We challenged to unravel the secret of the “magic ball” thrown by Shohei Ohtani of the American Major League Angels. Professor Takayuki Aoki, Tokyo Institute of Technology: “If you look at the changes in the general slider, you can see that (Ohtani’s sweeper) is sliding sideways.” “Sweeper” is also called “magic ball” because it bends sideways for nearly 40 centimeters without falling. A research team led by Professor Takayuki Aoki of the Tokyo Institute of Technology used a supercomputer to analyze the “mechanism of turning right sideways”. Ohtani throws a sweeper with a higher number of rotations than other players, so it bends sideways. In addition, we found that the rotation axis of the ball was tilted from 50 degrees to 60 degrees toward the batter, and as a result, the rear air flow was directed diagonally downward, creating lift and making it difficult for the ball to fall. Professor Aoki says that he would like to investigate how other types of pitches change depending on the tilt of the ball.
[テレ朝ｎｅｗｓ] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp
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