Tennis serve vs Baseball bat?

[Noveson]

One of my friends is a pretty good baseball player(oregon state champ team) and we have had a bet going for a while. The bet is, I hit 10 serves, they have to be in front of him in the box, and he has to hit one solid with a bat. All I have to do is serve it in front of him, not at him or behind him What do you guys think? I figure I serve faster than MLB pitchers pitch, but the ball also slows down a lot on impact. Who do you think will win?

I'll tell the results sometime tomorrow night.

The choices are public, so we will know who went against me when I win

 

[Andres]

So he has to calculate the bounce of the ball? Has he played tennis before?

No, if your serve is fast enough, or have enough spin, he won't be able to hit ONE of em

Can you hit kickers AT HIM?

 

[caesar66]

at first I thought you were doing some sort of duel or reauchambeau, like hitting one another, and I was going to say that I hope you won because if he hits a baseball at you and hits you you're down for the count. Then I figured out what you meant, thank God. You should be able to take him out with no trouble in this bet.

 

[tbini87]

as long as you don't leave a soft flat one in his zone you should be alright. he could get lucky on one, but that would be tough. use plenty of spin and make him move... because when playing baseball you keep your feet planted when you hit. making him move or putting a lot of spin will make it much more difficult on him! o, and kickers up around his neck should be fun too!

 

[Geezer Guy]

If you have a half-way decent serve, you should get 10 past him before he catches on. I think he WOULD catch on after awhile - but he'd have to see a lot of serves to get the timing and the bounce figured out.

 

[kevhen]

I think he will hit one solid if he is a good baseball hitter since your are serving 78 feet away and the ball slows to like 60mph by the time it gets to him and he is used to 90mph fastballs from 60 feet. Since you have to serve to his hitting side, he doesn't have to do much, just adjust to how much the ball bounces. I play both competitive tennis and was on a baseball team the last two years and saw 86mph fastballs. I think he will hit 2-3 solid over to your side and maybe even 1 or 2 over the fence.

 

[raiden031]

I'm betting if you have a decent serve (not good, just decent), there is no way he will be able to hit it without being lucky.

Tennis and baseball are so different, I can't even hit a baseball anymore with a slow pitch ever since i started playing tennis seriously.

 

[Moose Malloy]

all your friend has to do is make contact? He gets my vote. The hand-eye required for baseball far outweighs that for tennis. A tennis ball loses half its speed after the bounce, which would look incredibly slow to someone used to 90mph fastballs. Plus a tennis ball is larger, no?

Is he allowed to change his position? I'm sure he'll adjust after seeing a few. and is he allowed to bunt? that may make it easier.

 

[Noveson]

Okay sorry guys, I will explain this better. I have been clocked at a nike camp serving 103, but he is a very good baseball player. He will probably stand in the middle of the box and face to one side, I just have to hit it in front of him, and somewhere in his reach, and he has the option not to swing. He can't bunt, and he has to make solid contact, no foul tips or anything like that. I can hit kickers.

 

[Federer's pet goat Leanne]

try to hit some topspin slice serves near him and he'll probably swing at it and miss when it curves.

 

[richw76]

I think he will perform this task very easily. go to a batting cage. Even though I'm an ok tennis player I could only hit about 50% in the slow cage. My friend played varsity baseball in high school for an ok team in miami. He can still hit 100% in the fast 90-95 mph cage. They have great hand eye and incredible swing speed. I say you lose.

 

[kevhen]

To be a good hitter in baseball you have to hit the ball square on the bat, sweet spot being very small compared to tennis racquet. Pitchers can make balls curve so you have to adjust to that and the ball doesn't slow down much compared to tennis. I have returned 118 mph serves and hit 86 mph fast balls. Both are difficult but there is a reason you get 3 strikes in baseball because it is very hard to hit something moving that fast square on the center of the bat.

Not many people play both baseball and tennis. I find baseball players to be rather lazy compared to tennis players, but baseball is more relaxing and team building as you sit in the dugout and tell jokes. But tennis is more physically demanding and more serious, not much time to joke around except during changeovers. Tennis you get to hit a 1000 balls in one session but in baseball your only get 4-5 at bats so I prefer tennis!!!!

 

[drakulie]

If the serve goes into his strike zone, he is going to crank it.

