Posted by: Joe (joe.flowers@nofreewill.com) on Tue Sep 28 04:59:47 2010

> Also, I think it was on this site that Jack or someone else
> mentioned the best effect was achieved by gripping a bat at the
> base of the handle. This calculation you mention would seem to
> suggest choking up on a longer, heavier bat would possibly produce
> a more favorable result.

I was also pointing out that different types of bats will not all have their center of gravity at the same length from the handle of the bat. Some bats are heavier toward the head of the bat - I think the Louisville Slugger ExoGrid bats are like this - small sweet spot - heavy on the end - if you can hit it there then the ball will go; otherwise, you're going to jar your hands like heck and hit a dribbling grounder.

The center of gravity (center of mass) of a bat is the spot where you balance the bat on your arm or fingers or whatever without applying any torque to the bat with your arm or fingers or whatever.

If you 2D plot (the length of the bat from handle to the center of gravity X the weight of the bat) on one axis and (your average bat speed for that bat) on the other axis, then you should see a curve with a knee. And, this sort of calculation will take the make and model of the bats out of the equation, so you should be able to tell up front if a bat is too heavy or too long for you without swinging it, assuming you know about where the the center of gravity is for the bat in question.

I would expect that the proportional distance from the handle of a bat to the center of gravity for that bat would be the same for the same make and model (but different length) bats, so you can tell where the center of gravity is for a bat of a different length by determining the center of gravity of any one bat in that make and model line.

Geometry (shapes) are important.
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