1. What is the best way to achieve the greatest range by using optimum spin?

For a typical fastball, the best way to increase optimum range is to undercut the ball at 2.65cm and swing upwards at an angle of 0.1594. For a curve ball the best way to strike the ball is at a straight angle, as it already has the top spin produced on it. Increasing the bat speed will optimise the range that the ball will carry. For every 1mph faster bat speed, the ball will carry four meters further.

 

 

When looking at the speed of the bat and ball it is more beneficial to have greater bat speed than ball speed when aiming for distance. Blazevich (2010) states that for each 1mph faster bat speed, the ball will travel five feet further. However, for each 1mph faster ball speed, the ball will only travel one foot further. This information indicates that a fast pitched ball along with a fast ball speed will produce the longest range that the ball will travel.

 

 

The spin of the ball plays an important role in the end result and it is most important when hitting for range. When a batter puts spin on the ball it will gradually follow a trajectory towards the spin direction that it has upon it (Blazevich, 2010). An example is if a batter undercuts a curve ball, during the ball flight it will swing slightly downwards, as it has a top spin effect on it. This movement of the ball changing its trajectory towards the direction of the spin is called the Magnus effect (Blazevich, 2010). The movement of the ball towards the spin direction is because of the pressure difference in the air around the ball. Objects will always want to travel from areas of high pressure to low pressure.  

 

 

Figure 2. This table displays the optimum control variables and maximum range for typical pitches (Sawicki et al. 2003)

The optimal range for three balls, knuckleball, fastball, and curve ball were tested for undercutting and bat angle. Given the result in the table above it shows that the ball speed of the batted fastball is higher than that of the curve ball. However, the backspin of a battered fastball is lower than that of the curve ball. This decrease in batted ball speed is due to the spin on the ball which has to be reversed on impact from a fast ball (Blazevich, 2010). The curve ball pitched already has a top spin produced on it, so then on impact with the bat this is increased, which in turn provides a better optimal range by a distance of over 120 meters.