Sports

Batting Practice + Trampolines = Video Magic (But Is It Real?)

Can you hit a baseball off a series of  four, strategically-placed trampolines and have it come right back to you… and hit it again… and again… and again? Is this video clip real? It may be a bit of video magic, or it just may be one of the coolest clips you have seen — ever.

Pay attention at the :25 mark as a second baseball is added to the mix:

H/T – Total Pro Sports

Take the poll!

Comments (167)

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  • spysher
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:08am

    Notice the very first ball hit. It doesn’t even hit the first net. In fact, you don’t see it untill it comes offt the last net. Every other ball you can see hit the first net. SO FAKE!

    Report Post »  
    • Attention2Detail
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:18am

      It does hit the first net, look just beside his hands. The fact that it doesn’t repeat exactly from time to time actually support the realism of the video

      Report Post » Attention2Detail  
    • thinkinghuman
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 11:51am

      Downloaded and looked at in SLO MO frame by frame, and fake as suspected. Animation on the ball. Notice the ball has a shadow and dark side when the guy throws it, but then it turns all white like a DOT. Also, there is typical cartoon animation where the ball stretches in the direction it is going before it is actually hit to give the impression on the direction it is going.

      Giveaway for me is on second hit after the net rebound is he hits the ball with a full swing nearly on his HANDS, and that’s just the imperfection of this guy taking 10 swings and trying to make them all look identical. Still give this a 10 on great animation, but no, not even the PRO leaguers are 1/10 that good, else they’d get homers on every at bat.

      Report Post » thinkinghuman  
    • thinkinghuman
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 11:52am

      ALSO, bad acting. Such fake praise is a true giveaway anyday.

      Report Post » thinkinghuman  
    • Bullcop34
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:01pm

      wATCH AT THE 35 SECOND MARK…THE BALL THAT HITS THE NET LEAVES A WHITE MARK ON THE NET WHEN IT HITS IT, THEN THE NEXT BALL DOES THE SAME THING. Sorry for the caps, wasn’t paying attention. Cool concept and good editing but not real.

      Report Post » Bullcop34  
    • tketterer
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:06pm

      I just watched his shadow the whole time. Seems real

      Report Post »  
    • Enuff Zenuff
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:23pm

      .
      This is every bit as real as Progressives’ tears for the poor

      Report Post » Enuff Zenuff  
    • Progressives_are_useful_idiots
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:27pm

      Listen people. It is FAKE. The ball hits the first net in the exact same spot every single time. Bottom right corner. Impossible for even the most talented hitter in Major leagues. I played ball my whole life and at a fairly high level. This cannot happen.

      Report Post » Progressives_are_useful_idiots  
    • DogTags
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:47pm

      I’m ashamed of you who did not vote that this is a hoax. Did you also vote for Obama too? Did “Hope and Change” fool you too? Having played baseball and used a “pitch-back” many times, I can tell you, no ball player can hit a baseball in the same place two times in a row, let alone twenty. Without getting into the physics that are off or the lack of conviction in the voices of his audience, the feat is impossible. Too many variations in bat speed, wind, ball position in the strike zone. I did not have one bit of confidence that this video is real. It is not even a clever hoax.

      Report Post »  
    • banjarmon
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 1:21pm

      Watch the nets as the ball hit it…well played and real!

      Report Post » banjarmon  
    • Cause4Liberty
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 1:47pm

      as a former baseball player of 15 years, i say that is totally possible. That dude has amazing hand-eye coordination as well as locations of hitting placement. Awesome!

      Report Post » Cause4Liberty  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 2:22pm

      The ball dosn’t hit the first spot or any of them the same every time. Also each of the nets bounce when the ball hits, as well as a ripple in the netting. Shaddows are present on the ground, the hitter is in a different spot each time he swings, as well as the batter’s shadow never repeats.

      All of this could be faked, as they can make giant robots chagne into cars look real, but it would take a lot of time and money to do. I say possibly faked, but more than likely it’s real, just took a lot of practice and tries to get it right.

      Report Post » eagle2715  
    • djhrr
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 2:45pm

      FAKE… One thing they forgot was to continue the ball to landing on the last two hits. Home Run balls come down sometime and these just disappear. Very inventive but very Fake. Sorry to burst your bubble people.

