Posted by: t olson () on Mon Feb 18 13:01:46 2002

Do a search on a product called Speedchek
It's a radar device that retails for $70 to $100 and is available under several brand names such as PowerMadd and others.

And unscientific way to check it is to set it behind the l-screen facing the batter. Do it with the L-screen fairly close (like 20 to 30 feet)

Then do a series of swings to get an idea of the best scores which are generally going to be line drives that come right back at the L-screen.

This doesn't really measure batspeed as much as ball speed but it's useful for comparing a series of batters and it's useful for measuring an individual over a period of time.

The device works better for measuring pitching speed but will serve in this capacity as long as you don't assume it's directly measuring batspeed. Ball exit speed however should be directly related to batspeed.