The Throwing of Balls

This a bit off the subject, but as I teach maritime stuff, for the recreational boat licence students I like to show that an "average" male can throw a tennis ball about 30m. No hard science to this. One of the rules on the waterways, involves maximum speeds when your vessel is passing an object or another vessel, if less than 30m off. This makes it easy to estimate if you are too close.

btw...I was going to suggest that you ask your cricketers, but then again...

Depend if the distance is with or without bounce.

Some fielders (Cricket) can reach the pitch through the air from a short distance from the boundary (±45m - 55m ) or have the ball roll over the opposite boundary (>100m).

Fast bowlers can do speeds of 140 - 150 km /h. (no or minimum bending of elbow is allowed -only shoulder wrist and fingers). A baseball pitcher may even reach higher speeds.

I have seen baseball big league-ers throw from near the centerfield wall into the catchers glove at the plate--no bounce. But few, an fewer still in recent times, are able to do it. Or, due to the loft required, relaying might simply be more reliable.

Thank you for your response. Can you tell me roughly the distance from centerfield to the plate?

It varies from park to park depending on architecture. I would say, in general, between the mid to high 300's (lower in minors higher in majors usually) to the low 400s, 436 being the longest I think. I would take the lower of the range--perhaps even subtract a margin of movement between thrower and wall--as something approaching a throw capable of being achieved by an exceptional player...possibly 360 - 380 feet? There might be a record which you could find...? I'll see it I can find anthing.

Here's something....

Glen Gorbous (Canada) threw a baseball 445 ft. 10 inches on August 1, 1957. Longest Throw By A Woman. Mildred "Babe" Didrikson threw a baseball 296 ft. on ...

Ref:

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_guin.shtml

Remember also to figure into your calculations the altitude of the glove of any catcher, or catch-er. With adult team catchers, who are typically not tall, this could range from zero to about 9 or 10 feet. So the distance of any caught ball would be understated as it relates to its distance to the ground.

That is about 400 to oh, what 425 yards? I played ball in High School and I could do it back then. now I'm lucky if I can throw a beer from the frig, to the couch.. I need that machine we saw last week or so...

Yards? 1200 plus feet? George--said to have thrown rock across the Deleware River--would turn in his grave, I think.

Thanks for that Labyguy. I really like the prayer.

You have alluded to cricket and baseball players but there is room for misconception there. For example, while a pitcher might be a fast ball thrower, he is not usually also the best long ball thrower--the distance prize would usually go to outfielders, a position requiring long throw (as opposed to fast throw) ability.

Another factor is your statement...without artificial aids.... But you did not mention either wind up (of pitchers) or run/skip before throwing--both artificial aids intended to impart added velocity and/or increased distance. Contrary to this, a throw between ships (as mentioned on another post) would be a truer test solely of throw distance ability. So, you need to specify the motor dynamics which best fits the way your projectiles will be projected.

Thank you for your response. You make a very important point about wind-up; I hadn't thought of that but that would be allowed in my scheme. Any idea about how far an outfielder might throw. Distance and height are of interest to me but I guess fielders try to throw straight and level.