      Report Post »  
    • JFC3
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 2:55pm

      It is plausible (albeit unlikely) that the balls would hit similar locations each time, but watch the video only focusing on the batter. When one ball is in play the camera man sways slightly from side to side, when two balls are in play this swaying is accelerated. This leads me to believe that this video has been looped/spliced.

      Report Post » JFC3  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 3:07pm

      DJHRR

      Gota look closely, the first ball hit out you can’t see were it lands, but you can see the second one bounce around on the sidewalk a few seconds before the tape ends.

      Instead of trying to find just one thing that you can’t explain, try explaining all the other small details. There are way way way too many effects in this to be a ‘good’ edit job. It would take professionals with high end equipment and a lot of time to fake each of these these individual effects.

      Report Post » eagle2715  
    • jjufon
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 3:19pm

      there is a pitching machine in the background that is “pitching” each ball.

      he is only hitting the last two.

      Report Post »  
    • djhrr
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 3:32pm

      EAGLE2715

      On the 45th look, you may be right, on the ball hitting the sidewalk. I still call fake, the other ball still doesn’t land, and there is just too many other Oddities… But I’m open to it being possible. Let’s bring him on GBTV and show us live!

      Report Post »  
    • Marci
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 4:08pm

      I saw baseballs coming from the net on the right from “nowhere”. Cool video—but not real.

      Report Post » Marci  
    • VegasLibertarian
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 4:20pm

      This is absolutely not real. Fact 1- to get the ball to travel that path around the nets, one would have to hit the same place on the first net within a tiny space. otherwise trajectory would be off. Fact 2- one would also hit the ball at the exact same force on every hit so that the ball would travel effectively around the nets without traveling too high or low. Fact 3- The batter would have to hit the ball in his swing path with unbelievable matched timing. Fact 4- At the point when the batter putts an additional ball in the mix, the extreme difficulty of this stunt goes up exponentially. BIGGEST FACT: Anyone who could hit like that would not be wasting his time screwing around with other jack-asses. He would have a big league contract.

      Report Post » VegasLibertarian  
    • SmoothCrimiNole
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 4:33pm

      it’s fake, look at the shadows of the nets, and then the shadow of the guys, the nets have virtually no shadow, they are added in after the fact along with the balls and that bat “sound” it is the same every time.

      Report Post »  
    • kritacul
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 5:03pm

      It hits the first net, you can see the shadow from the ball and even hear the hit from the bat.
      This looks damn real to me…

      Report Post »  
    • netman349
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 7:18pm

      Just like the miraculous one-handed catch to save the girl last year. You can tell by the “comet trail” of the ball. It is created by slowing the shutter speed of the camera but the rest of the subjects are at normal speed. It was obviously added with good acting.

      Report Post »  
    • clraabe
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:26pm

      Not even the slightest chance of reality. That kind of accurate hitting would lead to a professional contract over $10 million whether he had any power or not, anything in the strike zone would be a guaranteed base hit. I reached some what of high level in my amatuer career and had the oppurtunity to take fielding practice from professional players and coaches (former players). Even when trying to hit the ball directly at us, each time was at least a foot to the left or right. Remember he is hitting a round object with another round object, 100% control is not possible for even the most talented person.

      Report Post »  
    • Rational Man
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:39pm

      I just watched it full screen very closely. The balls do not hit the ‘pitchback’ in the same place every time. Shadows look correct. The second to last ball hit went out of camera frame, left. The last one went FAR outfield, and landed a little left of center frame as the batter walked off. Batter made adjustments in stance and position for incoming balls. Pitchbacks move a little when ball hits it, and so do the shadows of them.
      I think it’s real!……And pretty darn cool!!!

      Report Post » Rational Man  
    • Uranium Wedge
      Posted on August 10, 2011 at 1:29am

      When he hits the balls out in the field, they disappear. FAIL

      Report Post » Uranium Wedge  
    • Beckon
      Posted on August 10, 2011 at 11:06am

      Sorry, it does hit. Blowing up the video and taking it frame-by-frame proves that it does. However, it is too good and beats the odds. Today’s digital manipulation is alarmingly too good as well. We can no longer believe our own eyes. If this guy is that good, he should be sitting on multi-million dollar contract. Let’s see him do it again in front of live unbiased audience.

      Report Post » Beckon  
    • Jlafuentes
      Posted on August 10, 2011 at 11:30pm

      Actually you can completely see the first ball hit
      it’s under his left arm
      watch the shadow

      Report Post »  
  • shane2813
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:57am

    Fake fake fake!