If you serve 103, by the time it reaches him it will be traveling around 45 mph, which is slow compared to what these guys face. Like I said, if you place one in his strike zone, he is going to crank it. get ready to fetch.

 

[goober]

Is he hitting off the bounce? That may be tricky since he never has to do that in baseball. But since you can't hit one way wide or at him or behind him, his hitting zone is going to be very small compared to a regular serve. I say that he will connect on at least one given those conditions. If you have full command of twist, slice and topspin than you can probably mess him up for 10 serves.

 

[StealthGnome]

Oooo. 50/50 poll.

Goober has a good pt. YOU CAN DO IT!

 

[drakulie]

^^^ The problem is, if he is a good ball player, he is not going to swing at anything outside of his strike zone, so it doesn't really matter if Noveson has good command of his serves.

For example a good topspin serve is going to bounce too high, and therefore be out of his strike zone. Same thing goes for a kick serve. Additionally, the speed when it reaches him is not going to be a problem, as he is hitting against pitches going much faster.

 

[goober]

^^^ The problem is, if he is a good ball player, he is not going to swing at anything outside of his strike zone, so it doesn't really matter if Noveson has good command of his serves.

For example a good topspin serve is going to bounce too high, and therefore be out of his strike zone. Same thing goes for a kick serve. Additionally, the speed when it reaches him is not going to be a problem, as he is hitting against pitches going much faster.

Yah but his rules don't stipulate that it has to be in his strike zone to count- just in front of him. If you have good command of your serves put nothing in his strike zone and he won't hit it- slice out wide of of the reach of his bat, 6 foot kicker, ect.

 

[drakulie]

Yah but his rules don't stipulate that it has to be in his strike zone to count- just in front of him. If you have good command of your serves put nothing in his strike zone and he won't hit it- slice out wide of of the reach of his bat, 6 foot kicker, ect.

Noveson already stated the batter doesn't have to swing at the serve. I am going to assume, if he is a good ball player, he will only swing at the serves in his strike zone.

I just have to hit it in front of him, and somewhere in his reach, and he has the option not to swing.

 

[Koz]

I think he'll be able to get a piece of at least one. The spin is tougher, but the velocity is lower. Just go into it being humble...don't talk all kinds of crap about how hard it's going to be for him, he may show you a thing or two, and in the process, humble some tennis players out there.

 

[goober]

Noveson already stated the batter doesn't have to swing at the serve. I am going to assume, if he is a good ball player, he will only swing at the serves in his strike zone.

Sorry I don't read that second stipulation. Well in that case the odds are greatly in his favor. He can just sit back until he gets one he can hit. Heck just make the server hit 100 serves and when he gets tired and serves an easy one up the middle swing at it. How is he going to miss 10 times if he gets to pick which serves he is going to swing at? In fact I am sure I could do it even though I haven't played baseball since I was a kid given those conditions.

 

[Noveson]

Oooh it's 12 all. I want it to one side to pull ahead before I tell the results. We did it today after school. He has the option not to swing, but we were being reasonable, so if it was somewhere in range he swung at most of them, even if they were a little high or low. He just wanted to get a piece of one.

 

[ThePro101]

if he's standing in the service box, I think there's a great chance that you'll tag him - that should clear the benches.

(please have someone film this)

 

[Noveson]

if he's standing in the service box, I think there's a great chance that you'll tag him - that should clear the benches.

(please have someone film this)

Haha I'm sorry I didn't film. Yes I hit him a few times, he just shrugged it off, he's used to getting hit with baseballs after all.

 

[drakulie]

Sorry I don't read that second stipulation. Well in that case the odds are greatly in his favor. He can just sit back until he gets one he can hit. Heck just make the server hit 100 serves and when he gets tired and serves an easy one up the middle swing at it. How is he going to miss 10 times if he gets to pick which serves he is going to swing at? In fact I am sure I could do it even though I haven't played baseball since I was a kid given those conditions.

Exactly.

Hitting a serve that is traveling at 40+ mph by the time it reaches you is no big feat considering the pace of baseball pitches. Additionally, the distance is much greater from the baseline compared to a pitching mound, giving him so much time to decide if he wants to swing, it should be a cake walk.

The only thing I could see throwing the batter off, is timing the ball off the bounce.

