for a 60 mph pitch.

OK kids ... play with it at home and see what you get!

 

[Tonyboy149mp]

Even more exciting is that these girls are hitting at these speeds...

 

[Lobster Birch]

Radar doesn't care if you are 43' or 40' away.

 

[4 girl's dad]

Exactly. You can be In front or behind as long as you are on plane with the pitch.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Radar doesn't care if you are 43' or 40' away.

True. But my dirty napkin does.

 

[MattM]

The speed calibration was way high on the night Louisiana played Mexico 8/12 with multiple players in the 60s. The next day Louisiana was markedly slower back throwing in the high 50s and the rest middle 50s same as earlier in the tournament. There must have been a memo to turn down the ESPN turbo radar booster back to normal I agree that this year the teams are good A level teams. My DD played in the SE regional and most of the girls are exceptional players and athletes and play on competitive A travel teams.

 

[Gags]

Last year was the first time I really watched the LLSWS - I think I caught some semi-final and final games. As I recall, I wasn't blown away by the level of competition, but really have nothing to compare them to other than 2 seasons of 10U C/RAS level ball.

In their defense, and this may be stating the obvious, but I think the talent pool that LLS can draw from is much more limited than LLB. In Northern Virginia, there's only one or two LL-affiliated softball leagues. While my town has two baseball leagues (one LL affiliated), our softball rec league (and 95% of the surrounding leagues) is non-affiliated. Baseball has enough players to enter two teams into the LL tournament. The LLS-affiliated league a few towns away, AFAIK, is local, it doesn't draw from a very large geographic area.

As for using a stopwatch, you can always try holding one in front of the TV, start it during the windup, and then record both the watch and the TV using the 'slo-mo' video option on your phone. You should be able to determine ball release and when the pitch crosses the plate when you replay it.

But in reality, this just probably means we have way too much free time on our hands...

 

[The Man In Blue]

My DD played in the SE regional and most of the girls are exceptional players and athletes and play on competitive A travel teams.

What?! These aren’t homegrown community teams as LL would have us believe!?

*sarcasm alert*

 

[Northball]

... in front of a crowd on TV probably for the first time.

On a different note, the Oregon/NC game, high fly to right, right fielder only has to take a couple steps to her right to get under it and calls it, center fielder races all the way over also calling it. Minor collision but RF still makes the catch. The two fielders start discussing/arguing who should have it. Meanwhile, runner at 2nd tagged and went all the way home while they weren't paying attention. RF did her job by getting the (routine) out. RF was set-up better to throw to 3rd had she not been distracted. Both CF and RF messed up on containing the runner. RF gets yanked from the game by the coach, CF stays in. I thought that was a crappy thing to do to the RF, and being on national TV probably adds to the sting. I didn't have much respect for that coach after that. Or am I missing something?