    Report Post »  
    • Attention2Detail
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:25am

      You can’t do it so it must be fake, right?

      Report Post » Attention2Detail  
    • chips1
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 11:56am

      It ranks right up there with BO’s Birth Certificate.

      Report Post »  
    • B_rad
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 4:00pm

      I was fooled at first, but when you watch it back the “ball” follows the same EXACT path every single time. NO CHANCE. And anyone who doubts Obama’s BC is breathing too many paint fumes.

      Report Post » B_rad  
  • FRONTIERSMAN
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:44am

    The guys was way too consistent…..every hit in the same place, doesn;t happen in real life. Sound and bouncing nets are all very good effects.

    Report Post »  
    • Lucas_Ecclesiastes
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:07am

      Every hit wasn’t in the same place, they were close but not the same.

      Report Post »  
    • affinnity
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:10am

      So what do you think – is he looping the image?

      Report Post » affinnity  
    • Attention2Detail
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:19am

      The image isn’t looped, you can see that the batter is in a slightly different position on each hit.

      Report Post » Attention2Detail  
  • Beansrock
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:31am

    Did you notice that when he was ready to stop the batting, all the balls magically disappeared? Realistically, one of them should have come back and hit him in the head. Nonetheless, it was a fun video clip.

    Report Post »  
    • MarkBL
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:55am

      If you’ll notice at the very end, he does intentionally hit high fly balls to get rid of them, so that part looks real. The rest is way too consistent for reality.

      Report Post »  
    • Stevsea
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:55am

      Watch it again. The balls didn’t disappear. He hit them in the outfield.

      Report Post » Stevsea  
  • Cat
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:31am

    Physics is as accurate as the calculation proving it.
    There are too many things inconsistent requiring consistency.
    Speed of the bat, angle of the bat, stability and angle of the trampolines, air temperature, speed and direction of the air, eye focal point fluctuation, muscle fatigue, too many beers, mommy calling, gosh, any of these could mess this up. However, fine editing can make it all appear physically possible.

    Report Post » Cat  
    • Attention2Detail
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:24am

      Either you’ve never studied physics or never played baseball. It is entirely possible to do all these things consistently enough for this to work. This is not a moon shot, we are looking at some relatively short distances. A good batter has a very consistent swing and can place the ball this accurately (at least when the ball is traveling at that speed). This may be a fake, but if it is the guy should be working for Stephen Spielburg.

      Report Post » Attention2Detail  
    • DogTags
      Posted on August 10, 2011 at 5:05pm

      Attention2detail must be a misnomer. I don‘t believe you’ve ever played baseball. Just because you rolled five 66s in a row on APBA‘s baseball board game doesn’t make you a baseball player or a credible observer of the real physics of baseball.

      Report Post »  
  • Mike Benton
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:30am

    Watch it again and look for the shadow of thew ball…in the first hit or two you can see a distinct shadow…then later no shadows. ? !

    Report Post » Mike Benton  
  • voicecheck1
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:27am

    Seems the other guy has no fear of getting whacked in his helmutless head guess he trusts this guy’s bat and balls, would you stand there ?^

    Report Post »  
  • Eddie Buck
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:25am

    Just as real as Obama’s Birth Certificate

    Report Post »  
  • Thinking Man
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:19am

    I would be surprised if the backstops returned enough energy to the ball to allow it to travel that far.

    Report Post »  
  • ENTITLEMENTSBLOW
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:16am

    Impossible to hit the very same spot over and over, its fake.

    Report Post » ENTITLEMENTSBLOW  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:12am

    Clearly fake.

    Report Post » N37BU6  
  • BritExPat
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:00am

    If you believe this is real, you will most probably vote for Obama in 2012! Still a pretty cool idea though!

    Report Post »  
  • Sadliers
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:52am

    It’s not real. If the angle of the first tramp was such as to reflect the ball to the second tramp then when the ball returned from the second tramp to the first tramp it would reflect back to the batter.

    Report Post »  
    • BenInNY
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:00am

      Yep. Went full screen and noticed that once the 2nd ball was added that they cross at exactly the same point and distance from each other each time. Excellent editing job though.

      Report Post » BenInNY  
    • Lucas_Ecclesiastes
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:06am

      Well isn’t that obvious that if you put it in reverse and the ball goes back from second tramp to first then it would logically return to where it was hit from? But the ball doesn’t go from second tramp back to first it goes to a third tramp, and then a fourth, then back to batter to repeat cycle, and if you watch where the ball lands on the first tramp you will see that it lands in a different place each time, although close to each other, if you watch closely you can clearly tell that the ball is hitting in different places.

