Whiffle Ball Anyone?

[millamak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_rslXAXE6Y

Wow.

[Pete]

I'd like to see the balls he's using out of curiosity.

[JMann2380]

fake

[Pete]

I don't doubt the break, but the velocity appears a little hard to believe.

[Jeremy]

The velocity is hard to believe, but that isnt even a lot of break for a wiffle ball.  At my old job my boss was bad mother fucker with a wiffle ball.  He could have the thing coming at your head and have it hit the plate. 

You can even buy balls with adjustable rings that determine how much air flow you get into the ball to give it the desired break.

[ELake]

Its real.  Theres a whole science of throwing these balls.  Its not a standard $2 cent job at the grocery store full of holes, its a little different.  Size appears to be regulation MLB or whatev, but the front (in terms of how the pitcher holds it) has wiffles and the back is smooth, I think the holes only cover about 1/3 of the ball

[Jeremy]

Its real.  Theres a whole science of throwing these balls.  Its not a standard $2 cent job at the grocery store full of holes, its a little different.  Size appears to be regulation MLB or whatev, but the front (in terms of how the pitcher holds it) has wiffles and the back is smooth, I think the holes only cover about 1/3 of the ball

Yep, a real wiffle ball usually has one side smooth, and one side with holes.  You get the break depending on how you hold the ball in your hand because it affects what side of the ball the air enters the ball which pushes it to cause the break. 

[Pete]

I still don't believe the velocity.  I don't know of many major league pitchers that could throw a whiffle ball that hard.  That's probably 80-85 mph out of a whiffle ball.

[ELake]

True, the standard weight of one isn't much, and if you had that much break on the ball it would cause it to slow down very rapidly

[Jeremy]

True, the standard weight of one isn't much, and if you had that much break on the ball it would cause it to slow down very rapidly

Its the speed of the air entering the ball that gives it the break though.  The harder you throw the ball the better the break is. 

[ELake]

and the more air that is "caught" and transfered into a change in vertical movement has an effect on overall ball speed..think about it

[Jeremy]

and the more air that is "caught" and transfered into a change in vertical movement has an effect on overall ball speed..think about it

 Id bet that the greater distance the ball is traveling due to the break has more effect on the velocity then the "catching" of the air in the ball.

After watching this video, and others, id say the velocity is definitely believable.  Remember, the speed is easier to achieve with the wiffle ball being lighter.  A lighter object will accelerate alot faster then a heavier one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk-ZXEhpOE

[Pete]

and the more air that is "caught" and transfered into a change in vertical movement has an effect on overall ball speed..think about it

 Id bet that the greater distance the ball is traveling due to the break has more effect on the velocity then the "catching" of the air in the ball.

After watching this video, and others, id say the velocity is definitely believable.  Remember, the speed is easier to achieve with the wiffle ball being lighter.  A lighter object will accelerate alot faster then a heavier one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk-ZXEhpOE

it will also slow down much faster because it loses it's momentum much quicker.  If he were throwing that ball at say 40 feet I would be much more apt to believe it.

Speed with a whiffle ball is much, much more difficult to achieve due to the cutouts in the ball, they catch a ton of air.  Take it from someone who has pitched his fair share of baseball and whiffle ball games.

[Jeremy]

and the more air that is "caught" and transfered into a change in vertical movement has an effect on overall ball speed..think about it

 Id bet that the greater distance the ball is traveling due to the break has more effect on the velocity then the "catching" of the air in the ball.

After watching this video, and others, id say the velocity is definitely believable.  Remember, the speed is easier to achieve with the wiffle ball being lighter.  A lighter object will accelerate alot faster then a heavier one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMk-ZXEhpOE

it will also slow down much faster because it loses it's momentum much quicker.  If he were throwing that ball at say 40 feet I would be much more apt to believe it.

Speed with a whiffle ball is much, much more difficult to achieve due to the cutouts in the ball, they catch a ton of air.  Take it from someone who has pitched his fair share of baseball and whiffle ball games.

The guys in the video i posted are pitching from 42 feet.  So are the guys pitching in the game in the original video.

[Jaydoggg]

we played a LOT of wiffle ball growing up.  We had a guy on our team named Larry Bolton that threw exactly like this guy.  I believe 100% of it.  Larry could have the ball over your head then bring it down to your knees and it came fast.  But, on this vid it seems the speed was altered.  Its easy to change the framerate of a video.  NTSC is 29.9997 but if you change the framerate to something like 33 it would appear much faster but you'd still see all the killer break action.

Download the vid and check out the framerate.