Bat speed vs. Bat weight

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redhotcoach

Out on good behavior
May 8, 2009
4,706
38
This one falls pretty close, for me. Junior League Baseball (13-17 yrs) Height/3 + 1

I am 5'9. 69 divided by 3 =23 +1 =24 ounces

Those softball measurements must be for men. But I have not read the article word for word.

The baseball 11-12 hits my dd on the button. Weight/18+16. 122/18+16=22.7 oz
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
Here is from our site owner, this morning. These were questions to Crystl Bustos.

9. One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, "What bat should my daughter use?" What tips to you have for parents on this subject?
Length is determined by measuring the width of the upper body. Bat should be 2x that length. Weight will depend on what the player can handle (try having them hold the bat out in front of them with one hand, if they can't hold it very long without their hand shaking or dropping that bat is probably too heavy).
 
May 1, 2011
350
28
Red - that methodology has DD swinging almost a 22 oz bat. Still too big. And she's not a weakling either. She can swing a 20 oz bat, but I think that is her absolute threshold...IMO.

Josh
 
Oct 14, 2008
667
16
Pay the 99 bucks for the swing speed radar. Graphs are generic at best and ment for baseball from what I am reading. Take 10 swings to get her sustained swing speed. Add the increases by no more than 2 oz at a time. If her swing speed drops you know its not a good thing. A 2 oz increase should not alter her swing mechanics if its a balanced bat.

Another reason for the SSRU is that as she works and gets better hand path overall better mechanics and more control you will see her swing speed increase. And then can adjust the weight of the bat as necessary. Remember that hitting is a long term project. because of their increases in growth, mechanics and confidence there is always adjustments that can and should be made to the bat they use.

Thanks for the props. I will tell you that what you see is a direct relation to using products like the ssru. It lets her either improve or identify issues in her swing.

Tim
 

redhotcoach

Out on good behavior
May 8, 2009
4,706
38
Red - that methodology has DD swinging almost a 22 oz bat. Still too big. And she's not a weakling either. She can swing a 20 oz bat, but I think that is her absolute threshold...IMO.

Josh

Yes. I will say that on my 2 12u teams, dd swings a 23, there are a couple 21, rest are 19-20 oz. I have just one other girl that I have now swinging dd's 23 oz rocketech.
 
May 16, 2010
1,086
38
I know that bat speed is important. However, there has to be some sort of ratio that is optimal between bat speed, and bat mass.

DD swings a 30/18. During some hitting drills the other day, she was forced to use a smaller bat because she accidentally left hers at home (just got a new bag, and forgot to put it in there). I couldn't help but notice her swinging this bat that is 1.5 oz lighter, and it seemed like it was really whipping through the zone. The bat that she had to use is an inch shorter as well. Anyone have any thoughts? Or more importantly, and hardline facts/numbers on this subject. Thanks.

Josh

I did a rather crude study a few years back.

The physics involved are F= ma, Force = mass times acceleration or velocity. Also, you can use the kinetic energy formula which is one-half times mass times velocity squared. .5mv^2.

You can see that in both formulas, velocity is more of a factor, in regard to swinging a bat.

The fact is; a human cannot swing a heavier bat faster than the lighter one. As you add weight you lose velocity or acceleration. So, the question is; how much velocity do you lose for each ounce of weight that you add to the bat.

I found that you lose ROUGHLY (not a sophisticated study) 0.66mph for each ounce of weight that you add. Therefore, if you use the kinetic energy formula you can plug in the numbers to see how much the energy changes when you add weight to the "m", but subtract .66 mph from the "v".

IMO, you want the heaviest bat that you can still swing at the speed necessary to catch up to the best fastball in your league.

Obviously, you can swing a light bat faster than a heavy one, but you have to remember that the moving ball has force and kinetic energy, and if the bat is so light that even when swung fairly fast, its kinetic energy isn't at least double that of the moving ball, the bat will deflect somewhat when the contact is made. The bat needs about 4 times the energy of that in the moving ball, to really whack it.
 
Last edited:
May 29, 2011
2
0
Tennessee
You should swing the heaviest bat possible to produce the energy needed to pop the ball. The problem with the bell curves and trying to gain energy by increasing weight and sacrificing bat speed is that you also sacrifice bat control. Even a heavier bat swung at the same speed(which is impossible) will not have benefits if the ball is not struck on the sweet spot, which becomes more difficult as bat weight increases. I'm of the opinion that almost all girls(and boys) are swinging bats that are much too heavy and long. IMO most 12 year girls should be swinging 28"-30" bats in the range of 17-20 oz.
 
Aug 31, 2010
82
0
Tallmadge, Ohio
You should swing the heaviest bat possible to produce the energy needed to pop the ball. The problem with the bell curves and trying to gain energy by increasing weight and sacrificing bat speed is that you also sacrifice bat control. Even a heavier bat swung at the same speed(which is impossible) will not have benefits if the ball is not struck on the sweet spot, which becomes more difficult as bat weight increases. I'm of the opinion that almost all girls(and boys) are swinging bats that are much too heavy and long. IMO most 12 year girls should be swinging 28"-30" bats in the range of 17-20 oz.

Blasphemy! Don't let FFS hear you say that.
 

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