彭蒙惠英语：The Ultimate Pitching Machine

The Ultimate Pitching Machine

 

By Tom McNichol /

Originally published in WIRED

 

Hardware and hard science are turning big-league ballplayers into precision-guided flamethrowers

1

It’s the fastest human movement ever measured in a laboratory: the violent forward rotation¹ of a baseball pitcher²’s shoulder as he whips the ball toward home plate. To the batter³, or anyone watching on TV, the motion is merely a blur⁴. But not to biomechanical engineer Glenn Fleisig. He notes that the arm flips⁵ forward at the shoulder joint⁶ with such high-speed velocity⁷ that if a pitcher’s arm kept it up for a full second, it would make 20 full revolutions.

 

Fleisig is the research director at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in Birmingham, Alabama, a non-profit organization dedicated⁸ to improving athletic⁹ performance and preventing sports-related injuries. Every winter, major-league pitchers¹⁰ head to ASMI in droves to be picked apart by the unblinking eyes of the lab’s high-speed cameras and infrared¹¹, 3-D, optical motioncapture system. It’s all about finding that little something extra that could mean the difference between playing in the next World Series and watching it on TV.

 

Developing sound mechanics

 

Pitching, it’s often said, is 90 percent of the game. By identifying a mechanically unsound motion in his delivery, a pitcher can add several miles an hour to his fastball or put more snap on his slider—and increase his team’s chances of winning more games.

 

The Institute also helps keep pitchers healthy. Pitching injuries cost major-league teams $148 million a year. Many of those injuries aren’t caused by a single trauma¹², as in other sports, but by the slow wear and tear of repeating a slightly inefficient¹³ motion. By helping¹⁴ pitchers maximize efficiency, ASMI has emerged at the vanguard of a new wave of sports medicine. Rather than rehabilitating¹⁵ after an injury, a pitcher can prevent that injury with sound mechanics.

 

Vocabulary Focus

pick apart (idiom) to separate various factors and analyze¹⁶ them

sound (adj) [saund] free from flaws; healthy; in good condition

wear and tear (n phr) the damage that happens to an object in ordinary use over a period of time

vanguard (n) [5vAn^B:d] a leading position in the development of something

 

Specialized¹⁷ Terms

flamethrower (n) 球速又快又强的投手 a pitcher who throws very hard and fast

biomechanical engineer (n phr) 生物力学工程师 a person who studies body movements, especially the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure, and analyzes¹⁸ objects or machines that can enhance body movements

velocity (n) 速度 the speed at which an object is traveling

revolution (n) 旋转 one complete circular movement around a fixed¹⁹ point or line

infrared (adj) 红外线的 a type of light that feels warm but cannot be seen

mechanics (n pl) 运作方式 the way something works or happens

slider (n) 滑行曲线球 a fast pitch in baseball that curves slightly away from the side from which it was thrown

 

终极投球手

陈小欣  译

1

在实验室的测试中，人类最快速的动作，就是棒球投球手将球丢向本垒时，肩膀猛烈的向前转动。对打击手或任何看电视的观众而言，那样的动作可能完全模糊，但对生物力学工程师格丰·菲席格可不是这么回事。他发现手臂从肩关节处向前转动的速度既能如此快，投球手的臂膀如果能持续同一动作整整1秒钟，就可以足足回转20圈。

菲席格是美国运动医学协会的研究主任，这个非营利机构位于阿拉巴马州的伯明翰市，致力于完善运动表现和预防运动相关伤害。每年冬天，美国职棒大联盟的投手们会成群结队前往美国运动医学协会，让实验室中那绝不眨眼的高速摄影机和红外线 3-D 视觉动作追踪系统做分析比较，目的就是找出他们之间最细微的差距，决定谁会在下届的世界杯中参赛，谁会留在家里看电视转播。

 

发展完美无缺的技巧

常有人说投球是球赛中90%的重头戏。若能找出投球技巧上的瑕疵，就能使投球手的快速球时速增加好几英里或滑行曲线球更快速有力，同时也增加了球队赢球的机会。

协会同时也帮助投手们保持健康。因投球而受伤，使大联盟球队每年花费1.48忆美元。这类的伤害多数不像其它的运动由一次受伤造成，而是因为重复一个不太正确的动作，导致缓慢的磨损所引起。因为帮助投手们投出最有效的球，美国运动医学协会已成为运动医学这股新潮流的先驱。投球手与其在受伤之后复原，不如以正确的技巧来避免伤害。

 

1 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

2 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

3 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

4 blur   

n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚

参考例句：

• The houses appeared as a blur in the mist.房子在薄雾中隐隐约约看不清。
• If you move your eyes and your head,the picture will blur.如果你的眼睛或头动了，图像就会变得模糊不清。

5 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 velocity   

n.速度，速率

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
• The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。

8 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

9 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

10 pitchers   

大水罐( pitcher的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Over the next five years, he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. 在接下来的5年时间里，他成为了最了不起的棒球投手之一。
• Why he probably won't: Pitchers on also-rans can win the award. 为什麽不是他得奖：投手在失败的球队可以赢得赛扬奖。

11 infrared   

adj./n.红外线(的)

参考例句：

• Infrared is widely used in industry and medical science.红外线广泛应用于工业和医学科学。
• Infrared radiation has wavelengths longer than those of visible light.红外辐射的波长比可见光的波长长。

12 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

13 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。

16 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

17 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

18 analyzes   

v.分析( analyze的第三人称单数 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• This approach analyzes management by studying experience usually through cases. 这个学派通常从实例获得经验，用以分析管理。 来自辞典例句
• The econometrician analyzes statistical data. 经济计量学者要分析统计材料。 来自辞典例句

19 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。