Radar mats

[The Man In Blue]

Actually, it's the speed between release and the decision point, which determines how long a hitter has to decide to swing... Once they have committed to swing, it's location and movement that make it difficult to hit at the plate... speed at the plate is just timing. Timing is determined by when they started the swing, when the ball passed through the decision point.

Anyway, from a practical standpoint, the Radar Gun/pocket radar is the tool of choice at all levels of the game, and radar guns measure the highest speed recorded while you press the button/trigger, which will be the speed at release. While the mat might be useful to track your personal improvement, if you want to see how your velocity measures up against your peers, you need to measure speed the same way they do, which is a Radar gun/pocket radar.

I actually did not know that about radar guns (locking in the highest speed). Interesting!

If you are using the speed for a competitive comparison, of course using any two different methods is going to be insufficient, even two different radar guns of the same style.

I guess my underlying question is what use is knowing a pitcher's speed good for? It can give hitters a general idea to be prepared for, but it really means little beyond that to a hitter. It can be used to track an individual pitcher's progress/health. It can be used, as you say, to compete against other pitchers. Beyond that, I may be overly reductionist, but I just see it as parental bragging rights.

Speed between release and "decision point" or "contact point" is not consistent. You will have a sharp acceleration rate out of the hand and a deceleration as the ball encounters wind resistance. The speed out of the pitcher's hand is almost inconsequential to a hitter. It may give a baseline, but the data is useless shortly after that.

 

[_MIA_]

The speed out of the pitcher's hand is almost inconsequential to a hitter. It may give a baseline, but the data is useless shortly after that.

First, if pitcher A gets a faster reading out of hand then pitcher B then unless pitcher B has some way to get around physics, it will be faster when it reaches the plate...so in that sense knowing out of hand is sufficient to gauge two pitchers. Second the reaction time is a function of the velocity profile along the whole ball path.

As an aside, comparing softball and baseball hitting "difficulty" purely based upon reaction times is flawed as a ball moving 100 mph is going to cross the hitting zone in less time than a ball traveling 72 mph even if the reaction time is the same (not saying you are doing this or anything..just a comment )

 

[The Man In Blue]

First, if pitcher A gets a faster reading out of hand then pitcher B then unless pitcher B has some way to get around physics, it will be faster when it reaches the plate...so in that sense knowing out of hand is sufficient to gauge two pitchers. Second the reaction time is a function of the velocity profile along the whole ball path.

As an aside, comparing softball and baseball hitting "difficulty" purely based upon reaction times is flawed as a ball moving 100 mph is going to cross the hitting zone in less time than a ball traveling 72 mph even if the reaction time is the same.

I get it ... I'm saying the only valuable data is "faster or slower". A batter does not do a conscious mathematical computation "If the ball leaves Suzie's hand at 67.24 mph, and the wind is blowing from the south at 15.3 mph, and we are playing 2 hours from home ... just how cute is Mary's boyfriend?!"

I'm a simpleton.

 

[_MIA_]

I get it ... I'm saying the only valuable data is "faster or slower".

Right in which case if the hitter is being told this information in general** it doesn't matter whether the data was gathered out of hand or near the plate

**drag force goes like velocity squared so I am sure there is probably a case where a comparison could end up having a pitch which was faster out of hand being slower at the plate then a pitch which was slower out of hand..but the velocities would probably be close enough where the differences would be indecipherable anyway..