We Are Nowhere Close to the Limits of Athletic Performance
We seem to be at the limit of the fastest fastball. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.popularmechanics.com&#x2F;adventure&#x2F;sports&#x2F;a6063&#x2F;how-the-105-mph-fastball-tests-the-limits-of-the-human-body&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.popularmechanics.com&#x2F;adventure&#x2F;sports&#x2F;a6063&#x2F;how-t...</a><p>&quot;However, even if the radar gun used last Friday gave Chapman 5 mph, his pitch still flirted with the maximum speed a human can throw a baseball, which Fleisig says is about 100 mph. Fleisig has found that adjustments to a pitcher&#x27;s biomechanics, as well as better conditioning of the entire kinetic chain from the legs to the core to the arm, can improve a pitcher&#x27;s velocity on his fastball. But he&#x27;s discovered that as the pitcher approaches 100 mph, these tweaks and strengthening have diminishing returns.<p>&quot;Another cause of the 100-mph ceiling owes to this: the amount of torque needed to throw in excess of the century mark is greater than the amount of force the ulnar collateral ligament (the elbow ligament Strasburg tore) can withstand before giving out, according to tests Fleisig has done on cadavers.<p>An addition quote from <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;09&#x2F;17&#x2F;sports&#x2F;baseball&#x2F;harveys-injury-shows-pitchers-have-a-speed-limit.html?pagewanted=all" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;09&#x2F;17&#x2F;sports&#x2F;baseball&#x2F;harveys-in...</a> .<p>&quot;Fleisig, a biomedical engineer, knows what an arm can handle, and years of research give him the confidence to answer one of baseball’s more intriguing questions: Is there a limit to how fast a human being can throw?<p>&quot;His answer: Yes, there is.<p>&quot;And, he adds: That limit already has been reached.<p>&quot;“Oh, there may be an outlier, one exception here or there,” he said. “But for major league baseball pitchers as a group of elites, the top isn’t going to go up anymore. With better conditioning and nutrition and mechanics, more pitchers will be toward that top, throwing at 95 or 100. But the top has topped out.”&quot;