Does a foul tip go faster than the pitch?

Answer 1

It depends on the type of foul tip. If you cause the ball to spin fast on a foul tip it will speed up, if you change the spin of the ball it will slow down. With this said, pitchers in Baseball generally put "top spin" on their pitches meaning it is spinning forward -- so if the batter swings underneath the ball and foul tips it, then the ball will speed up as the spin will go faster after contact with the bat. If the batter swings over top of the ball and foul tips it, then the ball will slow down more then likely as it will cause the spin of the ball to change to "back spin"

Now in the eyes of the field the spins will be opposite.. when a batter hits the ball in play but swings under the ball it will put backspin on the ball for the fielder, if he swings on top of the ball it will cause "top spin" -- that is why ground balls and line drivers are generally traveling faster then the pitch did, and fly balls travel slower then the pitch