Ask A Scientist© Physics Archive

name         ashley
status       student
age          14

Question -   If you raise the height of the pitcher's mound (which is
already 10 inches high) will it increase the velocity of a pitched
baseball as it crosses homeplate?
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The main advantage that a higher mound gives a pitcher is that it's easier
to throw the ball farther if you start from higher up.  If the pitcher
stood on the same level as the plate, he would have to throw the ball a
little higher to make it still be within strike level whan it crosses the
plate.  This reduces the forward speed he can put on the ball.

If the pitcher throws the ball horizontally, it has the maximum forward
speed he can give it.  However, as the ball travels from his hand to the
catcher's mitt, it is constantly pulled downward by gravity.  When the ball
starts from higher up, the pitcher can throw it nearly horizontally and not
have it bounce off the plate.  So yes, indirectly, a higher pitcher's mound
will allow a pitcher to pitch faster strikes.

However, if the mound is made too high (ridiculously high), the pitcher
would have to pitch slower, or actually throw downward, to get strikes.
These might be faster overall, but if most of the ball's velocity when it
reaches the plate is downward, there won't be much forward velocity.


                Richard Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
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