      Report Post »  
    • eagle2715
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 3:09pm

      These nets are designed to throw the ball back strait off of them every time regardless of the imput angle, as long as it’s not too extreme. They are a pitching aid so you can practice by yourself. The ball can hit in defferent spots at different angles and will still be thrown out at the same direction.

      Report Post » eagle2715  
  • KyLafoon
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:47am

    I say real because you can see the shadows of the incoming balls.
    That kind of videography capability exists in only a handful of CGI
    firms in the world… ILM, Pixar, etc.

    Great athleticism!

    Report Post » KyLafoon  
    • westerman
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 10:36am

      Baloney! That kind of capability is in the hands of anyone with a computer and After Effects software.

      Report Post »  
    • RRFlyer
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 11:40am

      True Westerman.
      And how many times have I seen something on TV that “Experts” said was way to expensive or complicated to be faked, only to have some kid do it better on his laptop.

      Report Post »  
    • CanteenBoy
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:58pm

      Fake; and “athleticism” is not a word.

      Report Post » CanteenBoy  
  • RABinMD
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:46am

    The Physics involved to hit the first trampoline is daunting. Getting the ball to the second one is more so, by the third trampoline, it approaches infinity. Forget the rest.

    Report Post »  
  • lazybones
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:46am

    I’d say real. It’d think it more of an accomplishment to pull this off then to edit a silly little video, which anyone can do these days. Why go through the trouble? We are becoming accustomed to thinking no one can actually do something extraordinary without video editing, like…. land on the moon! Which we all know was faked.

    Report Post »  
    • randy
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:59am

      Because the balls hit exactly at the bottom right corner each and every time.
      It’s physically impossible to have that happen.
      Did you vote for Obama?

      Report Post » randy  
  • rcoss23
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:27am

    Fake or not that is just plain AWESOME !!!!

    Report Post » rcoss23  
  • AlansTigg
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:27am

    still pretty neat looking

    Report Post » AlansTigg  
  • p-squared
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:25am

    Every ball he hit struck the first net in exactly the same spot. Great idea, these kids should get a pat on the back, but this is b.s.

    Report Post »  
  • JuanaDance
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:19am

    I call “bovine scatology” on this.
    They probably used some cheaper version of the software used to show Tom Hanks playing table tennis in “Forrest Gump”.

    We can no longer believe what we see.

    Report Post » JuanaDance  
    • chips1
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 12:02pm

      We can no longer believe what a teleprompter says.

      Report Post »  
  • NativeCracker
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:04am

    A+ for creativity. A+ for video execution. F for reality.

    Report Post » NativeCracker  
    • Beeree
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:13am

      If this was in fact faked I think the Obama team needs to hire them, maybe they could come up with a more realistic birth certificate than the one they put up on the White House website (zoom in on it and you can tell it’s an obvious fake).

      Report Post »  
    • Dustyluv
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:21am

      Right Bee…Justlike the Obama admin…all smoke and mirrors, with stupid people on the sidelines cheering them on..

      Report Post »  
  • nysparkie
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:04am

    Ahhhh, I got nothin. I know you can video edit all sorts of stuff, still this….I got nothin.

    Report Post » nysparkie  
  • Kris
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 7:59am

    Yeaaah, it’s pretty sweet. Too bad it’s not real. Every time the ball hit the net, the net moved. Any slight change in the angle would ruin the entire possibility of this working.

    Report Post »  
    • Bloody Sam
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:27am

      Yet if you watch it closely, the balls do not hit in the same place on the nets each time. Also, sometimes the 3rd base net moves, sometimes it doesn’t.

      This proves nothing but that the creator of the video is verrrrrrry good.

      Report Post » Bloody Sam  
    • briten821
      Posted on August 9, 2011 at 8:29am

      Exactly. It may work ONCE. But as fast as they were returning, how could he possibly hit them on just the right spot to send them back at the trampoline? Even big leaguers have trouble being so precise with their hits!

      Report Post »  
  • ZAP
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 7:52am

    Bssssssssssssssssssssssssss

    Report Post » ZAP  
  • ZAP
    Posted on August 9, 2011 at 7:51am

    Bs

    Report Post » ZAP  
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