Ball Speed off of bat / Ball Distance Hit ?'s

[CoogansBluff]

Furthest ball I have ever seen hit in person one hopped a 300 ft fence, so it landed @ 290. Awesome player who is going to Florida next year.

My DD practices on a field with a fence that's 270 feet. If the grass is cut just right and the wind and sun are aligned, she can hit balls that roll to the fence. The fact that there are high school players who can hit balls over that fence, even if few and far between, is pretty humbling.

 

[iMlearning]

DDs old team mate hit one over a 260 foot fence in a game. She did get a D1 scholarship but ended up getting pregnant before the fall semester started That was one big gal too.
Fyi... 33/24 CF5 for you Demarini fans.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Exit speed readings don't always equate to distance. The girl who has hit the most out on our team actually posts the fourth highest exit speeds out of 14 girls. Her swing, however, is the type that gets quite a few balls in the air and she either pops up a mile high or gets squared up and it flies out of the yard.

The girl with the highest exit speeds on our team has the second most HRs. She is also a fly ball hitter but is more top-spinny and doesn't get quite the lift the other girl gets.

The girls with the second and third highest exit speeds are typically top of the ball hitters so when they go yard it is more of an anomaly. One did it just last week and hit a towering shot about 225' .... she got under it a bit and it flew .... almost forever!

The hardest hit ball anyone on my team put in play last year was by the girl who posts the second-highest exit speeds. She is more of a low-ball hitter who hits top of the ball so most of her hits are on the ground or are low line drives. However, during a qualifier and facing a very good pitcher, she took a ball that was just below her knees and just in off the outside corner and hit a line shot that stayed exactly that high off the ground (about 1 1/2' - 2') all the way until it hit the right-center field fence. It just missed the 2B's right leg by about a foot and she hadn't even moved yet when it went by her and it made contact with the fence before the CF even completed her drop step. I am not sure how much further it would have traveled if the fence hadn't been there but it didn't look like the ball had slowed down very much when it hit. It was one of those "ooh and ahh" moments for everyone in attendance that only ended up as a double on the record.

They don't always equate to success, that's for sure. But given the same trajectory, wouldn't the same exit speed = the longest distance?

Absolutely.

What the rest of the post was explaining, however, is that exit speed alone doesn't determine distance. Trajectory and spin play huge parts.

The girl who has hit the most out of the park for us consistently ranks #4 in our exit speed measurements, but she also consistently gets under the ball and hits fly balls and fly balls can catch wind and stay in the air long enough to clear relatively short fences.

The amazing rifle-shot our girl with our second-highest exit speeds hit in that qualifier was without doubt the hardest-hit ball anyone on this team has ever put in play. If that 2B had been lined up a foot or two to her right, it would have taken one of her legs off as she didn't even have time to move her glove when it was on her. And, the CF hadn't even completed her drop stop when the ball was on the ground after hitting the fence. But, due to trajectory, that ball only traveled 200' even though it was clearly the hardest-hit ball of the year.

All I'm saying is a girl with pretty good exit speeds who has a tendency to lift the the ball will hit more out than a girl with slightly higher exit speeds who is more of a top-of-the-ball hitter.

Massive HRs have some air under them and almost always go from right up the middle to the strong-side foul line and are very rarely opposite-field. You can't get too far inside the ball for the slice or around the ball for the hook. They have to be squared-up and have some spin on them to keep them up so they can fly. Hard line drives may on occasion have greater exit speeds but they will almost never travel as far.

 

[iMlearning]

Absolutely.

What the rest of the post was explaining, however, is that exit speed alone doesn't determine distance. Trajectory and spin play huge parts.

The girl who has hit the most out of the park for us consistently ranks #4 in our exit speed measurements, but she also consistently gets under the ball and hits fly balls and fly balls can catch wind and stay in the air long enough to clear relatively short fences.

The amazing rifle-shot our girl with our second-highest exit speeds hit in that qualifier was without doubt the hardest-hit ball anyone on this team has ever put in play. If that 2B had been lined up a foot or two to her right, it would have taken one of her legs off as she didn't even have time to move her glove when it was on her. And, the CF hadn't even completed her drop stop when the ball was on the ground after hitting the fence. But, due to trajectory, that ball only traveled 200' even though it was clearly the hardest-hit ball of the year.

All I'm saying is a girl with pretty good exit speeds who has a tendency to lift the the ball will hit more out than a girl with slightly higher exit speeds who is more of a top-of-the-ball hitter.

