| A mathematical model was developed to describe the motion of a spinning baseball. This model used the full 3-dimensional solid body dynamics to model the baseball's rotation and incorporated the aerodynamic data found in the literature to model the translational motion of the spinning baseball. A computer model was developed to predict the path of any spinning pitch. This model was then used to find out the effects of various release conditions, atmospheric conditions, wind speeds, and the physical characteristics of the baseball on the path of the baseball.;Test runs of the computer model revealed that atmospheric conditions have negligible effects on the path of a spinning baseball, while wind can change the path of a spinning baseball appreciably. And the pitcher can effectively control the path of a spinning baseball by varying the initial conditions. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.). |
