Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Jul 4 08:50:55 2006

>>> Hi Mike

Sorry batspeed affects the distance the ball travels more then bat weight. For every 5 MPH great bathead speed you hit the ball 30 feet further in baseball and 20 feet further in softball. The addition of one ounce in weight will only contribute 4 feet in distance to ball travel.

This comes striaight off a sport science text book. <<<

Hi Dave

I am a believer in both science and the importance of bat speed. However, there appears to be an inconsistency in what the scientific community is reporting.

The “Sport Science Text Book” calculates that one ounce in weight will only contribute 4 feet in distance to ball travel. Professor Adair (The Science of Baseball) calculates that a 35 ounce wood bat swung at 70 mph can hit a ball about 410 feet. Therefore, according to Sport Science, a 34 ounce bat (at 70 mph) would hit the ball 406 feet, a 33 ounce bat would equal 402 feet and so on. This would mean that a bat with zero mass should hit a ball 260 feet. -- (410 – (4 X35) = 410 – 140 = 260)

We know that is not the case. There is obviously many more factors to the correct equation.

Jack Mankin