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When doing pitch design with athletes who are trying to throw a slider (~-1-1 vertical break and ~4-8 horizontal break) I’ve recognized their ability to throw this pitch is largely attributed to their ability to create gyro spin. Well duh everyone knows, that right? But why?
Lower spin (2000 and less) guys are able to get closer to these slider numbers with a higher degree of gyro spin, higher spin (2400+) guys are able get closer with less gyro spin. We know that to maximize the break of pitches we want to see high spin efficiency, and pure gyro
spin is 0% efficiency. Its not that gyro spin doesn’t have any influence on the break of the pitch, it’s that pure gyro spin keeps the ball on a specific point. There is no magnus force created because its spinning in a circle with a net force of zero, hence why bullets are shot
with gyro spin. What happens on a long sniper shot to a bullet when spin starts so slow down though? Spin drift, the bullet starts to drift in the direction of the spin because the friction of the air is now reducing gyro spin and its transitioning into side spin which creates
magnus force and this creates the drift on the bullet. With lower spin guys their sliders start to drift to create the 4-8” of horizontal break we are looking for. Higher spin guys their spin is higher so it holds its intended path for longer thus giving you a closer to 0,0 pitch
For high spin guys you need to increase the efficiency of the pitch, reducing gyro spin so that the pitch has some usable spin to create break you are looking for.
@FlatgroundApp
@FlatgroundApp
