A interesting question came up on an SEC Board

[CheyenneGunslinger]

concerning the transfer of a QB to Utah. Someone said the Utah stadium was at an elevation of approximately 4200 feet and was wondering what impact would that have on Jake Bentley throwing the football. Example, would it cause him to overshot receivers, etc.

And I said I will go ask some of my Wyoming Cowboy buddies this question. So what's your opinion? Jake, who played for South Carolina, had a tendency to over throw to his receivers as the game progressed. Will the difference in altitude make a huge difference or what.

 

[castlerocker]

Every thousand feet above sea level the ball, thrown at 40 mph, will rise
3.25 inches.

 

[laxwyo]

Every thousand feet above sea level the ball, thrown at 40 mph, will rise
3.25 inches.

Wut? I hope you’re trolling him

 

[CheyenneGunslinger]

Every thousand feet above sea level the ball, thrown at 40 mph, will rise
3.25 inches.

Is this a joke?

 

[Pokes fan 24-7]

Every thousand feet above sea level the ball, thrown at 40 mph, will rise
3.25 inches.

That’s what she said.

 

[WyoBrandX]

Every thousand feet above sea level the ball, thrown at 40 mph, will rise
3.25 inches.

Barometric pressure can be calculated into this as well, but it really doesn't matter much in outdoor environments. As the barometric pressure drops, the ball 'floats' a bit more. Its usually negated by the wind created by the drop though. This is why you rarely will see Wyoming practice in the IPF prior to home games (eg get the passing game adjusting for wind conditions). At least thats part of the philosophy on the subject.

Does anyone remember that Sports Illustrated article in the 60's about the Wyoming punter that had ridiculous hang time? The official and opposing teams kept thinking there was helium/hydrogen in the ball?

 

[Brown and Gold]

I don't think so. People practice day after day at this elevation and it will have little effect. Maybe on an away game. From an observation perspective, our quarterbacks try to throw too hard. This is probably due to having tight windows to throw into because of our vanilla scheme.

 

[J-Bone]

There is an effect with altitude.

I remember the Colorado Rockies franchise saying something along the lines of the ball traveling 9% further at Coors Field versus sea level.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

There is an effect with altitude.

I remember the Colorado Rockies franchise saying something along the lines of the ball traveling 9% further at Coors Field versus sea level.

9% seems really high. That would mean a 300ft fly ball at sea level is going to turn into a 318ft homerun at Coors? I dont know if I can wrap my head around it being that pronounced...

NOTE: These numbers were for simple math. I know Coors is further down the line than 300

 

[LanderPoke]

A ball flies further in humid air than in dry air, as it is less dense. The dryness of the air in say, Denver, negates a lot of the effect the altitude in terms of the distance a ball travels. Disclaimer: I don't know jack about science

 

[WestWYOPoke]

There is an effect with altitude.

I remember the Colorado Rockies franchise saying something along the lines of the ball traveling 9% further at Coors Field versus sea level.

9% seems really high. That would mean a 300ft fly ball at sea level is going to turn into a 318ft homerun at Coors? I dont know if I can wrap my head around it being that pronounced...

NOTE: These numbers were for simple math. I know Coors is further down the line than 300

In your example, 9% would be 327, not 318. And I agree, no way it's 9%, that's way too much. I thought I remember reading somewhere that a ball hit at sea level when enough force to travel 400 feet would translate to about 405 feet in Denver, so only like 1.3%.

 

[J-Bone]

Here’s the source on the Coors Field info I referenced:

http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/col/ballpark/history.jsp

From the site:
But the ball still travels 9 percent farther at 5,280 feet than at sea level. It is estimated that a home run hit 400 feet in sea-level Yankee Stadium would travel about 408 feet in Atlanta and as far as 440 feet in the Mile High City.

 

[Brown and Gold]

Our quarterbacks should be better at throwing on the road if all this has an impact. We have had quarterbacks over the years that had no issues. Our accuracy issues have nothing to do with altitude. It's skill. These guys throw every day for months in Laramie. They would naturally make adjustments to the conditions if it had any impact at all.

 

[laxwyo]

If you’re saying 40mph vs 40mph, the effects are almost nil. I looked at my ballistic calculator and a bullet traveling at the same speed has a point of impact that’s has about .2moa change at 500 yards with about 4000 ft elevation change. Now, perhaps a guy is throwing the ball faster in the dry air would account for changes but all speed being the same would result in very little change.

I guess you’d probably have to look at the release velocity and the speed 30 yards down the field and then do the calcs. That being said, if it has very little effect on a bullet at range, then I could assume the effects would would be very little on a football as well.

 

[ItSucksToBeACSURam]

There is an effect with altitude.

I remember the Colorado Rockies franchise saying something along the lines of the ball traveling 9% further at Coors Field versus sea level.

9% seems really high. That would mean a 300ft fly ball at sea level is going to turn into a 318ft homerun at Coors? I dont know if I can wrap my head around it being that pronounced...

NOTE: These numbers were for simple math. I know Coors is further down the line than 300

In your example, 9% would be 327, not 318. And I agree, no way it's 9%, that's way too much. I thought I remember reading somewhere that a ball hit at sea level when enough force to travel 400 feet would translate to about 405 feet in Denver, so only like 1.3%.

Thank you. I dont have that many toes so I got confused. Haha. 9% seems way too high.