I'm just saying that is how my gun has operated so far when we have gunned players at 46' and 50'. I'm not saying that is an exact science that every 5 feet farther, their speed will drop, but it has been the case between 46 and 50' with every child I have gunned.
But, isn't speed calculated by distance divided by time? s=d/t
Did anybody else take Physics besides me? I may be way off.
The instant the ball leaves the hand it begins decelerating. The exact amount of slowing varies with the slower pitches declerating faster than the faster pitches. (Because of the drop of the ball) The further away from the pitchers hand you take the reading from the slower the reading.(5mph sounds a little high but for slow pitches in the 40s and 50s that may be correct. Most guns will give you the fas-*test*-('") reading it registered while the trigger was pressed but the quality of the gun as far as its range comes into play as does where you are positioned in relation to the pitcher. I have sat with several scouts all with guns while clocking pitchers and they will have a range with their different guns with the same pitch, usually 2-4 mph difference. I have seen LL pitchers throw in the 70s before and seen some LL hitters be able to hit it, I have even clocked a 13 year old in LL hit 79, but no one came close to hitting him. My point is that on the games I have seen on TV this week the time the pitch was in the air, the loop of the pitch and the reaction time by the hitters looks a little off compared to the gun readings. This may just be TV distorting the appearance but that is my opinion. I do believe the exeptional LL hitter can hit a 75mph pitch but the sub off the bench should not be able to even see it well. Some LL pitchers do have a small amount of movement with their ball, but is hard to get much movement on a fastball at 46', most fastball movement occurs after 50'.
| QUOTE (baseballjunkie @ August 21, 2008 05:36 pm) |
| The instant the ball leaves the hand it begins decelerating. The exact amount of slowing varies with the slower pitches declerating faster than the faster pitches. (Because of the drop of the ball) The further away from the pitchers hand you take the reading from the slower the reading.(5mph sounds a little high but for slow pitches in the 40s and 50s that may be correct. Most guns will give you the fas-*test*-('") reading it registered while the trigger was pressed but the quality of the gun as far as its range comes into play as does where you are positioned in relation to the pitcher. I have sat with several scouts all with guns while clocking pitchers and they will have a range with their different guns with the same pitch, usually 2-4 mph difference. I have seen LL pitchers throw in the 70s before and seen some LL hitters be able to hit it, I have even clocked a 13 year old in LL hit 79, but no one came close to hitting him. My point is that on the games I have seen on TV this week the time the pitch was in the air, the loop of the pitch and the reaction time by the hitters looks a little off compared to the gun readings. This may just be TV distorting the appearance but that is my opinion. I do believe the exeptional LL hitter can hit a 75mph pitch but the sub off the bench should not be able to even see it well. Some LL pitchers do have a small amount of movement with their ball, but is hard to get much movement on a fastball at 46', most fastball movement occurs after 50'. |
I have talked to Randy Johnson several times this week. His first hand report is that those kids are bringing it. The fas-*test*-('") pitches he has seen all year. So, if you want to know ask Randy he is there.