“...a physics basis for why there is a speed/accuracy contrast,”
May 4, 2017 10:45 AM   Subscribe

You want to throw more accurately? Throw softer. [The New York Times] “That’s one of the takeaways from a new study by Yale and Harvard professors on the physics of throwing. The findings might interest quarterbacks, dunking booth participants and anyone throwing wadded-up paper into a wastebasket. If you’re missing a lot, try throwing a little slower. The paper, published last week in Royal Society Open Science [.pdf], is not likely to take the sports world by storm, with its talk of the “dynamics of the projectile” and “propagating distributions with non-infinitesimal variance.” But inside is quite a bit of solid advice for athletes who throw things. It is well known that there is a trade-off between throwing fast and throwing accurately. A reason for this, many people believed, was that throwing fast made it harder to release the object at just the right moment.”
posted by Fizz (17 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
🐌 ⚾️ 🐢
posted by leotrotsky at 10:52 AM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's not throwing, but a common mantra in military training for a while now has been "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast."
posted by Etrigan at 12:04 PM on May 4, 2017 [10 favorites]


Good God, they paid people to find this.
Talk about stating the obvious.
posted by Burn_IT at 12:11 PM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


The original meaning of random was "as much force as can be mustered, with no heed for the target."
posted by infinitewindow at 12:22 PM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Interestingly, this it true in auto racing, too: to go faster, you have to slow down a bit; you'll drive more smoothly, and the speed follows.
posted by davejay at 12:25 PM on May 4, 2017


Good God, they paid people to find this.
Talk about stating the obvious.


Three cheers for Science not just taking Common Sense's word for it.
posted by tclark at 12:39 PM on May 4, 2017 [33 favorites]


Related NYT: How to Throw a Baseball
posted by chavenet at 1:08 PM on May 4, 2017


This doesn't make much sense to me because it implies that the most accurate throw would be one where you used the least possible speed that would allow you to reach the target, and such a throw would require a trajectory with a 45º angle to the vertical at the release point.

Which might be OK for underhand throws, but would be awkward and difficult for overhand or sidearm.

Plus, a 45º trajectory would be much more difficult to see and adjust to improve the accuracy of the next throw.
posted by jamjam at 1:10 PM on May 4, 2017


jamjam: This doesn't make much sense to me because it implies that the most accurate throw would be one where you used the least possible speed that would allow you to reach the target.

No, it doesn't: there is a decrease in accuracy at higher speeds, but accuracy is not a strictly decreasing function of speed. The paper itself states: "The most accurate throw is typically slightly faster than that associated with the minimum speed needed to reach a given target".
posted by James Scott-Brown at 1:59 PM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


And if you really want to learn how to throw things smoothly and accurately, get a job as a bartender or barista.

*tosses empty milk carton back over their shoulder, sinking a no-look rimless three pointer in the trash can*

I got so good at this I used to use bounce things off my annoying coworker and using him as a moving backboard, mainly to train him to not move my frickin' trash cans.

*lobs a spoon into a milk pitcher, then flips them both three feet behind him into the sink with hardly a splash or rattle*

You also get really good at catching things in mid-air, like when that annoying coworker leaves glass syrup flavoring bottles all over your station in just the right place for you to knock it over with your elbow because it's not supposed to fucking be there, ok?

*grabs bottle a foot above the ground, right side up without spilling a drop and puts it away, scowling at annoying coworker*

But don't go on autopilot or you'll eventually do something like this...

*idly steams latte milk, grabs a coffee cup sleeve but no cup, pours steaming hot milk through coffee sleeve, dousing shoes and socks in scalding hot milk, yet absently continues emptying the pitcher completely, staring off into space.*
posted by loquacious at 1:59 PM on May 4, 2017 [19 favorites]


Um, sorry about your work situation, Loquatious.

But yeah I think we can safely file this under "No shit, Sherlock"
posted by raider at 3:50 PM on May 4, 2017


Come on, is nobody going to stand up for the importance of scientifically investigating things that "everyone knows"? There's a lot of so-called common knowledge out there that is simply false, and without actually examining things, those misconceptions will continue to propagate themselves. I for one am glad to hear about research into mundane common-sense things.
posted by NMcCoy at 4:15 PM on May 4, 2017 [12 favorites]


(On, uh, review, I see that tclark is with me here, so acknowledgment where it's due. I missed it amongst the other prevailing sentiment in the thread.)
posted by NMcCoy at 4:17 PM on May 4, 2017


Um, sorry about your work situation, Loquatious.

Don't be. There's nothing wrong with hard work or a skilled job. I quit a while ago and I work with a non-profit and on my photography at the moment.

It was actually a pretty fun job and I still pull shifts behind the counter at the non profit because it's fun. Also, hey, free coffee in quantities sufficient to make your teeth rattle.
posted by loquacious at 4:26 PM on May 4, 2017 [1 favorite]


Thats a good point about the merits of studying something that seems obvious. I saw this and all I could think was - uh duh. But studying something obvious will usually shed light on something not so obvious. Like - you know the best way to make a basket is to lob in the ball juuuuuat right - but is it equally as obvious that slow and steady is the best way to swat a fly?
posted by double bubble at 5:10 PM on May 4, 2017


The professors offer some unorthodox basketball advice: Consider throwing free throws underhanded.
This of course reminded me of Wilt Chamberlain. One of the commentators in that video suggested that Wilt was too strong to throw free throws the way other players did.
posted by MtDewd at 6:37 AM on May 5, 2017


And if you really want to learn how to throw things smoothly and accurately, get a job as a bartender or barista.

I learned how to accurately through objects of arbitrary weight and shape when I was loading trucks for UPS...
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:31 AM on May 5, 2017


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