Read on Twitter
Pitch velocity-Hitter Reaction Time
A thread
Column 1: Ball Flight-the pitcher strides off the 43ft mound and we will say she releases the ball 40ft from HP. The ball takes 0.482 seconds to cross HP at 60mph
(1/6)
A threadColumn 1: Ball Flight-the pitcher strides off the 43ft mound and we will say she releases the ball 40ft from HP. The ball takes 0.482 seconds to cross HP at 60mph
(1/6)
Column 2: Visible-the hitter can only see the ball for the first 80% of the ball flight. The eyes cannot pick up the ball in the final 20% of the flight. The hitter only sees the ball for 0.386 seconds when the pitch is thrown 60mph
(2/6)
(2/6)
Column 3: Invisible-the final 20% of the ball flight or 0.096 seconds of a 60mph pitch are impossible to see. The majority of the swing happens without seeing the ball. It is impossible for a hitter to see the ball hit the bat.
(3/6)
(3/6)
Column 4: Swing Decision-the decision to swing is a cognitive reaction. It takes the brain 150 milliseconds or 0.15 seconds to decide whether to swing or not. If the hitter decides to swing they now have 0.332 seconds before the ball crosses HP if the pitch is thrown 60mph
(4/6)
(4/6)
Column 5: Pitch Tracking-a 0.15 second Time to Contact will play so we will use it for the table. The final 0.15 seconds are used for the swing and the first 0.15 seconds are used to decide whether to swing. The 0.182 seconds in between on a 60mph pitch are for
(5/6)
(5/6)
pitch spin & location decisions. The majority of the swing happens in the “invisible” time frame so the eyes are able to track the pitch for the full 0.182 seconds. 0.182 seconds is about the duration of a blink of an eye. That’s all the time you get on a 60mph pitch
(6/6)
(6/6)
