Pitchmom: I have owned a Stalker sport radar gun for a very long time and have used it in training in the past. Most guns come with two settings, peak speed and continuous reading until you release the trigger. Peak speed measures the speed of the ball as it is released from the hand which is at its fastest. This is the most common method of stating speed and the one used in professional sports. As mentioned before, If you are not in line with the pitch the readings will be slower as the angle gets bigger. The Stalker can read from 300' away and is the same gun used by Major League Baseball. Taking the reading from behind the backstop is the most common method. All of this being said, Sparky Guy gave you the best advice. Stay away from monitoring speed and concentrate on changing speeds with whatever she has. Also work on her pitches. It will get you much further than simply throwing fast.
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I thought you said there wasn't going to be any math on this quiz!
Back to the original poster and the coach standing halfway up the lane: what type of gun was the coach using? If it was a little Bushnell that would make sense. Those guns don't have the power of a Jugs or Stalker, so they read slower when you stand behind the catcher. They don't pick up the ball until it's closer to the gun, so a pitch that would read 55 mph out of the hand (like with a Jugs or Stalker) from 40 feet would probably read closer to 51-52 with a Bushnell since it's picking up the ball maybe halfway to the plate and measuring its speed there. According to the Glove Radar people, who are pulling it from The Physics of Baseball by Robert K. Adair, physics professor at Yale, a fastball will lose 1 mph for every seven feet it travels. He estimated that a softball will slow at the same rate. Standing halfway up the lane would allow the Bushnell to pick up the ball out of the hand.
If the coach was using a Jugs or Stalker, he/she needs to read the directions.
Measuring speed is good for tracking progress and providing incentives to work a little harder. Carty's daughter earned herself a kitten by hitting a certain speed goal. But at the end of the day, pitching is about getting people out. If you can't do that, no number in the world will save you.
If the coach was using a Jugs or Stalker, he/she needs to read the directions.
Measuring speed is good for tracking progress and providing incentives to work a little harder. Carty's daughter earned herself a kitten by hitting a certain speed goal. But at the end of the day, pitching is about getting people out. If you can't do that, no number in the world will save you.
Sorry, buddy. I feel your pain!
- Oct 22, 2009
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would the Bushnell be more accurate taking readings standing right behind the pitcher?
Not sure, but I've never liked taking readings from behind. Never trusted them. I like the object to be moving toward the radar gun, not away. That's the way the cops do it, and if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. 
- Oct 22, 2009
- 1,779
- 0
Not sure, but I've never liked taking readings from behind. Never trusted them. I like the object to be moving toward the radar gun, not away. That's the way the cops do it, and if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.
You have a point, I'm sure they do want the "fastest" reading
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Not sure, but I've never liked taking readings from behind. Never trusted them. I like the object to be moving toward the radar gun, not away. That's the way the cops do it, and if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me.
Actually, because a radar gun operates on the principles of time-domain reflectometry (TDR), it doesn't matter if the object, whether it be a ball or car, is approaching or receding from the gun.
