Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Wed Apr 21 10:26:20 2004

BHL,
> >
> > Any thoughts as to how Barry Bonds is able to do what he does with a relatively short lever? Nick
>
> Hi Nick,
>
> Can can you give me the length of Bond's bat? I am sure his bat size is the reason he stands so close to the plate. When you respond, I will plug it into my equation, and give you the answer based on my theory.
>
> Best wishes,
> BHL

Hi Nick,

According to Bonds, the length of his lever is 34 inches; however, since he chokes up two inches, the length is really 32 inches.

As for why he generate more power, I believe that he increases the number of degrees that his bat-head rotates intentionally.

For example, if you pointed your bat back towards the catcher, it would only rotate 110 degrees to contact on pitches to the pull field.

Suppose, from that position, I cock it back another 90 degrees. The bat, then, would rotate approximately 200 degrees, which my model is based on.

Barry Bonds has a shorter lever, so he must cock the bat back another 45 degrees, making the total sweep of his bat-head 245 degrees, as opposed to 200 degrees, meaning it has another 45 degrees to pick up additional velocity. I suspect this is what Jack Means by "pre-launch torque," yet I am not sure.

Sincerely,
BHL
Knight1285@aol.com

P.S. The number of degrees in my calculation are rough estimates, as I learned that a pull swing is closer to 198 degrees than it is to 225 degrees. I hope that Jeff M. can fill me in on his findings, so I can continue to update all on geometric ways to induce pull hitting. Note: the increased percentages of using a longer over a shorter level, though, will remain a constant--math dictates this.