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How to Calculate the Velocity of a Pitching Machine

Pitching machines act as a mechanic replacement pitcher. The speed and angle can be set so that some regulated hitting practice can take place. Though there are sensors and machine settings that will tell you the speed of the ball coming at you, it is possible to determine the speed with a simple calculation. The process is the same as calculating the velocity of a pitch made by a person.

Things You'll Need

Tape measure
Stopwatch
Calculator

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the distance between the batter and the machine with a tape measure.
- 2
  Turn on the pitching machine.
- 3
  Have one person feed a ball into the machine while another person uses a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for the ball to travel from the machine to the batter.
- 4
  Divide the distance traveled by the time it took to travel that distance. This will give you a measurement in feet per second. For example, if the ball traveled 90 feet in 2 seconds, your measurement would be 45 feet per second.
- 5
  Convert feet per second into miles per hour. There are 5,280 feet in one mile. Divide the result from the calculation by 1.467. This will give you the velocity, or speed, of the pitch in mph.

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