 

[Noveson]

Exactly.

Hitting a serve that is traveling at 40+ mph by the time it reaches you is no big feat considering the pace of baseball pitches. Additionally, the distance is much greater from the service line, giving him so much time to decide if he wants to swing, it should be a cake walk.

The only thing I could see throwing the batter off, is timing the ball off the bounce.

How do you know it slows down that much? Not saying you are wrong, just wondering where you got this. It doesn't seem like it slows down that much to me.

Anyway, if a pitcher is throwing 90, wont it slow down considerably also?

 

[drakulie]

How do you know it slows down that much? Not saying you are wrong, just wondering where you got this. It doesn't seem like it slows down that much to me.

Anyway, if a pitcher is throwing 90, wont it slow down considerably also?

There are a bunch of analysis done on pro serves. A serve traveling 120 at contact, slows down to about 55+ mph by the time it reaches the baseline.

maverick1 and mike cottril from the boards also did a formula to calculate this. I once measured my serve speed with a radar gun as it crossed the service line, and it was about 45+ mph. The serves were measured at 108-111 when I hit them.

And yes, a pitched baseball will slow down too, however the distance from the pitcher to the cather is less than in a serve, and remember the ball doesn't hit the ground in a pitch.

 

[Noveson]

There are a bunch of analysis done on pro serves. A serve traveling 120 at contact, slows down to about 55+ mph by the time it reaches the baseline.

maverick1 and mike cottril from the boards also did a formula to calculate this. I once measured my serve speed with a radar gun as it crossed the service line, and it was about 45+ mph. The serves were measured at 108-111 when I hit them.

Okay, but does a pitcher's ball not slow down also? Or is it mostly the bounce that slows it down?

 

[Federer's pet goat Leanne]

the distance is shorter from the mound to the home base so it won't be as slow as a tennis ball that has to travel from baseline to baseline.

can you tell us the results? or did you not take the challenge yet?

 

[drakulie]

^^sorry, I edited my post to include this before you posted.

 

[Federer's pet goat Leanne]

it's okay, that's my price to pay with only 20 posts hehe

 

[Noveson]

Okay here's the results.......I ended up hitting mostly flat serves, just in the spirit of competition, we were trying to see if I could blow it by him. Well in the end he took 15 swings, and hit the 11th and 15th serves. We couldn't really decide who won the bet, he DID hit some of my serves, but also out of the 10 swings we decided on. The first one he hit was a flat serve that I hit in the upper hoop, and came in too slow. And the second one was a sitting kicker, it didn't get in on his hands enough. More than anything the bounce was giving him trouble, a few I blew by him, but pretty much everyone he was out in front because of the bounce, and it was hard to adjust.

 

[Federer's pet goat Leanne]

did he hit a homerun or just hit?

 

[drakulie]

Pretty cool Noveson. This was definitely different and an interesting "expirement".

 

[Noveson]

Pretty cool Noveson. This was definitely different and an interesting "expirement".

did he hit a homerun or just hit?

Definitely not a home run, probably a single Thanks Drak, yeah it was pretty interesting doing it.

 

[Midlife crisis]

Okay, but does a pitcher's ball not slow down also? Or is it mostly the bounce that slows it down?

A baseball is heavier so it slows down less. A new tennis ball slows down by 1 MPH every two to three feet, and about 30% when it bounces. A baseball slows down by 1 MPH every six to seven feet. A pitched ball leaving the pitcher's hand will lose about 8 MPH by the time it reaches the batter as it travels about 55 feet.

When I first saw this thread, I thought that it would be much easier for your friend to hit the tennis ball than for you to stand in against a pitcher who can throw 90 MPH. If your friend made contact, I'd guess that's probably true, because I don't believe a tennis player could hit against a college pitcher within the first 15 or so pitches.

 

[theace21]

If the serve goes into his strike zone, he is going to crank it.

If you serve 103, by the time it reaches him it will be traveling around 45 mph, which is slow compared to what these guys face. Like I said, if you place one in his strike zone, he is going to crank it. get ready to fetch.

I see it the same way. A good baseball player knows his strike zone, he will have enough bat speed to crank the ball. The real question is can you serve the ball over an 18", and have it bounce between his knees and the letters. That seems like a pretty small window to hit 10 times with good pace.