Massive HRs have some air under them and almost always go from right up the middle to the strong-side foul line and are very rarely opposite-field. You can't get too far inside the ball for the slice or around the ball for the hook. They have to be squared-up and have some spin on them to keep them up so they can fly. Hard line drives may on occasion have greater exit speeds but they will almost never travel as far.

You see this a lot in MLB when they post the ball exit speed after someone rips a good one.

 

[Greenmonsters]

With a line drive trajectory, your minor mistakes are usually hard hit grounders or home runs. With a long-fly HR trajectory, your minor mistakes are usually easy OF flys or elevator IF pop outs.

 

[sbmom19]

I guess it depends on what the hitter's job is. DDs hitting coach was very strong on the philosophy that hitters have a "job". Her thoughts are: Some hitter's jobs are to get on base any way that they can because they are fast and that is their "job" to be a base runner; Some hitter's are place hitters and their "job" is to move those speedy runners and to get on base by placing the ball into gaps and finding grass; and that some hitters "job" is to be a power hitter, hitting long fly balls to facilitate runners tagging up to score or clearing the bases by either hitting one to the fence or over. It is her philosophy that no job is more important than another but to know your job and do it well. That is not to say that a power hitter shouldn't hit a LD or that a place hitter couldn't go yard, she was just big on knowing what your hitting role was on the roster and doing that job very well/accurately.

 

[riseball]

I guess it depends on what the hitter's job is. DDs hitting coach was very strong on the philosophy that hitters have a "job". Her thoughts are: Some hitter's jobs are to get on base any way that they can because they are fast and that is their "job" to be a base runner; Some hitter's are place hitters and their "job" is to move those speedy runners and to get on base by placing the ball into gaps and finding grass; and that some hitters "job" is to be a power hitter, hitting long fly balls to facilitate runners tagging up to score or clearing the bases by either hitting one to the fence or over. It is her philosophy that no job is more important than another but to know your job and do it well. That is not to say that a power hitter shouldn't hit a LD or that a place hitter couldn't go yard, she was just big on knowing what your hitting role was on the roster and doing that job very well/accurately.

I agree, but would add that the hitters job determined more by the situation than their innate abilities. Based on their abilities they are placed into a spot in the order where their skills can best be utilized. The more diverse your skill set, the more value you provide. Nothing worse than having that speedy slapper that cannot get the ball out of the infield at the plate with bases loaded. Or possibly that big girl that hits the ball a mile who cannot bunt. I have a big girl that for whatever reason has become a master of the push bunt. She has been making teams look downright silly.

 

[sbmom19]

I agree, but would add that the hitters job determined more by the situation than their innate abilities. Based on their abilities they are placed into a spot in the order where their skills can best be utilized. The more diverse your skill set, the more value you provide. Nothing worse than having that speedy slapper that cannot get the ball out of the infield at the plate with bases loaded. Or possibly that big girl that hits the ball a mile who cannot bunt. I have a big girl that for whatever reason has become a master of the push bunt. She has been making teams look downright silly.

Funny you mention that-DD is a big power hitter that typically hits 3rd-5th. Last weekend we were down by 1 with a runner on 2nd (1 out I think) and I am sitting there waiting for DD to take it long. The other team did to and were backed up. Coach saw it and had her lay down a bunt which went right along the third base line. My jaw hit the ground I was so surprised-I can't tell you the last time I saw her bunt! Infield was caught flat-footed. DD is not a speed demon (lol) but dang near beat the throw to first. More importantly she did her job and moved the runner. Know your job and do it well-but know how to do everyone else's too...

 

[CoogansBluff]

Last weekend we were down by 1 with a runner on 2nd (1 out I think) ... More importantly she did her job and moved the runner. Know your job and do it well-but know how to do everyone else's too...

She did her job, but did the coach do his or hers?

I mean, if she bats 3-5, isn't that a player you want driving in that run? I assume there were 0 outs, because if there were 1 out, it would make little sense.

Your DD did as asked and did it well. I'm just confused about the coach wanting players to know their job, and then giving the power hitter the job of moving over a runner who's already in scoring position.

 

[sbmom19]

She did her job, but did the coach do his or hers?

I mean, if she bats 3-5, isn't that a player you want driving in that run? I assume there were 0 outs, because if there were 1 out, it would make little sense.

Your DD did as asked and did it well. I'm just confused about the coach wanting players to know their job, and then giving the power hitter the job of moving over a runner who's already in scoring position.

It was a scrimmage game and DD is new to this team so maybe he was just wanted to see what she could do? When I was talking about her coach wanting hitters to know their job I was talking about her hitting coach-great coach who is now HC at U or Maryland...