Just coming across your videos. You're doing some great work. Thanks for doing these videos. The cartoon style education content is nice but something that would your stuff really pop is showing live examples. More examples like that video from Driveline on your spin axis example. Being able to see these in action would make a big difference. Watched the Rapsodo video too. Maybe it's their licensing rules or something but showing screen share of actual Rapsodo content would be awesome.
Hey Kyle! Thanks for the comment man, means a lot. I really appreciate the kind words on the channel. The idea for the introductory videos has been to keep it as simple as possible for everybody to understand. In my opinion this style video is easier to interpret than looking at the actual screens for edgertronic or rapsodo. There will be more in depth videos including more real world application in the future. Again, thanks for the comment. I always enjoy getting feedback to help out the community 👍🏻
You say this may be a complicated idea to grasp. IMO, it is not. But the explanation is confused, because it uses the terms spin axis and spin direction to mean the same thing. In you diagram at 2:00 the real "axis" is along the bolded line running from 9-3 o'clock. The "direction" is 12-6 o'clock. That's how it works in geography class. The Earth's axis is north-south and the Earth's spin is east-west. Anyway, loved the Tube.
TBH didn’t know that was the way those terms were classified in geography class! Guess it’s been a while… Anyways, the reason a lot of people have issues with the distinction between the two is because Trackman and Rapsodo measure what you call the “Direction” (12-6 o’clock in our example) two different things. One calls it axis and the other direction. Direction is definitely the more accurate term, but because Trackman uses axis it creates some confusion. Thanks for the comment!
Hi John - thanks for the comment! In my latest series on the channel I’m diving into each metric for both hitting and pitching. I’ll cover what they are, how you can use them and finish each with the ideal ranges for each age groups. As for your question here, youth pitchers should be shooting for similar spin efficiency numbers as older athletes. And spin rate is something you don’t need to dive too deep into until they’re in high school. Using Bauer units can give you a good idea of where they sit for the time being. Bauer Units: m.th-cam.com/video/j1YFGbaA0W8/w-d-xo.html Playlist: m.th-cam.com/play/PLmtSuNbgQJKDh_N-vjSb2ldkRuEfzoxvI.html Appreciate the comments!
Good Question! Honestly, this simply takes practice. If you have a radar gun putting out speeds this helps make this process a little easier. On average a player's fastball will be their hardest thrown pitch, change ups and sliders will be 8-12 mph slower than the fastball, and a curveball will be 14-18 mph slower than the fastball. Each pitcher is unique, but this should be a good enough rule of thumb to help you identify them to begin with. If you don't have access to a radar gun, the best you can do is to watch the shape of the pitch from behind home plate - fastballs and change-ups will move 'arm side' (right to left for a righty), and sliders and curveballs will move glove side (left to right for a righty). Hope this helps!
Absolutely! The MVP machine is a fantastic read for anybody looking into the player development tactics used in today’s game. I did a video of my review of that book here if you’d like to check it out: th-cam.com/video/n-vK0fB5b6Q/w-d-xo.html Thanks for the comment!
With the right technology (video, rapsodo, etc.) you should be able to fine tune any pitches to the desired spin axis you’d like. It’s different for each guy, but some cues I’ve seen used successfully include “over exaggerating pronation” and “throwing the circle (👌🏻) towards the ground”. Good luck!
@@SimpleSabermetrics Good advice thanks. I've heard throw inside the ball but I don't know if that gives enough pronation to have the desired effect. A lot of it's trial and error like you said
Spin axis is different from spin direction and tilt. Direction and tilt don't take into account the inefficiency of the spin, axis is the combination of direction/tilt and gyro-degree/efficiency
Spin Axis is Trackman’s label for what spin direction/tilt are. The three names do mean separate things, but they’re measuring the same idea across several different platforms. Thanks for the comment!
Great question, Patrick - a pure backspin 4-seam is not thrown straight over the top very often. Most guys throw from a 3/4 slot, so a 4S with 100% spin efficiency would have closer to a 1:30 tilt. A cutter however is thrown with a lower spin efficiency and acts as a middle ground between a SL and FB - so it’s tilt is normally going to be closer to 12:00-11:30. That’s not to say their aren’t P’s with 12:00 tilt on their 4S - I’ve worked with plenty! But the average is closer to 1:30. Hopefully this answered your question, thanks for the comment!
Nice explanation of some of the pitches. But you only consider rotation as if it varied in one plane.....in other words, all of your axes of rotation are described as if the "clock" were facing the pitcher. This is not correct for all pitches. The classic Slider for example is NOT a "Frisbee" pitch, as you describe. It is more like a "football" pitch. The axis of rotation for the true slider is parallel to the direction of the pitch, as if the "clock" were rotated to face the dugout. The batter will see the classic "dot" on the baseball as it spins, coming towards the plate. This can't be described by the "clock" as you present it. It is more like a nice spiral as thrown by a Quarterback in football. And a "Cutter" going from 12 O'Clock???
