Physics is the study of matter, energy, and the interaction between them. Physics is involved in so many things, from sports to spacecraft to instruments. One of the sports physics is involved in is softball. Newton’s first law states when an object is in motion it stays in motion until acted upon by an outside force. This is the key element in softball. When the pitcher pitches the ball it travels on the path until the batter hits the ball. The softball travels through the air due to the seams (Bauer & Westfall, Motion of a Softball, 2010). The seams cause high and low pressure fronts while the grip determines how the ball will rotate. Gravity, wind, air drag, velocity, spin, and Magnus are all forces acting upon the softball when it is …show more content…
The momentum from the windmill motion plus the momentum from the pitchers body going toward increases the velocity. The releases of the ball can change the spinning and curving of the ball. The positioning and movement of the pitchers wrist can change the angle of approach and the rotational axis of the softball. (Bauer & Westfall , Physics of Pitching, 2010). There are four basis pitches in softball; the fast ball, the drop ball, the rise ball, and the change up. A fast ball is the most common pitch. The ball is pitched using the same motion as described before, to the batter straight into the strike zone at a very high velocity. The drop ball is when the pitcher snap his or her wrist a little bit before their hip, giving the ball more top spin. To pitch a rise ball the pitcher needs a low release and a certain hand movement where they curl their fingers into the palm of their hand at the release. As the pitcher pitches a rise ball it may look as if it is actually rises but it really does not rise. The ball falls slower than a fastball and doesn’t have backspin, and it travels on a more level plane. Because of this the ball doesn’t have the same gravitational drop so the batter thinks the ball is rising (Bauer & Westfall, Motion of a Softball, 2010). The last pitch is a change up. This pitch …show more content…
As the pitcher pitches the softball the ball continues on the path until the batter hit the ball, thus changing the direction and speed (Bauer & Westfall, 2010). The key to getting a good hit is hitting the ball on the sweet spot of the bat. The sweet spot is where there is the minimal vibration from the contact with the ball. This maximizing the energy transferred and the distance the ball will travel. The sweet spot is located about 17 centimeters from the end of the barrel (Bauer & Westfall, 2010). The batter will be able to tell when the ball has hit the sweet spot on the bat because the batters hands will not sting. To analysis the physics of hitting a softball a person can use an equation and a free body force diagram (see Appendix A for free body force diagram). A uniform slender rod, pivoted at the end, represents the bat. FPx is the x factor of the force exerted on the slender rod by the fixed pivot P. P represents the hands of the batter holding the bat and P is expected to be a frictionless pivot. FPy is the y factor of the force applied on the slender rod by the fixed pivot P. G is the center of mass of the slender rod. F is the force utilized on the bat by the ball when it strikes. L is the length of the slender rod. lF is the distance from the point P to the contact point F. lG is the distance from the point P to the center of mass G. W is the angular velocity of the bat just before the ball is
A softball pitcher does many things to add more force to her pitch and increase the speed of her pitches. First, she leans back a bit before moving
The first pitch that I will talk about is the knuckleball. Knuckleballs are one of the hardest pitches to consistently control because it seems to just float in the air and can’t be easily placed. The NPR says, “throw the knuckleball — a pitch that can make even the best hitters look helpless.” The knuckleball is a crazy pitch that can trick many batters,
The ball could go high and not drop at all giving the batter a better chance of hitting the ball or it could drop to early and not get to the plate at all. Sometimes when a curveball is thrown if the follow through isn't right the ball will just fall out of the pitcher's hand as they release. The back of the pitcher's hand should be facing the batter, the middle finger should graze the palm of the pitchers hand and their pivot foot, the foot that is on the pitching mound, should still be sliding forward, to let your body balance itself out from the weight of throwing the top part of your body forward (Kendrick, S.). If the pivot foot does not move this could cause the pitcher to fall forward from the force of throwing their body. This will also get the pitcher ready to be able to play the field if the batter is able to hit the
Pitching is an artwork, the velocity, accuracy, and curve of the ball determines the success of a pitcher. Just like every professional athlete in order to be a good player you have to know the fundamentals such as, how to throw a pitch. In order to throw a pitch one has to follow three key steps: First, grip the ball; afterward, get ready to throw a pitch; and finally, throw the pitch. There are several ways to through a baseball, the various grips of the ball determines how your pitch will curve whether it be diagonally, vertically or even horizontally. There are numerous grips, but the most basic ones are the four-seam fastball and curveball.
It makes it harder for the runner because there is a longer distance for him to run. But in softball, there are only 60-foot bases, and it takes the average person only 3 seconds to run that distance. It makes it very easy for the runner to hit the ball and then run from home plate to first base while being safe. Softball uses a ball that has a 3.5-inch diameter.
Putting lateral spin on his fastball caused the ball to move several inches sideways as it crossed home plate, making it virtually impossible to target as a hitter. Prominent pitchers use the first law of motion to throw fastballs, sliders and curve balls. Hitting Newton’s first law is realized at both ends of a pitch. The pitcher’s delivery sets the baseball in motion and the hitter sets the bat in motion by swinging. Newton's Second Law of Motion (F=M*A) shows the velocity of a mass object changes when it is subjected to an external force.
