Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Tue Dec 18 10:34:04 2001

Does the mass of the batters body , arms or hands give a hitter any more power ?
> > > > Here is a hypothetical situation :
> > > > There are two batters, one weighing 180 pounds and one weighing 220 pounds and it happens (because of genetics, or technique , lets say ) that they both can swing a 30 OZ. , 34 inch bat at exactly 90 MPH ? They both hit 80 MPH pitches perfectly on the sweet spot with the same launch angle and direction. All conditions of wind , ball , etc are the same.
> > > > Would you rather be hit by Mike Tyson or Jerry Seinfield.
> > > I rest my case
> > > > The only difference between them is that the heavier player has greater body, arm , and hand mass.
> > > > Will the two balls go the exact same distance or not ?
> > > >
> > > > If the more massive batter hits farther , then would it be of any value to make yourself more massive by wearing wrist weights or weight belts while actually hitting ?
> > > >
> > > > If the more massive batter hits the same , then does that mean that just acceleration of the bat head on an accurate path governs all results.
> >
> > Hey,
> >
> > Two bats being swung at the same speed. One is a plactic wiffel ball bat, the other is a 34 oz wood bat. Which one would hit the ball further?
> >
> > If you had a choice, which one would you perfer to get hit with?
> >
> > Joe A.
>
> I think Joe makes a good point.You can swing a plastic bat with as much "batspeed" as a wood bat, but yet there seems to another element at work besides "batspeed". Of course, a plastic bat is not the ideal example since it has no "substance" (for lack of a better word). Nevertheless, something seems to be missing.

From a physics point of view, there are two factors:
1- momentum = mass X velocity
in other words the batspeed times the weight (laymen't terms, not scientifically accurate but good enough for the purpose since we only deal with baseball on Earth)
the original post specified same 30 oz, 34 inch bat for both hitters. Details include how much of mass is in bathead, etc.
2- every action has an equal and opposite reaction
in collisions, the two objects (ball and bat) carry momentum and direction of that momentum into contact. The bat with much greater mass and in this example 10 MPH greater velocity will result in the bat slowing slightly and the ball careening the in opposite direction some distance.
You can change a lot of variables in this equation but the original post set them all equal. Joe A's point only shows that it is not only batspeed but bat mass that affect the outcome. Aluminum bats alter the equation because a bat with less mass can employ rebound effects that change the dynamic of the contact. but in the original example it was the same bat, same ball, same velocities, etc.

I think what is being asked is:
is it possible for two individuals to swing with the same batspeed at contact yet one swings harder at the same speed than the other.
How could this happen?