Hey Fred! Thanks for the comment - This video was meant to only cover the topic of Spin Axis, so I purposefully left out some of the details surrounding that 3rd dimension of rotation you’re referring to. A few weeks after this video was released I did a video on Gyrospin, which describes exactly what you’ve mentioned here. Here’s the link: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SPIN EFFICIENCY - What is Gyrospin? th-cam.com/video/ju-_PqlpIU8/w-d-xo.html Hope you enjoy!
This is very good, but right at 3:00, instead of keeping the same arrow direction, indicating the direction the ball is spinning when the pitcher is looking at it, you flip all those arrows around to point at the numbers of the clock instead of point from the number. This is confusing to younger players who just got the idea that the arrow indicates the direction the seams are moving from their perspective.
Not sure specifically what you're noting here - but my best guess would be the fact that I didn't mention anything about Spin Efficiency or Gyro Degree here. Since this was a video on simply understanding Spin Axis, I decided to leave that aspect out until a future video (can be found here: th-cam.com/video/ju-_PqlpIU8/w-d-xo.html) If not, would love to hear what you think the Slider Spin should be! Thanks for the comment.
This comment board wont let me post a picture of the axis and spin direction of a slider. But the spin direction is nowhere near horizontal or (frisbee spin).
Agreed. A more accurate depiction of this pitch’s spin would be that of a bullet. The gyrodegree/spin efficiency of this pitch are going to be the key indicators of how successful it will grade out against hitters. As I mentioned, Spin Axis isn’t going to be the best way to measure a sliders effectiveness - I cover this more directly in the video linked above.
Finally somebody who can explain ball dynamics in a way that I can understand. Thank you.
Of course! Glad you stumbled upon my channel - thanks for the comment!
Just stumbled on your videos... channel is great... subscribed and learning!
Glad you did, Austin! Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment.
excellent video
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the video - please check out the rest of my content and let me know what you think! 👍🏻
Just coming across your videos. You're doing some great work. Thanks for doing these videos.
The cartoon style education content is nice but something that would your stuff really pop is showing live examples. More examples like that video from Driveline on your spin axis example. Being able to see these in action would make a big difference.
Watched the Rapsodo video too. Maybe it's their licensing rules or something but showing screen share of actual Rapsodo content would be awesome.
Hey Kyle! Thanks for the comment man, means a lot. I really appreciate the kind words on the channel.
The idea for the introductory videos has been to keep it as simple as possible for everybody to understand. In my opinion this style video is easier to interpret than looking at the actual screens for edgertronic or rapsodo.
There will be more in depth videos including more real world application in the future. Again, thanks for the comment. I always enjoy getting feedback to help out the community 👍🏻
Tever Bauer
You say this may be a complicated idea to grasp. IMO, it is not. But the explanation is confused, because it uses the terms spin axis and spin direction to mean the same thing. In you diagram at 2:00 the real "axis" is along the bolded line running from 9-3 o'clock. The "direction" is 12-6 o'clock.
That's how it works in geography class. The Earth's axis is north-south and the Earth's spin is east-west.
Anyway, loved the Tube.
TBH didn’t know that was the way those terms were classified in geography class! Guess it’s been a while…
Anyways, the reason a lot of people have issues with the distinction between the two is because Trackman and Rapsodo measure what you call the “Direction” (12-6 o’clock in our example) two different things. One calls it axis and the other direction.
Direction is definitely the more accurate term, but because Trackman uses axis it creates some confusion. Thanks for the comment!
Would you happen to know what would be good spin rate/efficiency numbers for youth pitchers for a 2-seam, 4-seam, change up and curveball?
Hi John - thanks for the comment! In my latest series on the channel I’m diving into each metric for both hitting and pitching. I’ll cover what they are, how you can use them and finish each with the ideal ranges for each age groups.
As for your question here, youth pitchers should be shooting for similar spin efficiency numbers as older athletes. And spin rate is something you don’t need to dive too deep into until they’re in high school. Using Bauer units can give you a good idea of where they sit for the time being.
Bauer Units: m.th-cam.com/video/j1YFGbaA0W8/w-d-xo.html
Playlist: m.th-cam.com/play/PLmtSuNbgQJKDh_N-vjSb2ldkRuEfzoxvI.html
Appreciate the comments!
Hello, how can I identify what type of pitch it is with the naked eye as a spectator if I’m behind the batter or batting box?
Good Question! Honestly, this simply takes practice. If you have a radar gun putting out speeds this helps make this process a little easier.
