Does The "Radar Pitch Baseball" Accurately Record Pitching Velocity?

How hard do you throw? Pretty common baseball pitching question, right?

Brookstone claims it’s “Radar Pitch Baseball” accurately measures the speed of your pitch. With a built-in radar system, the package says it can record your speed up to 120 miles per hour.

But does it work?

Allison Ash of CBS 47 in southern California put the radar pitch baseball to the test with local high school pitcher Jared Thompson. At first, Jared’s coach, Cliff Rold, thinks the Radar Pitch Baseball will be good to measure the discrepancy between a change-up, curveball and fastball. It takes a while to learn how to use the ball. A pitching distance must be set before the ball can accurately record a speed. After that is set-up we give the ball a try.

It takes a while to learn how to use the ball. A pitching distance must be set before the ball can accurately record a speed. After that is setup, we give the ball a try.

Jared gives it a few pitches and the sensor on the ball displays a speed of less than ten miles per hour. Jared, who normally can pitch speeds up to ninety miles per hour knows this is not true. On the third throw the ball records a speed of 74, which is more like it.

The highest speed the ball records is a measly 78 and Jared normally throws in the mid 80s. Jared says he likes to hold the ball loose when he pitches, but the radar pitch baseball makes you grip it tight, and that slows down the pitch. The Radar Pitch Baseball definitely didn’t score a home run, but Coach Rold had one positive thing to say about the ball. He said it’s a good tool to see if you’re improving your speed...just don’t count on its accuracy.

The Radar Pitch Baseball is available at Brookstone and costs about $25.

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