Outfield Fence Calculation

[collinspc]

If my daughter hits a ball off the bottom of the fence, she has hit the ball 200'. If she hits the ball off the top of the fence she has hit the ball 200'. If she hits the ball over the fence she has hit the ball 200' 1", thus clearing the fence. As stated previously the biggest part of the equation is trajectory. Oh, that huge smile on her face helps also!

 

[Mocoso]

The formula given needs to be adjusted for the location where the ball is hit... it isnt hit off the ground but likely 2 or 3 feet above the ground so the height should be height of fence - hitting height

note that what the equation will give you is the MINIMUM distance in a straight line the ball needs to be hit in order to clear the fence
It will not give you the TOTAL distance the ball may actually need to travel to clear that fence... gravity, wind, ball spin effect etc will likely dictate how far ball will need to travel...

Im curious what the extra "inch or so" in the straight line distance is going to help with given wind, hit angle, exit velocity, ball spin, etc variables that will have a bigger effect on clearing it or not

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Forget the Pythagorean formula in that while technically correct no one hits on a straight line. I think the original question was how far do you have to hit a home run on a standard 200 foot fence (the answer is something like 221 feet using basic assumptions).

You are looking for the equation of a parabola and then use the quadratic formula to solve for your distance.

As many others have stated, it all depends on your trajectory (amongst other things).

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

Math Forum - Ask Dr. Math

 

[Greenmonsters]

Forget the Pythagorean formula in that while technically correct no one hits on a straight line. I think the original question was how far do you have to hit a home run on a standard 200 foot fence (the answer is something like 221 feet using basic assumptions).

You are looking for the equation of a parabola and then use the quadratic formula to solve for your distance.

As many others have stated, it all depends on your trajectory (amongst other things).

Ray Ray hits gravity-defying line drives and can solve differential equations while rounding the bases.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Forget the Pythagorean formula in that while technically correct no one hits on a straight line. I think the original question was how far do you have to hit a home run on a standard 200 foot fence (the answer is something like 221 feet using basic assumptions).

You are looking for the equation of a parabola and then use the quadratic formula to solve for your distance.

As many others have stated, it all depends on your trajectory (amongst other things).

221 feet? That doesn't seem right, although I don't really know. Are you saying that players who hit HR's on 200-foot fences that are 4 feet need to be able to hit a ball 220 on the fly in most cases? My DD has hit some on 200-foot fences, but I doubt they all went 220. Would like to think that, however.

 

[YOCOACH]

Have your DD drop the ball at 230'. Then you don't have to worry about the calculations

 

[GunnerShotgun]

221 feet? That doesn't seem right, although I don't really know. Are you saying that players who hit HR's on 200-foot fences that are 4 feet need to be able to hit a ball 220 on the fly in most cases? My DD has hit some on 200-foot fences, but I doubt they all went 220. Would like to think that, however.

221 was just a random number as I was trying to prove a point (much to large a number after all the math is done, you were correct). After actually doing the math for a 200 foot diamond the actual distance traveled for a home run is roughly around the distance to the fence plus the height of the fence.

On a 200 foot fence with a height of 6 feet the ball traveled 205.92 feet.
On a 200 foot fence with a height of 8 feet the ball traveled 207.78 feet.

This assumes you hit a ball 3 feet off of the ground and the angle of descent was 135 degrees. I assumed the ball just barely cleared the top of the fence for a HR.

*note for the 4 foot temp fences you have to barely hit it over 204 to get a HR with the same conditions

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

221 was just a random number as I was trying to prove a point (much to large a number after all the math is done, you were correct). After actually doing the math for a 200 foot diamond the actual distance traveled for a home run is roughly around the distance to the fence plus the height of the fence.

On a 200 foot fence with a height of 6 feet the ball traveled 205.92 feet.
On a 200 foot fence with a height of 8 feet the ball traveled 207.78 feet.

This assumes you hit a ball 3 feet off of the ground and the angle of descent was 135 degrees. I assumed the ball just barely cleared the top of the fence for a HR.

*note for the 4 foot temp fences you have to barely hit it over 204 to get a HR with the same conditions

Curious: did you use a parabolic path of travel for the ball?

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Curious: did you use a parabolic path of travel for the ball?

Yes. ax^2 + bx + c = y

Once you determine 'a' and 'b' (those are dynamic based on your assumptions) use the quadratic equation to solve for x.