The game of baseball is changing rapidly in the modern era. What used to be a sport based on intuition has now become a game revolving around numbers. Professional teams spend time and money focusing on the analytics of the game to seek an edge against competition. Today, the pitcher’s motion, baseball speed, baseball rotation and pitch path are all measures tracked during games and practices. Our project involves changing a baseball to find another analytic that allows teams to base their game decisions on. 

When a pitcher throws a baseball, each fingertip generates different forces, including compressive and shear forces. The shear forces are what causes the balls spin. With an instrumented baseball, we created an accurate way of measuring these forces applied when throwing the ball. Specialized electrical parts placed within the ball carry out this procedure, allowing the user to obtain data right after performing their throw. 

Our design uses force sensors to determine a pitcher’s fingertip forces the instant the user throws the baseball. A custom 3D printed design holds the technology inside our baseball to avoid physical damage. This design can support difficulties with the baseball’s rotation, size and weight on release and makes sure our baseball is up to official standards. Data regarding a pitcher’s fingertip forces allows for player-specific performance to be collected and studied during practices. Knowing these forces could decrease the chance of injury and increase overall player performance. A phone or computer can be used to track these changes by means of a Bluetooth receiver inside the ball. This receiver will then connect to an application that shows the information gained from the sensors.