Posted by: Ronnie (rwynn@comsouth.net) on Mon Oct 4 12:29:09 2010

> Hello everyone,
>
> Just some more nagging thoughts on optimizing bat speed I wanted to throw out on the floor for critique.
>
> It seems to me that PLT and THT are getting the bat going in a relatively large circle with a relatively large radius *and on a 2D plane with the trajectory of the incoming ball*. The longer the bat head is accelerating the higher the bat speed at contact, so PLT and THT are very important for maximizing the amount of Kinetic Energy put in the bat(and getting the bat on a 2D plane with the trajectory of the incoming ball).
>
> Now, moments before contact, BHT kicks in to suddenly pull the bat in - to rapidly and violently decrease the radius of the circle that the bat head is traveling on. So, by the conservation of angular momentum, the rapid decrease in the radius of the circle the bat head (the bat's moment of inertia) is traveling on simultaneously turns into higher bat head speeds.
>
> So, perhaps the path of optimal bat speed is really a spiraling in - not on the same circle but on rapidly decreasing circles - on circles whose radii are rapidly decreasing from PLT to contact.
>
>
> Imaging tying a small weighted object on the end of a rope and twirling it over head like a helicopter. Imagine that the goal is to throw the object as far a possible. Imagine (or actually test) what occurs the few moments before the rope is let loose. When I do this experiment, I notice that the last few moments are a rapidly pulling in of the rope.
>
> Joe
> ______
>
> Perhaps a practical method for determining the optimal bat path, body mechanics, and bat weight can be simplified further...
>
> If the object is to throw a bat as far as you can in the air, what path would the bat take and what would be the body mechanics and forces applied from stance to letting the bat lose?
>
> Given this experiment, it seems most likely to me that the optimum result could not include linear batting mechanics and that elements of stance, PLT, THT, and BHT have to play major roles. It would be more of a slinging action (rapidly decreasing circle sizes) rather than a pushing or throwing action like linear mechanics.
>
> I guess I'll take my son out in the yard and give it a try and hope to stay clear of houses, cars, windows, ..., and people.
>
> Joe
> ---------
Hi Joe,
I watched the Video and the hands were above the ball on the high pitch ever so slightly.
I don't see a decreasing circle on the video but there is a circle - it just speeds up at full shoulder rotation but is still on the same circular path.
Ronnie