Pitching machines are a most useful tool for helping batters hone the craft of hitting without the need of a pitcher. Because the machine can be programmed to throw certain pitches at certain speeds and locations, a batting session can be much more focused and productive, allowing the hitter to simulate swinging at actual pitches, from fastballs to curves.
How Machine Works
Originally developed in the late 1800s by Princeton math professor Charles Hinton, a pitching machine shoots a baseball toward a target much the way a bullet fires from a gun. In modern times, the pitching machine consists in a series of wheels that spin at a high rate of speed. When a ball is fed into the spinning action, it is propelled toward the hitter at a high rate of speed. The wheels can be adjusted to create different speeds and pitch types.
Curveball
A pitching machine will simulate the effects of a curveball when one of the spinning wheels is set to rotate faster than the others. The difference in spinning speeds creates the opposite effect of backspin on the ball. This "frontspin" causes the ball to curve downward, creating the pitching curve effect.
Fastball
The speed of a pitch from a pitching machine can vary from each individual piece of equipment, but most youth pitching machines can simulate a fastball upwards of 75 miles per hour. For young adults, a machine can throw a fastball in the 90 mph range. Because the direction of the pitch can be controlled, pitching machines are less likely to result in a hit batsmen. But as in any live batting situation, the hitter should wear an authorized helmet.
Fly Balls And Ground Balls
Most modern pitching machines allow for fielding practice by ejecting fly balls and ground balls. By aiming the release point up or down and putting extra backspin for fly balls or front spin for grounders, the machine can simulate the effect of a fly ball or grounder with the same repetitiveness as a pitch.
Member Comments