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ajgartland22

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  1. ajgartland22
    56 days....
    Getting hit by the ball in baseball is just a fact of life.  Many plays in a game consist of players simply knocking the ball down with their bodies in order to better control it or keep it from getting past them.  Usually the ball impacts a part of the body that can take a good amount of force without too much pain (like the torso).  Rarely, and usually by error of the fielder, the ball can find its way to less ideal areas of the body.  In my case, playing the awkward bouncing grounder on old indoor turf the wrong way resulted in the ball settling on a spot right in the lower part of my forehead.  When the batter hit the ball, it took one high hop and I moved backward to catch the ball at the apex of its second hop.  When the ball hit the ground after the second hop, its rotational velocity was very high, and the turf provided the perfect surface for the ball to grip the ground and convert that rotational energy into translational energy, therefore increasing the speed of the ball.  I was not ready for this sudden speed increase and so when the ball got to me the glove was to low, so it bypassed my glove and continued straight into my face.  
    Currently on my forehead, one can see the stitches imprinted into my skin and also broken skin where the speed at which the stitches were rotating caused them to damage the skin in certain places.  
    Using physics to think through the situation helps me understand why that second hop on artificial turf is always so annoying. 
  2. ajgartland22
    I thought I would do a quick post about some very interesting information I read about pitching and how it ties in with bio-physics.  As a lot of people know, Tommy John surgery is a dreaded operation that is used on mostly baseball players to correct the mother of all baseball injuries: a UCL tear.  The UCL, or Ulnar Collateral Ligament is a small ligament on the "pinky side" of your elbow.  Its main purpose is mainly to hold back all the torque generated by your arm when it goes into a whipping overhand motion.  Basically, its a convenient little piece of tissue tailor made for all of us throwing sport athletes.  The weird (and kind of scary) part is, for how much throwing revolves around this ligament, us humans punish it all the time.  In fact, multiple studies conducted among college and pro baseball pitchers have repeatedly shown that the UCL sustains anywhere from 65-70 Nm of torque on any given pitch.  And the point of complete failure for a UCL in a lab?  A mere 35 Nm of torque... In other words, every throw, athletes can be putting up to DOUBLE the amount of stress on their UCL than what it takes to completely snap it.  
    Although this is a scary thought, one may wonder, "this must all not be true because I've never had an UCL injury before".  And although that statement is true, it raises another very valid point: mechanics.  The only reason the MLB does not see an average of 1 UCL failure per pitch is because of attenuation.  Basically the whole reason you twist your core, drive with your legs and tuck your opposite arm when you throw is to attenuate the torque on your elbow.  To put it simply, all of your body parts "help out" your elbow and contribute in their own way to driving the ball forward, meaning the velocity of the ball does not depend solely on your elbow and therefore all that 70 Nm of torque will not be put directly on your UCL.
    So remember kids: attenuation is what is saving you from a career ending injury... so practice those mechanics!!  
  3. ajgartland22
    A common part of baseball is seen almost every pitch when the catcher moves his glove slightly when he catches the ball to try and convince the umpire the pitch was actually a strike, when really it was a ball.  This is called framing, and when one really looks at the process, it is easy to see how strong and skilled a catcher must be to execute it.  One of the best in the game at this is Yadier Molina.  In the video below, take a look at how Molina totally redirects the tremendous force of a ball travelling over 80 mph and sinking down below the zone.  The way Molina "sticks" the pitch on the corner of the zone led to this pitch being a strike, even though it is very clear it should have been a ball.  He moves his glove up while barely moving backwards, meaning he absorbed and counteracted the downward angled force of the ball in a split second, and made it appear that he actually caught the ball at a spot above where he actually didnt.  When one thinks about the serious force behind a major league pitch, Yadier's tremendous strength becomes even more apparent, as he appears to move his glove at will, even though it is being impacted by a projectile travelling at over 80 mph.
     
     
  4. ajgartland22

    The Super Bowl

    By ajgartland22,

    Today at 4:30 Eastern Time something magical will happen.  THE Oakland Raiders will take the field in a NFL Playoff game for the first time in 12 years.  There are a lot of questions surrounding the Raiders and their chances of even making out of the wildcard round.  Their chances are pretty good as long as they can overcome the Texan's defense, who is 1st in the league in the overall category.  Being the overconfident Raiders fan I am, I predict the Raiders are going to play not one, but two games in Houston before the end of February.  (Houston is hosting the Super Bowl this year).  The only question I have is a big one about rookie Connor Cook.  Obviously to be in the NFL you must be strong, but as a rookie, it is common that players haven't yet developed into their full physical potential.  This being said, the Vince Lombardi Trophy is 7 pounds in weight (3.2kg).  This means after playing the game(s) of his life, Cook will have to hold 32 Newtons of force at bay while hoisting the Lombardi Trophy victoriously into the air.  Depending on conditions, he may also have to deal with a slight torque force if the wind is significant.  As we know, the farther away a torque is from its axis, the harder it is to control if that axis is your shoulders.  Based on these numbers, I believe Cook will have no problem lifting the trophy and winning the Super Bowl for the Silver and Black.
    I apologize for my- what some may call- overconfidence and I ask that in the likely case the Raiders lose today you don't make fun of me too much for this.  Thanks!
  5. ajgartland22

    Wood Bats

    By ajgartland22,

    This Christmas I was lucky enough to get my 4th wood bat from my parents. (Sorry dad for breaking the last 3)  As I was holding it in my hand I noticed it felt lighter than my previous bat, but what confused me was the fact that both had the same length and weight.  Using my ever-expanding knowledge of physics, I got to thinking about it and a few minutes later it dawned on me that its really not that confusing at all.  Despite how un-exact of a science you may expect making wooden bats may be, (after all they are still made by using a lathe and cutting tools) there are exact model types of wood bats that tailor to different types of hitters.  For example, the 271, the most popular model in the MLB features a medium barrel, handle and tapered knob to balance out the weight along the whole length of the bat.  This gives the batter a more balanced feel and is ideal for guys looking for a good balance between contact and power, push and pull hits, etc.  This was the model of my new bat, and to compare, my old wood bat was a 243.  This model is less popular because it appeals to only one kind of hitter.  Anybody looking to drive the ball out of the park, and who doesn't mind a few bad misses, would love the 243.  When held compared to the 271, it feels a good amount heavier because it features a large, long barrel and a skinny handle.  Using the equation for torque, one can easily see how with more of the weight located farther away from the point of rotation (in this case, my hands), the bat barrel will exert more force towards the ground and therefore feel heavier.
    This same idea translates into hitting the baseball.  With the 271, considerable power is lost because the handle, which has very low energy during the swing due to where it is positioned in relation to the point of rotation.  There is alot of mass in that part of the bat, mass that is not allowed to contribute to the kinetic energy of the end of the bat, which is the part that collides with the ball and sends it flying.  With the 243, although the added torque makes it harder to control, the mass added to the barrel of the bat pay the hitter back in dividends when the ball is propelled with an energy far greater than the 271 just due to the added mass in the barrel.
    It seems like a no- brainer to use the 243, but hitting a 95 mph fastball with something that, when compared to the more balanced 271, feels like a sledgehammer is something that only the strongest and most coordinated hitters- and most of those players sacrifice dearly in the average department for a few extra home runs.  Knowing this about wood bats, I will definitely be more picky about what I swing in the future- all thanks to physics.

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