Transcript: The science of baseball

Now, I've played a few versions of this sport. There was T-Ball, but I always used to hit the T more than the ball. And even softball. But I've never tried baseball. But after watching this next story, huh! I am so keen, because it's packed full of science.

They say baseball's the 'sweet science'. It's such a technical sport and hard to master.

Hi, I'm Jon Deeble, coach of the Australian Baseball Olympic team.

So why is there so much science behind our sport? Let's have a look at the tools of the trade.

The most recognisable tool of our sport is the baseball bat. Batters know from experience that there's a 'sweet spot', right here in the middle of the bat. It's about 17 centimetres right from the end. This is the spot on the bat where the impact of the ball causes the smallest shock to your hands, or the Centre of Percussion, or COP for short. When you hit the sweet spot more energy goes into the ball, pushing it farther and faster, and has little impact on the hands.

Now, that's hitting the sweet spot. Now what about that ball?

A baseball is really hard. It's made on the inside from rubber and cork, with a wool binding. On the outside it's leather, and it's very bouncy and elastic. This means that when it hits the bat it bounces back, returning the kinetic energy of the impact into motion in the opposite direction.

It's about 25 centimetres in circumference, about the same size as a cricket ball, just perfect for a player's hand.

Curve balls, fast balls and sliders are all pitches a pitcher has at their disposal, as long as they can master the spin of the ball, or the Magnus effect.

A major league pitcher can throw up to 161 kilometres an hour. A fast ball is an over hand delivery with back spin. The ball rolls off the end of the fingers and tends to rise at the end.

Our fielders use the fast ball technique because the rising actions let them throw the ball much farther.

The curve ball is a deceptive pitch. The ball can curve 45 centimetres outside of a straight line, and most of this happens at the last quarter of the pitch. With a curve ball, the ball is wedged down between your thumb and forefinger. Thrown with a spin left to right, it will break out towards the right of home plate, or a right to left spin will head to the left of home plate. The faster the spin, the bigger the curve. The later the break, the bigger the surprise.

The slider is as the name suggests. It is held at a 90 degree angle, the ball is thrown on a downward plane, and at the last minute, depending on a left or a right hand hitter, the ball moves away from the batter. It's faster than a curve ball, but slower than a fast ball.

Let's not forget the changer. This pitch is thrown like a fast ball, spins like a fast ball, but is around 16 kilometres per hour slower. The batter usually swings earlier, missing or mis-hitting the pitch.

Okay, so you hit the cover off the ball. Which way will it go, and how far?

The distance a baseball travels depends on two major factors: the angle at which the ball leaves the bat, and how fast it is hit. A moving ball that connects with a moving bat will gain most of the speed from both the pitch and the swing. Combined with about a 45 degree horizontal angle, you'll be hitting them out of the park.

It's all about reaction time. It takes a lot of practice to learn this eye-brain-body coordination skill. When you see the pitcher release the ball, your eye sends a signal to your brain. Your brain then sends a signal to your muscles, and you swing.

There's science in the bat, the ball, the pitch and the swing. That's why baseball is known as the sweet science.