In the following video, Professor Barton Smith of Utah State University explains his work on the fluid dynamics of a baseball pitch.

Featuring “The effect of seam orientation on the flight of a baseball“:

The understanding of aerodynamics in baseball has, over the history of the game, been continuously evolving. This video demonstrates some of the complex behaviour inherent in baseball flight due to the irregular seam locations on the ball and how additional forces, beyond those due to spin and gravity, can play a major role in determining the baseball’s flight path.

Video produced by Tom Crawford. Tom is an Early-Career Teaching and Outreach Fellow in Mathematics at St Edmund Hall

Video  Description: The understanding of aerodynamics in baseball has, over the history of the game, been continuously evolving. This video demonstrates some of the complex behaviour inherent in baseball flight due to the irregular seam locations on the ball and how additional forces, beyond those due to spin and gravity, can play a major role in determining the baseball’s flight path.

Research by Barton Smith and Andrew Smith at Utah State University.

For more information check out Professor Barton Smith’s website: https://baseballaero.com/

This video is part of a collaboration with the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and the UK Fluids Network featuring a series of interviews with researchers from the APS DFD 2019 conference. Sponsored by the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and the UK Fluids Network.

Gallery of Fluid Motion entry

Authors:

Andrew Smith, Utah State University

Rob Friedman, Pitching Ninja

Nazmus Sakib, Utah State University

John Garrett, Utah State University

Barton Smith, Utah State University

Publication:

Smith AW, Smith BL. Using baseball seams to alter a pitch direction: The seam shifted wake. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology. 2021;235(1):21-28. doi:10.1177/1754337120961609

Golf ball image copyright Horia Varlan (Creative Commons 3.0 licence):

Trevor Bauer image copyright Erik Dros (Creative Commons 2.0 licence):

With thanks to:

Barton Smith, Andrew Smith, AugustineMLB, Fangraphs Prospects, Horia Varlan

Erik Drost, JFM – Journal of Fluid Mechanics, UK Fluid Network, APS DFD 2019

All MLB footage is presented under a fair usage policy for the purpose of education. It remains copyright of MLB.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/flo.2023.12