Baseball "curve" ball and illusion

http://www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/pitching_science.html


Do baseball pitches really curve?

Ultimately, Lightfoot and other investigators proved that the curve is real. They did so by means of both wind-tunnel tests and high-speed photography. For his part, Lightfoot measured force that causes balls to veer sideways and down. Moreover, he found a striking relationship between those forces and the orientation of a pitched ball's seams as the ball cuts through the air toward a batter.

The results were never published in a scientific journal. But they made it into a 1953 article entitled "The Hell It Don't Curve," which sportswriter Joseph F. Drury wrote for the then-popular magazine American Mercury.
 
I guess this nothing new. In physics my teacher did a study of this, and it was quite awhile ago. Reaction time is a major factor for all pitches, and from what the teacher studied, the offspeed pitches were the most effective pitches, for the guys that could throw heat. A batter could time a fast ball, but the offspeed stuff just killed them, as they were subconciously timing for a fast ball. The same with breaking/curve balls. I have to say I have seen curve balls/ breaking balls that are killers. There is a reason .300 is a great batting percentage. Timing., perception and reflexes can only adjust so much for the speed at which a batted ball is delivered from the pitcher and th small difference it comes from, ie distance form the mound to the plate. Guys will get better over time, but I have to say baseball as much as they have made games longer hasn't figured out that if you put the mound 2 feet further out, the batters wil start wailing the hell out of the ball, as they are used to adjusting to 2 feet less of reaction time. Baseball hasn't adjusted the way other sports have to make scoring higher. Thats ok with me, but the morons need to bring games back to the times they finished at years ago. Baseball can be very boring when it lasts too long.
 
Quote from taclander:

I guess this nothing new. In physics my teacher did a study of this, and it was quite awhile ago. Reaction time is a major factor for all pitches, and from what the teacher studied, the offspeed pitches were the most effective pitches, for the guys that could throw heat. A batter could time a fast ball, but the offspeed stuff just killed them, as they were subconciously timing for a fast ball. The same with breaking/curve balls. I have to say I have seen curve balls/ breaking balls that are killers. There is a reason .300 is a great batting percentage. Timing., perception and reflexes can only adjust so much for the speed at which a batted ball is delivered from the pitcher and th small difference it comes from, ie distance form the mound to the plate. Guys will get better over time, but I have to say baseball as much as they have made games longer hasn't figured out that if you put the mound 2 feet further out, the batters wil start wailing the hell out of the ball, as they are used to adjusting to 2 feet less of reaction time. Baseball hasn't adjusted the way other sports have to make scoring higher. Thats ok with me, but the morons need to bring games back to the times they finished at years ago. Baseball can be very boring when it lasts too long.
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Agree totally. I love baseball, but the glacial pace of games makes it hard to watch them.
 
Quote from taclander:

Baseball can be very boring when it lasts too long.
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The wsj did a recent study and found that there are 14 actual minutes of action in a mlb game.

They did the same study for the nfl last year and found there are only 11 actual minutes of action.
 
When a baseball spins a Magnus force is created that changes the direction of the ball, just as the spinning of a projectile produces a Magnus force that bends its trajectory.

hoodooman
physicist
aeroballistician
retired
 
Quote from fhl:

The wsj did a recent study and found that there are 14 actual minutes of action in a mlb game.

They did the same study for the nfl last year and found there are only 11 actual minutes of action.
More...

I'm not a spectator sports fan, never have been.

But if I was, I'd watch the highlights on ESPN, and be done with it.


I was thinking they had proved a baseball pitch can curve, much the same way a golf ball can (almost all of mine do whether I want it or not) curve due to the spin.
 
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

Agree totally. I love baseball, but the glacial pace of games makes it hard to watch them.
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I swear football games are just as long and it is especially noticeable if you go to the stadium and sit there while that tv timeout jackass is on the field holding the game up after every turnover/score/just for the hell of it.
 
Golf, then soccer are the most boring games of all time. Tennis comes in 3rd. Doesn't matter whether you are watching them or playing them. Just plain boring.

If you have ever been a baseball pitcher or hitter, you KNOW that a curve ball curves. Sometimes very wickedly.
 
Quote from fhl:

The wsj did a recent study and found that there are 14 actual minutes of action in a mlb game.

They did the same study for the nfl last year and found there are only 11 actual minutes of action.
More...

you guys just figured this out? I despise all ball games.
 
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