Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Wed Apr 21 22:11:44 2004

BHL....i won't try to deal with the math, just a few things i would like to point out....
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> 1) if i understand you right, what you are saying is that if a hitter has a long enough bat they could pull anything...this is correct, except that there are legal restrictions on the length of the bat....i see how you could pull anything if the bat were 48 inches long and not too heavy to handle, but again, i don't think that would be legal....
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> 2) an important part of your model is the "wider arc" that you (and i think jack) speak of...you seem to think that just sticking out the arms far enough will enable you to pull anything....wrong...there is an inverse relationship between the distance the arms are from the body and the amount of power you can generate...if you want an extreme but vivid example, stand 3 feet from the plate, set the ball on a tee off the os corner and see how well and quick you can swing the bat......point is, there are limitations as to how wide this arc can be .....
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> 3) the farther the hands are from the body, the flater the arc, making contact in the upswing part of the swing more difficult...in addition, wrist roll will occur much earlier in the swing, which further compounds the problem....

Hi GRC,

I will not into the anatomy of the swing, but I will share with you a post that I forwarded to Jack. In it, I pointed out a figure skater can spin quicker with the arm against the batter. He, in turn, told me that, since the arm are less of a load, less batspeed is being developed.

On the other hand, when the batter induces the parachute effect, he reasoned that it would present a higher load to the bat, and, as a result, cause more batspeed.

As for the longest lever allowed to be used, it is 42 inches.

I am sure Jack can fill us on in on the anatomical details.

Your Friend,
BHL