Question

The pitcher on a softball team starts a windup to throw a pitch, as shown.
Note: In softball, the ball is pitched underhand in a circular motion in the direction of the arrow.

An illustration of a baseball pitcher in the center of a dotted circle with four labeled points on the circle. The dot above is Y, the dot behind is Z, the dot at the bottom of the circle is W and the dot in front of the pitcher is X. The is a circular shaped vector showing counterclockwise around the circle.
He wants to throw the pitch level with the ground and in the direction he is facing. At which point should he release the pitch?

W
X
Y
Z

Answer 1

W

Reason: the ball's instantaneous velocity is tangent to the circular path. For counterclockwise motion the tangent at the bottom point (W) points horizontally forward (the direction he's facing).