Surprisingly, the longest thrower (the strongest/hardest thrower) is usually positioned in right field, not center field: to stop advancing runners approaching third base. Centerfielder must also be strong...and he is usually the best and overall most gifted athlete in the outfield: strong arm and throwing ability to throw to anywhere on the field, agility to back up the infielders either side of second, strong legs to cover the largest open area of the outfield, including "gaps" between center and the lane fields. (Most often power hitters will also be outfielders.) I would surmise that whether a fielder throws low and level (i.e., to minimize arc and flight time) would depend on the fielding situation, and his instinctive reaction to it--in addition to his native abilities and propensities. The playmaking decision (and the anticipation thereof while crouching in wait) will often involve a trade-off depending not only on the runner or runners, but also on the position and known/accustomed capabilites of other defenders. It would not necessarily be so that a fielder tries (i.e., intends) to throw straight and level; that will follow of its own accord simply by throwing hard/fast with the intention of, say, (maximally) beating a runner to the base. In other situations the fielder might want simply to make sure the ball gets to the base (ahead of the runner by any margin) without any chance of miscalculation, such as what might happen when a ball is relayed, or skipped off the ground to the base or plate. (Sometimes he might even want to avoid striking a runner!) On the other hand, a good fielder is adept at throwing in such a manner and to such a point on the ground that the ball will arrive exactly (more or less) where it is needed to (hopefully) tag the runner; in these instances it could be said that the choice was made partially in the knowledge that throwing hard and level might compensate for time lost hitting the ground when compared to time lost throwing with higher loft directly to the plate. (This throwing with a ground skip is not as much a matter of chance or luck as it might seem watching a play from the stands or on teevee.) See post above for ideas about how far an outfielder "might" throw.

DUH! GOOGLE WORLD RECORDS BALL THROWING?

No relation to guest#3, et seq.

If I remember correctly, Dwight Evans, of the Boston Red Sox, used to throw a baseball, pretty much on a straight line, with a small arc, from right field to home plate, some 300 + feet. There are some strong arms in major league baseball!

You have stated that you "would like to know how far and how high the average adult person can throw a ball about the size and weight of a cricket or base ball without artificial aids such as a sling"

As noted there is a difference in the distances for gender of the "person". You wanted people to post "how far and how high but most importantly - which hand you used and are you a ball player"

As noted proffesionals can throw "long" distances with low height, example 400 feet. However they are trying to limit the time in the air of the ball, therefore a low height/trajectory.

I would have an educated guess that the "average adult" male (35 yr old? 6ft tall?) could throw approximately 300 ft with a 35 ft height on the arch, with some minimal coaching on technique (i.e. windup), sufficient preparation, and maximum effort.

For the "how high" question, wind up is limited, and the motion is even more anti biomechanics, so I would educated guess 125 ft high for the average adult male.

It is amazing the distance that can be acheived with a sling or hi-lo type aid with minimal effort.

I did play baseball, and would use my right arm. Throwing from center to home on a low arch was not difficult at approximately 380 ft. with windup/running start and multiple practice.

Have fun.

Thanks for that Zack. I will be responding to others but something you wrote caught me eye; - this editor is really frustrating. It doesn't let me paste your comment that interests me.

Any way here goes - "It is amazing the distance that can be achieved with a sling or hi-ho type aid.......". It sounds like you know something that I am also interested in but I don't know what a hi-ho is. Do you know something about how far a ball "thing" can be thrown with an aid?

Which hand was mainly just research based on the folk-law that left handers throw better.

I suppose I should pose this as a new question.

I will be completely open. I am researching "throwing" a video camera over a surveillance area and need to know how high and how far it might be possible to throw it.

There you go. I have probably ruined my chances of making a fortune by my invention but it might save lives.

Well, to answer your question I used a nickname (hi-lo) I have for Jai alai and it would not have helped you much, I apologize (the link is to wikipedia's description), note the hook type aid (xistera) and that it is supposed to be the fastest ball in sports at up to 302 km/h. To quantify amazing, think hitting a golf ball, but I have no distance references to offer for even anecdotal justification.

Also, another aid is the Chuckit! used to easily throw a tennis ball about 100 yards.

And the bad news, I worked on development of a Vision Ball for ST Kinetics through the company I work for, Lancer Systems LP, for primarily defense applications early last year.

I still wish you success in your development, I would prefer the individual prosper over the corporation, but if it pays my bills, I can't root against it.

It is a small world eh?

Good News.

My sources note that ATK is not pursuing this application at this time. It is rumored that it may or may not have been related to camera issues.

If you are able to establish your design and wish to find a production/design house to work with, look us up.

I wonder how you have progressed.

This is a comical video for the "chuck it" throwing aid mentioned before. Enjoy.