ASA Strike Zone
- Thread starter waldo8403
- Start date
NCASAUmp
Un-Retired
Stop. Just stop.
sjury
The Old Man
Notice they preface the graph with no spin on the ball? That's because it's based on a formula, not real life. It's an example, not gospel.
Sully
Wanna buy jerseys/rings?
This is really unbelievable. You might be the only guy on this website that would call that pitch a ball and there are some people with some faaarr out opinions on here.
I ask this next question in all seriousness, have you played ball recently? You mentioned you umpire a lot. I can't remember a player ever arguing that pitch either. Why would you? Despite your midget comparison, that pitch is very hittable.
Secondly, and maybe more importantly, have you been to any clinics in the last say ten years? I can't believe you went to an ASA clinic and argued this point and didn't get laughed at, especially if you argued it this hard.
Tell your friend to man up, buy his beer. Maybe you should buy the beer for him since you believe he got screwed by the laws of physics and a conspiracy involving every other softball player and umpire on this sight and maybe in the universe except whatever bizarro town you live in where people believe a legal pitch that lands where you describe is a ball.
Tell your friend there is no shame in admitting he thought it was going to hit the plate and got fooled when it landed past the plate. Did the umpire do the Michael Jackson moonwalk when he rang him up? He should have after the "Death stare"
Sully
Wanna buy jerseys/rings?
Sjury, you are really trying to argue strikes and trajectory with a guy named "Illegal Pitcher? "
Illegal pitcher
The Veteran
The graph is just a typical trajectory for a 12' pitch. Spin can alter the trajectory, but certainly not enough to give it the trajectory of a golf drive.
No spin is real life. I can throw a pitch that only spins once or so, but does not knuckle. That's pretty darn close to no spin, wouldn't you agree? So, if I threw it 12' and there's no wind, the trajectory would be very similar to the graph.
Illegal pitcher
The Veteran
The graph is for when the release is 3'. :stupid:
Illegal pitcher
The Veteran
No one claimed it's always accurate. The golf trajectory graph that your buddy posted isn't either. Make sure you give him hell for that.
x25
Addicted to Softballfans
It's not accurate, in the sense that it won't replicate any given pitch thrown across the board, but it appears pretty precise as an example of a 'normal' pitch arc. (and not trying to be a **** with the distinction, but it's somewhat important here)
The point of the graph isn't "your pitches look like this" - it's simply "those people who think their pitch hump-backs at 40 feet and drops suddenly are probably not correct, absent crazy spin/wind conditions" ... the highest part of the arc is likely extremely close to the midpoint. That means it's likely it crossed the knees somewhere during its 17" travel across the plate.
x25
Addicted to Softballfans
Part of that is handled by the fact the ball starts higher than it lands, but I think we're on the same page mostly: complaining about umping is the dumbest, and the "idiot box"/pseudo-mat isn't right but it isn't bad enough to *****.
When you start out exaggerating, no one reads any further. Draw it on a piece of paper and you can see that this cant happen.
spos21ram
The Legend
A "really flat legal piitch" is an oxymoron. Maybe it's different for ASA, but in USSSA flat means no hump, which means an illigal pitch. In order for a pitch to be legal it has to have a hump....but for arguments sake, a flat 6 foot pitch would have some speed on it. That pitch wouldnt even end up close to the plate.... Unless its against the backstop.
irishmafia
Addicted to Softballfans
Show me where it isn't other than your opinion.
Guess what? It really doesn't make a difference does it? If you are an umpire, you know what I mean.
x25
Addicted to Softballfans
Slow day at work and I should know better, but I did the math for him ... using 30mph out of the hand and average height for a dude, you can estimate that a pitch that lands 1" behind the plate and hits exactly 6' at the top of the arc would have crossed the front of the plate at somewhere between 19" and 20" high.
The average height to the bottom of a guy's knee? Somewhere between 18" and 19" according to Google.
The "rule of thumb" ASA strike zone is pretty damn close - much closer than broscience.
You can actually do the math on a slow pitched softball?
That is awesome!
It has always been my contention that a proper and accurate mat could be designed to account for 99% of all slow pitches but I couldn't ever find enough info on speed, arc, gravity etc. I think I found one mention of the ball speed (I believe it was more like 15MPH) and I found the graph that was posted earlier in this thread.
My thought is that it would hug the back point of the plate and be rounded/oblonged to allow for balls that come across the zone at a bit of an angle.
I'd love to see an image of different arcs. A 3D image with the potential spread of release points would be interesting also. The variation would only be 3 or 4 feet right or left and I doubt that it would make more than an inch difference in where it landed or crossed the zone.
If you ever come across something, maybe you could post it?
That is awesome!
It has always been my contention that a proper and accurate mat could be designed to account for 99% of all slow pitches but I couldn't ever find enough info on speed, arc, gravity etc. I think I found one mention of the ball speed (I believe it was more like 15MPH) and I found the graph that was posted earlier in this thread.
My thought is that it would hug the back point of the plate and be rounded/oblonged to allow for balls that come across the zone at a bit of an angle.
I'd love to see an image of different arcs. A 3D image with the potential spread of release points would be interesting also. The variation would only be 3 or 4 feet right or left and I doubt that it would make more than an inch difference in where it landed or crossed the zone.
If you ever come across something, maybe you could post it?
Illegal pitcher
The Veteran
I don't see any reason to have a mat that isn't rectangular. The mat you described would be more accurate for some pitches, and less accurate for others.
irishmafia
Addicted to Softballfans
It cannot be done as there are too many variables. And yes, I've call pitches two feet behind the plate strikes if they were legal and passed through the strike zone.