Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Dec 5 21:00:02 2002

>>> I think leverage is as important as batspeed. If you took a pepper swing at say 20 mph, would the ball go anywhere? The answer is no if you let go of the bat at contact, but if you held on it most certainly would. So the answer is we do not have to match the bat speed of the moving object, but we need to be stable to support the collision. This to me is the problem with swinging for the fences. It's not that one shouldn't ever do it, but understand the leverage (stability) you have at collision is far more important than the tension, reckless abandon freewheeling batspeed that I see so often in youth kids. My advice is work lower body and torso to create this batspeed you seek, and better develop the arms and wrists to support the collision that takes place at contact. One other piece of advice. Batspeed comes from loose, tension free muscles, not tight shoulders, hands and arms. Think smooth and the batspeed will develop from understanding that the arms are only carriers of the blow, not initiaters.

For the record Bonds has a batspeed in the mid to upper 90's. However he is extremely strong down below. He has hit pitches in the 100's.

I probably gave you more info than you sought, but I get very concerned when someone wants to know how fast they swing.

Good Luck <<<

Hi Coach

At one time I agreed that leverage (as you put it) was an important factor for how much energy was imparted to the ball. I believed that forces on the handle of the bat would lessen deceleration of the bat at contact and therefore transfer greater energy to the ball.

I used the analogy that if the contact speeds of two bats were equal, a bat welded to a 200 lb flywheel would drive a ball farther than if welded to a 10 lb flywheel. But tests by bat manufactures (Easton for one) proved me wrong. – The test proved that the bat should be treated as a “free moving” object and that any force applied to the handle during contact would have little to no effect on the ball’s flight.

Someone could probably give you a complete technical explanation, but the gist it that the bat-ball collision sends a wave of energy down the bat. By the time the wave returns back up to the impact area of the bat, the ball is gone. --- A bat that is heavier at the impact area has greater momentum and therefore the bat undergoes less deceleration at contact and imparts greater energy to the ball.

Jack Mankin