Physics and Softball

 

Baseball is a sport that is loved and played by almost my entire family. In the spring and the summer, you can catch all of us rooting for our cousins baseball team every Sunday. Well this year, my cousins and aunts decided to form our own team and play softball against other families that came to support their baseball teams. Since I haven't played softball in almost three years, I noticed that my arm was not the same as it used to be. So my journey began on improving the speed and power of my throws. Since the league started in late September, I thought why not incorporate some physics into my situation, after all doesn't physics affect our every day lives somehow. So, after thinking about this for a while, I came up with a some ideas as to how physics can play a part in softball.

1. When I throw a softball, the softball has velocity since it has speed and direction.

2. Since I am the one who is throwing the ball, I can alter the softballs velocity.

Overall I realized that position and speed matter when I am throwing a softball. I can't just throw a softball without acknowledging the direction I want it to go and how fast I want the softball to travel. So what I did was change the position in which I released the ball, and use more of my core to add strength to my throws. Once I did this realized that my throws have gotten a lot better, they now have more power and speed.

 

 

 

Katty Molina