Newz Forum: BASEBALL: Baseball Myths Exposed, page 1

In a recent study, scientists tested some baseball myths, such as the rising fastball, or the sometimes unhittable curveball. They also found that when you're coach tells you to keep you're eye on the ball, he just may be asking you to accomplish something that is utterly impossible.

Originally posted on LiveScience.com

Your Little League coach probably didn't know it, but every time he sent you to the plate with the instructions "keep your eye on the ball," he was giving you an impossible task.

And if you followed the coach's advice of positioning yourself directly under a popup, you probably struggled to catch balls in the outfield, too.

Ken Fuld, a baseball enthusiast and visual psychophysicist at the University of New Hampshire, has pored over numerous baseball studies and suggests that neither of these approaches produce optimal results.

Instead, much to your coach's chagrin, you should try mimicking the quirks of the best Major League players.

Major League Heat

At the Major League level, pitchers sling fastballs between 90 and 100 mph and sometimes a tweak faster. The ball moves far too swiftly for a batter to watch for its entire journey to home plate.

"In the last few feet before the plate, the ball reaches an angular velocity that exceeds the ability of the eye to track the ball," Fuld told LiveScience. "The best hitters can track the ball to within 5 or 6 feet of the plate."

After that, they shift their eyes to where they anticipate the ball will cross the plate. Some players "take" the first couple pitches of an "at bat" as they try to calibrate the movement and speed of a pitcher's offerings.

Link: Busting baseball Myths

This was a pretty good read. I know it'll interest those baseball players out here. But I don't think I'll be telling this to my coach... I think I'll have a hard time convincing him that he's been wrong all season.

[Edited on 4/23/2006 by GiantsFan]