On average a player's fastball will be their hardest thrown pitch, change ups and sliders will be 8-12 mph slower than the fastball, and a curveball will be 14-18 mph slower than the fastball. Each pitcher is unique, but this should be a good enough rule of thumb to help you identify them to begin with.
If you don't have access to a radar gun, the best you can do is to watch the shape of the pitch from behind home plate - fastballs and change-ups will move 'arm side' (right to left for a righty), and sliders and curveballs will move glove side (left to right for a righty).
Hope this helps!
If anyone wants to get into the details of this, pick up The MVP Machine. This vid is like a brief overview of the book.
Absolutely! The MVP machine is a fantastic read for anybody looking into the player development tactics used in today’s game. I did a video of my review of that book here if you’d like to check it out:
th-cam.com/video/n-vK0fB5b6Q/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the comment!
@@SimpleSabermetrics NICE!
Something I wanna know is how to release each pitch particularly a changeup to get that spin axis
With the right technology (video, rapsodo, etc.) you should be able to fine tune any pitches to the desired spin axis you’d like. It’s different for each guy, but some cues I’ve seen used successfully include “over exaggerating pronation” and “throwing the circle (👌🏻) towards the ground”. Good luck!
@@SimpleSabermetrics Good advice thanks. I've heard throw inside the ball but I don't know if that gives enough pronation to have the desired effect. A lot of it's trial and error like you said
Spin axis is different from spin direction and tilt. Direction and tilt don't take into account the inefficiency of the spin, axis is the combination of direction/tilt and gyro-degree/efficiency
Spin Axis is Trackman’s label for what spin direction/tilt are. The three names do mean separate things, but they’re measuring the same idea across several different platforms. Thanks for the comment!
Why does a cutter have a spin axis closer to a 180/12 pure backspin than a four-seamer's.
Great question, Patrick - a pure backspin 4-seam is not thrown straight over the top very often. Most guys throw from a 3/4 slot, so a 4S with 100% spin efficiency would have closer to a 1:30 tilt.
A cutter however is thrown with a lower spin efficiency and acts as a middle ground between a SL and FB - so it’s tilt is normally going to be closer to 12:00-11:30.
That’s not to say their aren’t P’s with 12:00 tilt on their 4S - I’ve worked with plenty! But the average is closer to 1:30.
Hopefully this answered your question, thanks for the comment!
Nice explanation of some of the pitches. But you only consider rotation as if it varied in one plane.....in other words, all of your axes of rotation are described as if the "clock" were facing the pitcher. This is not correct for all pitches. The classic Slider for example is NOT a "Frisbee" pitch, as you describe. It is more like a "football" pitch. The axis of rotation for the true slider is parallel to the direction of the pitch, as if the "clock" were rotated to face the dugout. The batter will see the classic "dot" on the baseball as it spins, coming towards the plate. This can't be described by the "clock" as you present it. It is more like a nice spiral as thrown by a Quarterback in football. And a "Cutter" going from 12 O'Clock???
Hey Fred! Thanks for the comment - This video was meant to only cover the topic of Spin Axis, so I purposefully left out some of the details surrounding that 3rd dimension of rotation you’re referring to.
A few weeks after this video was released I did a video on Gyrospin, which describes exactly what you’ve mentioned here.
Here’s the link:
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SPIN EFFICIENCY - What is Gyrospin?
th-cam.com/video/ju-_PqlpIU8/w-d-xo.html
Hope you enjoy!
This is very good, but right at 3:00, instead of keeping the same arrow direction, indicating the direction the ball is spinning when the pitcher is looking at it, you flip all those arrows around to point at the numbers of the clock instead of point from the number. This is confusing to younger players who just got the idea that the arrow indicates the direction the seams are moving from their perspective.
Slider spin is incorrect
Not sure specifically what you're noting here - but my best guess would be the fact that I didn't mention anything about Spin Efficiency or Gyro Degree here. Since this was a video on simply understanding Spin Axis, I decided to leave that aspect out until a future video (can be found here: th-cam.com/video/ju-_PqlpIU8/w-d-xo.html)
If not, would love to hear what you think the Slider Spin should be! Thanks for the comment.
This comment board wont let me post a picture of the axis and spin direction of a slider. But the spin direction is nowhere near horizontal or (frisbee spin).
Agreed. A more accurate depiction of this pitch’s spin would be that of a bullet. The gyrodegree/spin efficiency of this pitch are going to be the key indicators of how successful it will grade out against hitters.
As I mentioned, Spin Axis isn’t going to be the best way to measure a sliders effectiveness - I cover this more directly in the video linked above.
I am likely misunderstanding your references to spin direction vs axis of motion. Not sure. Just clarifying, not challenging your video.
Sent you a direct message to your page or email
thought it was about spin in quantum mechanics :(