Posted by: Mister X () on Fri May 9 07:21:40 2003

I have read all the batspeed and swing mechanics articles on this site and I tend to agree with most of the research. However, I would like someone to explain if the exact same batspeed can
> > be achieved be two players of say 10 inches in size difference. For example I coach 13 year old
> > kids and I look at two players one 6 foot the other 5 foot. It would appear to me that the 5 foot kid is swinging the bat with much greater speed than the 6 foot kid who has a painfully slow
> > swing velosity. Yet the 6 foot kid with the slow swing hits the ball three times as far and with much greater force. It would appear to me that size and strength are primary factors. Could someone explain why this seems to be case and how that applies to the swing velosity theory.
>
> This is a question that no one has ever answered to my satisfaction, and probably because the question has never been studied, at least by reputable scientists.
>
> In my view, there are two obvious forces contributing to how hard a ball is hit, batspeed and mass of bat. Perhaps a lesser force would be the speed of the pitch. But I think the MISSING FORCE is the mass/muscle/strength of the hitter himself. I have a hunch that in a scientific setting, if you had a group of 100 hitters of equal skill, athletic ability, mechanics, etc, and assuming they all had the same bat weight and batspeed, I submit to you that on average the heavier guys would out-power the lighter guys.
>
> We're talking theory, now. Black Hole Lexciographer, comments about me picking on the small guys are not welcome. It's just a fact, common sense that size has to be a factor, however "big" or "small".



Bart you're missing the most obvious and without a doubt the most important factor in what determines how hard a ball is hit. It is how well you make contact with the ball. If one guy hits the ball squarely on the sweet spot, and the other guy hits it off the handle or end of the bat, who hit the ball harder? If most of you other factors a even close to being equal, the guy who hit the ball on the sweet spot will hit the ball the hardest and farthest. Maybe you included that in your simplifing assumptions, but you didn't mention that and it is the biggest factor. It is very possible that the 6' kid makes much better contact with his slower (possibly more controlled) swing than the 5' kid. Without more details, though, it's hard to tell.