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How does an outfielder know where to run for a fly ball?
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology ^ | 21-Jan-2010 | Jessie Williams

Posted on 01/22/2010 3:20:48 AM PST by Pharmboy

click here to read article


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To: RightOnline

Whenever the bat hits the ball you react with some motion NO MATTER where it is going. Takes a split second to put things together and react to the actual trajectory.


21 posted on 01/22/2010 4:31:54 AM PST by Renegade (You go tell my buddies)
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To: Pharmboy

Strangely enough, it’s important to me to know whether a fielder predicts the final point based on a tracjectory predicted from early clues (as several players believe), or predicts moment-to-moment during the flight.

My next question is how long (or short) are the “moments.”


22 posted on 01/22/2010 4:33:44 AM PST by Marylander
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To: Pharmboy

This is interesting. Thanks.


23 posted on 01/22/2010 4:35:55 AM PST by kinsman redeemer (The real enemy seeks to devour what is good.)
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To: Renegade

Since some of us see age 50 way back in the rear view mirror...it just now takes a bit bigger “split” in the “second” to respond. :)


24 posted on 01/22/2010 4:37:12 AM PST by RightOnline
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To: kinsman redeemer

You are most welcome. An interesting question in physics and human visuo-spatial physiology.


25 posted on 01/22/2010 4:55:11 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: onedoug

ping


26 posted on 01/22/2010 4:56:22 AM PST by stylecouncilor (What Would Jim Thompson Do?)
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To: Pharmboy

This is basically what one has to do when playing tennis. You have to be able to calculate in your head where the ball is going to land in your court and then to be there when it does, and many factors go into the calculation ... where your opponent is standing, how hard he hit the ball, the angle of his racquet when he hit, and more. A “lob” is especially like a fly ball.


27 posted on 01/22/2010 4:59:09 AM PST by Apple Pan Dowdy (... as American as Apple Pie mmm mmm mmm)
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To: Woebama

I believe Mays was about 430 feet from home plate when he made that catch. Parts of the Polo Grounds were around 460 feet from home plate. A truly massive outfield.

Today “The Catch” would have been a tremendous home run.


28 posted on 01/22/2010 5:11:39 AM PST by Columbia (The Gem of the Ocean)
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To: Woebama

Dimensions of the Polo Grounds.

Left Field - 279 ft (85 m)
Left-Center - 450 ft (137 m)
Center Field - 483 ft (147 m)
Right-Center - 449 ft (136 m)
Right Field - 258 ft (78 m)


29 posted on 01/22/2010 5:11:41 AM PST by Columbia (The Gem of the Ocean)
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To: Pharmboy
Maybe when they figure out how fielders catch fly balls they can let the Mets in on the big secret.

Specifically, Castillo and Murphy.

30 posted on 01/22/2010 5:16:33 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: Edgar3

There’s a former Marine fighter pilot (Korea)/Pistol Team member who stops by the watering hole now and then. He say’s he can’t explain his vision, either—just that “the damn ten-ring looks like a dinnerplate to me at 50 yards.”


31 posted on 01/22/2010 5:17:58 AM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: Libertarian4Bush

Oh no..I was had...hahaha...

Still...its neat and she’s cute.


32 posted on 01/22/2010 5:26:49 AM PST by Brugmansian
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To: stylecouncilor

Our taxes at work.

Understanding the gravitational...uh, baseball field.


33 posted on 01/22/2010 5:27:59 AM PST by onedoug
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To: Pharmboy
Thousands of fans (and hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers) saw Mays turn his back on a fly ball, race to the center field fence and catch the ball over his shoulder

I was there!

(And it's lots more than "hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers" who have seen this. It is simply the most often replayed video moment in sports history.)

ML/NJ

34 posted on 01/22/2010 5:32:04 AM PST by ml/nj
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To: Pharmboy

This is not nearly as puzzling as how a person can take a round bat and hit a round ball...squarely.


35 posted on 01/22/2010 5:34:07 AM PST by N. Theknow (Kennedys: Can't fly, can't ski, can't drive, can't skipper a boat, but they know what's best.)
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To: RightOnline
..I’ve always just run to where I think the ball is headed is all. Usually can catch it, too. :) No rocket science.

Sure ... it's not hard to do ...

But how do you do it? How does your brain process the visual data so you can think the ball is headed some particular place?

It's quite clear that you haven't a clue ... neither do I.

It is, in fact, a very difficult problem. "Artificial Intelligence" and robotics are, in some ways, more difficult disciplines than mere rocket science.

36 posted on 01/22/2010 5:35:55 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Pharmboy
"How does an outfielder get to the right place at the right time to catch a fly ball?"

Calculus.

37 posted on 01/22/2010 5:37:29 AM PST by meyer (Government health care = national strike.)
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To: Columbia

Yowza...I never realized the Polo Grounds’ outfield was that huge. As a kid I was at Ebbets Field (Brooklyn) often, but never went to the Polo Grounds (Manhattan/NYC).


38 posted on 01/22/2010 5:53:12 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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To: 1rudeboy
There’s a former Marine fighter pilot (Korea)/Pistol Team member who stops by the watering hole now and then. He say’s he can’t explain his vision, either—just that “the damn ten-ring looks like a dinnerplate to me at 50 yards.”

That's a GOOD thing!
39 posted on 01/22/2010 5:56:31 AM PST by Edgar3 (America is suffering from "Sorosis" of the Presidency)
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To: ml/nj

Wow!! You were there...most excellent. I was watching it on TV (the old black and white Dumont!).


40 posted on 01/22/2010 5:57:39 AM PST by Pharmboy (The Stone Age did not end because they ran out of stones...)
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