physics on softball

Sports are a huge part of most peoples daily lives. When I was younger softball was always something I wanted to do but I chose other activities over it. I decided to take a minute and learn how softball relates to physics since it's one topic I am interested in.

Pitching in softball is related to physics because of the velocity. Pitching can be very difficult because you need to know all the different curve techniques. In softball, there are six main pitches, the fastball, change-up, curve, screw, rise, and drop. The fastball is supposed to stay on a straight path at a constant height to the ground. This would mean that the softball would need to go at a constant velocity as well. The change-up which is a slower pitch that occasionally drops right at home plate, would need to have a velocity the decreases rapidly. The curve, screw, rise, and drop are moving pitches, meaning they will bend in a different direction. The curve and screw bend in different directions which would mean that velocity would change with direction. The rise and drop would bend up and down, so their velocities would change for the same reasons as the curve and screw. Velocity is one main component of physics that effects softball.

With doing research on this topic I learned more about the sport as well as how physics is involved with every step of this sport.