Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Tue Feb 27 07:03:41 2001

Ted Williams says to choke up on the bat to make it lighter. Jack says to apply torque you need to apply it at the handle. So will choking up an inch on the bat decrease the ability to apply torque, or will it make it easier to swing faster because the bat is lighter?

Max -
Torque is applying two forces along the length of an object in opposing directions to create angular displacement. Or applying force in one direction against a stabilizer that resists displacement in the opposite direction.
The best place to apply torque is at the center of the object. Baton twirlers spin the baton the fastest when held in the middle. The more off-center the torque is applied, the greater the resistance felt from the longer end. Try holding a broom with one hand by the handle with the handle horizontal to the ground. It is much harder to hold it at the end than closer to the middle.
However, you cannot effectively hit by holding the bat at the label.
Additionally, the angular displacement of the barrel is greater when swinging in a wider arc if the rate of turn is the same.
So the problem becomes balancing ease of creating rate of turn thru torque (choking up, shortening the arc) vs. maximizing barrel speed (correlates to greater speed for greater distance from the hands).
No two people are alike. Barry Bonds trades an inch of bat length for some batspeed. He chokes up and uses a lot of torque and hits for power. Mark McGuire generates the same batspeed holding the end of the bat and generates power.
Interesting question:
If a player uses a 33" bat and generates X MPH batspeed, what would happen if he used a 34" bat and choked up an inch? More batspeed? the same? This could be tested. Anyone have the time and equipment?