As you may have guessed, this one is pretty nerdy. Confession: I am not a real aerodynamicist. I’m a mechanical engineer who specializes in fluid dynamics. Aerospace Engineering also concerns itself with fluid dynamics, mostly with the brach we call aerodynamics. Until my interest in baseball aerodynamics, I had never Continue Reading
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Cliff Notes Seam Shifted Wake: Post 65
If you are new to this and you don’t feel like sifting through the last 64 posts or watching a 90 minute Zoom explanation, this post is for you! For more than a decade, baseball has worked under the assumption that pitched balls move primarily due to the competing forces Continue Reading
Magnus and Seam Shifted Wake Effects on Wilson 1030 and MLB baseballs: Post 64
My 14-year-old son plays baseball, and his fastball is about 90% efficient. So naturally, I was wondering if the baseballs that they use, which have very large seams compared to an MLB ball, move similarly to MLB balls. In my previous post, a Wilson 1030 baseball was found to move Continue Reading
Loopers, FA, CH, CU in the lab: Post 63
Here is an overlay of all the pitches I will be talking about in this post. Many thanks to Michael Augustine for making this beautiful overlay on short notice. Pitches 1-7, described below I am teaching a graduate measurements course this semester and the course requires a final project. I’ve Continue Reading
Advice to Young Pitchers: How Can You Use SSW On Your Fastballs? Post 62
I get asked about this a lot, and I finally have an answer based on the data reported in our recent Baseball Prospectus article. Here’s my take: 1. Know Your Efficiency It is hard to generate Seam Shifted Wake effects without some gyro. I recently posted a video that explains Continue Reading
Seam Shifted Wake Zoom
On Tuesday, November 10, 2020, I hosted a public Zoom presentation on our current understanding. It was attended by 100 people (my Zoom limit) including representatives from 14 MLB teams (that I know of). Click the photo below for a link to the full presentation.
The Effect of Gyro on Optimal SSW Orientation: Post 60
If you are new to the idea of Seam Shifted Wake pitches, I recommend downloading and viewing this presentation which is about 45 minutes long. I realize that is a lot of time, but this is a complex topic. That said, I think the presentation is easy to understand. As Continue Reading
Seam Shifted Wake Predictions for 2020-2021
We’ve learned a lot in the last year. One thing I am more convinced of than ever: Seam Shifted Wake (SSW) pitches are common. They have been hidden from us because of the limitations of our measurement systems and well-intentioned efforts to mitigate those limitations. Based on our research, data Continue Reading
The Apparent Tilt of Seam Shifted Wake Pitches: Post 59
Conventional pitches break because of two forces, gravity and Magnus force (the ball experiences drag also, but drag his little effect on the direction of a pitch). When a Seam Shifted Wake (SSW) occurs, the forces causing break are gravity, Magnus force and the SSW force. This article will assume Continue Reading
Diagnosing and Modeling SSW pitches: Post 58
I’ve carried on about this, but if you throw a Seam Shifted Wake pitch, there is currently no way to know that it moved differently than any other pitch. I’ve known for some time that this was an obstacle to our work. I’ve been told many times that these effects Continue Reading
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