Posted by: Daniel (nytfyre@yahoo.com) on Tue Apr 30 06:53:56 2002

Coach Jim,
> > Good luck with the bat change. If you don't get too much grief from some of the parents, I think the kids will realize the extra pop that they will get from the heavier bats and be quite pleased... this of course if they are swinging correctly.
> > Let me know how your season goes.
> > SS Coach
> > ----------
> >
> > SS Coach - thanks for the reply. Reading between the lines of your reply, I think you are at the same place I am, the -11 and -10...not only are not the best for 11 and 12 year old ball, they also don't get the kids ready for the next level.
> > >
> > > You're indicating a -8 in your reply, and that's about right where I was thinking, either a -7 or a -8 for the 11/12 age group. It would also make sense that if they got more swings with a slightly heavier bat, the reps would make them stronger for the next level - it all makes sense to me...so OUT go all the -11 bats.
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
> > > Hi - I was wondering if you have some "science" in bat weight...I have a suspicion that "lighter is better" is all wrong. Part of my evidence: I took a few cuts today before practice (for my LL 11-12 year-olds), and I swung with their light bats (eg, 31", -11), and a HS bat (32", -3), and the ball just flew off the heavier bat, I mean, at least 100' further per swing - SO, if a lighter bat gives faster bat speed, and if bat speed is all that matters, then I violated the "law of baseball physics" today - Big Time.
> > > > >
> I have a theory that heavier bats will drive a ball farther if you can keep the bat speed up. In other words use as heavy a bat that you can while keeping your speed up. When the bat begins to slow you down then move to the next lighter weight and stay there. There seems to be a top limit to how fast you can swing that doesn't get any faster as the weight gets lighter. Let's call this the optimal balance of speed and weight. Of course you'll need a way to measure bat speed.
>
> The reason I say this is to hit the ball you have to overcome the inertia from the ball moving toward the plate and send it in the opposite direction. A combination of the bat weight multiplied by a factor for the batspeed = power of the stroke.
>
Your "theory" is correct. Of course, it's been around for a hundred years in physics. force=mass x acceleration (f=ma) is a very standard formula that is proven and quantifiable. A heavier bat moving at the same speed (or even very nearly the ssme speed) will definitely make the ball go farther. It gets complicated when you start figuring in different materials (wood vs titanium vs aluminum) and different designs to move the sweetspot up and down the barrel. You can never get away from the rebound effect of the sweetspot and how important it is to make contact with the right part of the bat. Calculating how much more force a 32 oz. bat can generate than a 26 oz bat moving at the same speed is not impossible, but it does become impractical when you throw in all the other variables. It is, as you purported, a fundamental truth that with the same material and design, one can hit farther with a heavier bat that retains the same swing speed.