Overhand or underhand? Fast or slow? Study explores optimal throwing strategies

Whether you’re pitching in a major league baseball game or tossing crumpled paper into the trash, the act of throwing is incredibly complex and usually subject to a trade-off between speed and accuracy. A Yale researcher’s new study looks at why this is.

Throwing fast and accurately is a uniquely human ability (monkeys also throw things, but they’re really bad at it, say scientists). The study, published April 26 in Royal Society Open Science, focuses on the origins of the speed vs. accuracy trade-off with a series of calculations that look strictly at the physics of throwing. The researchers also explain why certain throwing strategies work best with certain tasks. Read the entire article in YaleNews.