Posted by: J () on Fri Mar 7 17:24:43 2003

Physics is the reason that you hit the ball farther by stepping into it. Since in SLOW pitch the ball is travelling at a slow rate of speed the energy available is small and any motion you can exert in the same direction that you are hitting will increase the energy available to the ball thereofr increaseing the distance travelled. The faster the ball travels towards the hitter the more energy that can be transfered through the bat to the ball.
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> > > This is basic physics Exerpt off of internet.
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> > > the mass times the final velocity minus the mass times the initial velocity equals zero
> > > From that last equation, it tells us that for the same change in time (dt), the difference between the final momentum and the initial momentum always remains the same.
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> > > Okay lets think about this more. Conservation of momentum means that harder you throw the harder the ball will bounce back at you. Just think about throwing a ball against a solid wall. The harder you throw the ball against the wall, the harder it bounces back. That is the reason it is easier to hit a home run on a fastball than on a curveball.
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> > > Conservation of momentum also means that the bat can transfer some of its momentum to the ball. This is why it can be better to use a heavier bat if you can swing it just as fast. The momentum is the product of the mass and the velocity, so a heavier bat swung with the same speed as a lighter bat will have more momentum.
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> > > Now, you may have noticed that I said momentum is "almost" conserved. Why isn't it if the equations say it should be? Well, momentum is only conserved if the materials involved in the collision are inelastic or inflexible (perfectly solid). Although you might assume that bat and the ball are inelastic materials, they are not. When the ball hits the bat, the ball will be squished to a certain degree. After few milli-seconds, it rebounds back. This contraction action will use up some energy, making conservation of momentum false. There are also factors that can use up energy, however, the concept of conservation of momentum is still relevant in predicting the range of a baseball.
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> > I had always thought that stepping toward the ball provided momentum but couldn't understand the logic/physics. I would like to express my appreciation for this info. I hope you will stick around as I have a hunch there will be other valuable info you can provide. Welcome to the site!!
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> Do not step toward the ball, step parallel to the path of the incoming pitch.
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> Now here is a distinction between linear and rotational hitting.
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> Mike.

I stand corrected, one should "step parallel to the path of the incoming pitch." I certainly didn't intend to suggest that one can determine location of pitch and then have time to stride.