Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Jake () on Sat May 10 16:21:22 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".

I don't think so Bart. While being "bigger" might result in greater batspeed (velocity), there is simply no scientific reason why being bigger would create more force on the ball. The only thing that contacts the ball is the bat, so the properties (mass and velocity) of the bat are the only things that will create the force. Other factors such as pitch speed, sweet spot, backspin, bat type, etc all deal with properties of the bat or ball. Being bigger will in my opinion help only in relation to batspeed.

Followups:

Post a followup:

Name:

E-mail:

Subject:

Text:

> 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".
> 
> I don't think so Bart. While being "bigger" might result in greater batspeed (velocity), there is simply no scientific reason why being bigger would create more force on the ball. The only thing that contacts the ball is the bat, so the properties (mass and velocity) of the bat are the only things that will create the force. Other factors such as pitch speed, sweet spot, backspin, bat type, etc all deal with properties of the bat or ball. Being bigger will in my opinion help only in relation to batspeed.

Anti-Spambot Question:

This pitcher had over 5000 strikeouts in his career?
   Nolan Ryan
   Hank Aaron
   Shaquille O'Neal
   Mike Tyson