About six months ago, I contacted Dr. Tom Benson, a rocket scientist (literally) for NASA. Tom wrote a baseball pitch simulator a couple of years ago. I asked Tom if he could do the same for softball. Much to my surprise, he agreed. The beta version of the program is now available. Here is the link:
NASA Pitch Simulator It works better with Internet Explorer than Firefox.
You have to first change the setting from baseball to fastpitch.
The distance used is 42 feet from the pitching rubber to the plate. This is probably 4 to 6 feet longer than it really is, but, hey, give the guy a break.
Variable you need to set:
(1) Speed: Speed of pitch in MPH. The range from the CWS was 55 to 70 MPH. For your 12YOA DD, you can put in her actual speed of 75 MPH.
(2) Spin rpm: This is revolution-per-MINUTE (not RPS). RevFire Data shows RPMs ranging from 900 RPM to 1200 RPM range. The elite pitchers were hitting 1800 RPM.
(3) Spin Axis: ZERO degree spin axis is *perfect* curve ball spin. -90 degree axis is a drop ball. 90 degrees is a rise. To throw a screwball: Set the Spin axis to zero, and then enter a *NEGATIVE* spin RPM.
(4) Release height. The height above the ground the ball is released. The release height, based on data from the CWS, is 1.5 to 2.2 feet.
(5) Vertical angle. The vertical release angle, based on Data from the CWS, is from 5 to 10 degrees.
(6) Side. The distance to the side the ball is released.
(7) Side angle. The horizontal release angle.
Enjoy...or not.
NASA Pitch Simulator It works better with Internet Explorer than Firefox.
You have to first change the setting from baseball to fastpitch.
The distance used is 42 feet from the pitching rubber to the plate. This is probably 4 to 6 feet longer than it really is, but, hey, give the guy a break.
Variable you need to set:
(1) Speed: Speed of pitch in MPH. The range from the CWS was 55 to 70 MPH. For your 12YOA DD, you can put in her actual speed of 75 MPH.
(2) Spin rpm: This is revolution-per-MINUTE (not RPS). RevFire Data shows RPMs ranging from 900 RPM to 1200 RPM range. The elite pitchers were hitting 1800 RPM.
(3) Spin Axis: ZERO degree spin axis is *perfect* curve ball spin. -90 degree axis is a drop ball. 90 degrees is a rise. To throw a screwball: Set the Spin axis to zero, and then enter a *NEGATIVE* spin RPM.
(4) Release height. The height above the ground the ball is released. The release height, based on data from the CWS, is 1.5 to 2.2 feet.
(5) Vertical angle. The vertical release angle, based on Data from the CWS, is from 5 to 10 degrees.
(6) Side. The distance to the side the ball is released.
(7) Side angle. The horizontal release angle.
Enjoy...or not.
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