Smoother ball has more movement?

[SoCal_Dad]

The lowered the seems on college baseballs and home runs went up due to the lack of movement.

Home runs primarily went up because the flat-seamed balls carry farther due to a lower drag coefficient.
DI committee changes to flat-seamed baseballs for 2015 championship | NCAA.com

 

[Sparky Guy]

In fact. The opposite is true. The larger the seams the more air is disrupted causing the ball to move more.

 

[sluggers]

There are so many factors involved in a movement pitch. It all seemed so simple a few years ago. It is much more complicated...high speed digital cameras demonstrate that there is a lot more going on than simply the Magnus force.



1) Physics of ball movement
a) Magnus force (rise/drop/curve)
b) Seam steering with minimal spin (Knuckle ball)
c) "Seam halo" orientation with a spinning ball (2 seamer)

2) Perceptual
a) Movement of pitch is relative to previous pitch. (Against good hitters, pitcher has to throw a variety of pitches.)
b) How well a pitcher uses the same delivery on different pitches. ("Late break" phenomena--how well the pitcher replicates delivery and initial flight path of ball for each pitch)
c) Ability of batter to see the seams. (More difficulty in identifying seams results in more perceived movement.)

 

[4 girl's dad]

Based off of interwebs research, a smooth ball will move more and travel less distance, both of which I am seeing with hitting experience. Thinking a smoother laced ball would be better considering it travels less distance.

 

[4 girl's dad]

What Science Says About The World Cup Ball : Show Me Your Cleats! - World Cup 2010 Blog : NPR

This is an article on soccer balls and the effects of removing some of the seams on the ball.