The object of softball is to score runs by hitting the ball and touching all the bases without being tagged or thrown out. Softball games last for seven innings. The pitcher will pitch to a batter until one of four things happens: The batter gets three strikes against him/her. A strike occurs when the batter swings at a pitch but misses it or hits it foul with less than two strikes against him/her, or when the pitch passes through the strike zone but the batter does not swing at it. The pitcher throws four "balls," which are pitches that fail to pass through the strike zone and which are not swung at by the batter. In this case the batter "walks," meaning he or she is awarded first base. The pitcher hits the batter with a pitch. In this case,
The key is the seams of the baseball ,the ball is covered with two pieces of leather that are stitched together with red cotton that creates of 108 stiches that hold the ball together. Each pitch is thrown a different way and has a certain motion the ball travels. Your legs, back, and shoulders are key in pitcher in a constant pitching.(Planetseed. 2004) A flip of the wrist can cause the baseball to curve, slide, or dive down over the plate. Most pitchers are different but the sane pitches can get the same batters. Most of pitching has to do with your body but it also has to do with balance, in order to pitch well. The lower body and the flick of the wrist really have to do a lot with becoming a good pitcher. When the baseball leaves the pitchers hand , the baseball is influenced by three main forces: gravity, drag, and the Magnus force. The gravity pulls the baseball downward, the drag slows down the baseball for certain pitches requiring the ball to travel slower, and last the Magnus force all depends on how you pitch the baseball. As the baseball spins in its flight through the air, pressure variations form on it and the Magnus effect generates a force perpendicular to the motion of the ball in the direction of the spin of the baseball.(Howstuffworks. 2003) Baseball is a complex sport and takes a lot of thinking and skill to be able to be
Imagine someone dropping something to you to swing at verse, tossing something up to you to swing it. A ball at a decline gives you a better chance of hitting the center of the ball. Being able to hit the center or top half of the ball gives the ball a better chance for velocity increase, making sure it goes straight instead of straight up into the air. From home plate to the pitcher’s mound, the distance is 60ft in baseball, compared to the 43ft that makes up that distance in softball. An article from eastvalleytribune.com states: If a baseball is thrown at 90mph (average) at a batter, they will have.375 seconds to react, decide if you should swing, and swing at the pitch.
By moving the way in which his fingers are placed on a ball, the pitcher can change the type of pitch that he is throwing. There are multitudes of different types of pitches that pitchers throw such as fastballs, pitches in which velocity is the main focus of the pitcher throwing it, and off-speed pitches, pitchers where the movement of the pitch is more important to the pitcher than the velocity of the pitch. In the category of fastballs the 4-seam fastball is generally regarded as the fastest pitch available in the arsenal of the pitcher. It is held with the index and middle fingers across the seam of the baseball and thrown with a downward motion to maximize velocity. Along with these different types of pitches there are also different ways in which to throw them.
Where softball and baseball have similarities in terms of equipment, uniforms, strategy and statistics, they find themselves different in terms of pitching techniques. By comparing similarities between baseball and softball, the equipment is unique. Every team needs equipment in order to play the game, it's like how a restaurant needs dishware and employees
The center of percussion of a baseball bat is the spot at which if a baseball is hit, there will be a net force of zero at the pivot point. This pivot being the batter’s hands for a baseball bat. Hitting a baseball at this center of percussion would eliminate the harsh vibrations that can sometimes “sting” a batter’s hands when making contact closer to the hands or the end of the bat. Another way to determine the sweet spot of a bat is by finding the nodes of the bat. These nodes of the baseball bat are points in which when the baseball bat experiences vibrations, they do not vibrate.
However, there aren’t many differences in batting between baseball and softball, there are still things that are difficult about it. The first thing about hitting that is different is how we hit. “In order for a baseball player to hit a 90 m.p.h. fastball or a softball hitter to catch up to a 65 mph pitch, both
Never knowing what pitch is going to come next is always an adrenaline rush while standing in the batters box. Fast pitch softball is a game that has physically and mentally changed my life for the past eleven years. It involves two teams, one who is home and the other who is away. The game consists of seven innings on a softball diamond. There is an upper half and lower half of each inning. The upper half begins with the home team on the field, consisting of nine players in the appropriate positions, and the away team at the plate batting with only nine to ten people in the roster. Offense is a major key to win a game. Making contact with the ball is probably the most difficult and frustrating thing in the world, because you just never know where the pitch is going to end up. There are many techniques to hitting, but we need to get down to the basics first.
The magnitude of the lift depends on the conditions of the air and the object as well as the velocity between the object and the air. The speed rotation of the baseball affects the magnitude of the direction of the force and the aerodynamic force that is perpendicular to the axis of rotation. As the generation of lift and drag are very specific and can be affected greatly, the stiches on the baseball introduce complexity. The average baseball is neither smooth nor symmetric because of the stiches which causes the center of pressure of a baseball to move slightly to the center of the ball over time. Depending on the orientation of the ball the center of pressure will vary, which causes the ball to move erratically.