Batted Ball Distance

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,223
38
Georgia
Girl #1 - Weight 125lbs, Bat Speed at Impact 63mph, Best Hits 245'
Girl #2 - Weight 170lbs, Bat Speed at Impact 71mph, Best Hits 215'

Were the "best hits" multiple balls of equal distance or just the farthest hit ball?
Were all of the balls of the same make, age and condition?
Did anyone note the flight trajectory of the balls? Were they equal?
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,019
0
Portland, OR
Were the "best hits" multiple balls of equal distance or just the farthest hit ball?
Were all of the balls of the same make, age and condition?
Did anyone note the flight trajectory of the balls? Were they equal?

Traveling 245' with a barrel velocity of 63mph ... ... ... makes you wonder if the distance includes the ball rolling beyond it making contact with the ground. If so, was it rolling on turf? Was it rolling down hill? If it was rolling, why didn't it stop at a 200ft' fence? Were these high compression balls?

It's a bit bizarre. Stever owns a Zepp. Let's see the barrel speed plots for “Girl #1” and “Girl #2”.
 
Last edited:
May 23, 2015
999
63
Holy smokes this thread went off and on the tracks several times

To the OP all I could ever offer is assumptions. I'm not working with her, so it's tough. MAYBE I come up with a few suggestions based on my personal knowledge and working with hundreds (maybe thousands) of batters from 4 years old to well over 60. I do not do it for a living. All I've ever received in return is a thank you. I don't video, have a degree in mathematics, and I don't expect a players swing to mimic a MLB millionaire. I teach swing constants

There's a ton of variables that come into play. I look at a swing as if it's a car that's acting up. I do not immediately replace the engine when it might be a fuse or a disconnected wire. All things being equal I assume a couple things MIGHT be happening. Maybe she's dropping her top hand prior to impact? Maybe she's simply giving up and marking the job done once she makes impact. It's also very likely that she's having a problem anticipating the strike and waiting a little late, letting the pitch eat her up, and she's hitting the ball deep on the plate. Does she snatch the ball and pull ever hit or does all the action happen from 6 to 3? Maybe it's mental/desire. I've seen boys and girls that simply could care less. That's impossible to coach

Fiveframe you must know a little about Ray because Portland and Hillsboro are close neighbors. Ray's Demarinis data came from a ton of time and effort. I saw it with my own eyes and participated in it a ton of times. He was a marketing genius and had drive like no other. He also loved diamond sports and training. I see many "new" interweb posts claiming revolutionary techniques and training aids that we did 20+ years ago.
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,424
38
safe in an undisclosed location
FFS. When I asked how on earth I figured it was a zepp. I did not mean literally "OMG how is this possible". I should have been more clear and said that unless you are using some pretty sophisticated measurement device then the measurement accuracy comes into question. I forget how literal you get and can't always take the time to use big block letters with you.

Stever- I think Dr. Nathan did a good job in explaining how the bat ball collision is so fast that any additional force applied by the hands cannot act on the barrel until well after the ball is gone. So while powering through the ball seems like something to strive for i think that more of a debunked myth at this point. how much can a human accelerate a bat in say 5-10 milliseconds? Enough to jack a ball 15% further?
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,151
38
New England
Holy smokes this thread went off and on the tracks several times

To the OP all I could ever offer is assumptions. I'm not working with her, so it's tough. MAYBE I come up with a few suggestions based on my personal knowledge and working with hundreds (maybe thousands) of batters from 4 years old to well over 60. I do not do it for a living. All I've ever received in return is a thank you. I don't video, have a degree in mathematics, and I don't expect a players swing to mimic a MLB millionaire. I teach swing constants

There's a ton of variables that come into play. I look at a swing as if it's a car that's acting up. I do not immediately replace the engine when it might be a fuse or a disconnected wire. All things being equal I assume a couple things MIGHT be happening. Maybe she's dropping her top hand prior to impact? Maybe she's simply giving up and marking the job done once she makes impact. It's also very likely that she's having a problem anticipating the strike and waiting a little late, letting the pitch eat her up, and she's hitting the ball deep on the plate. Does she snatch the ball and pull ever hit or does all the action happen from 6 to 3? Maybe it's mental/desire. I've seen boys and girls that simply could care less. That's impossible to coach

Fiveframe you must know a little about Ray because Portland and Hillsboro are close neighbors. Ray's Demarinis data came from a ton of time and effort. I saw it with my own eyes and participated in it a ton of times. He was a marketing genius and had drive like no other. He also loved diamond sports and training. I see many "new" interweb posts claiming revolutionary techniques and training aids that we did 20+ years ago.

IMO, the introduction of -12 drop bats set back the world of girls fastpitch softball by at least 5-10 years. No doubt that they can produce good results and a sense (albeit false) of success; however, the reality is that they serve as bandaids to cover up mechanically flawed swings, which subsequently need to get overhauled.
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,424
38
safe in an undisclosed location
Here are a couple of links...

The slinky drop is a really cool demonstration of the principle at work as to why flow through does not matter.[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMmmEEyOO0[/video]

The link is to The good doctors web page about this. I was wrong about the time the ball is on the bat, it is more like 1ms. So the question is, if a swing is roughly 5 frames to impact then that is about 166 ms to get to full speed. The ball is on the bat for 1 ms. So using the same force used to generate the initial velocity, you would get at max. about 1/166 of the velocity back but as this shows you don't even get that.

The Grip Doesn't Matter
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
So while powering through the ball seems like something to strive for i think that more of a debunked myth at this point. how much can a human accelerate a bat in say 5-10 milliseconds? Enough to jack a ball 15% further?

Powering through the ball is a figure of speech. No different than the days boxers spend hitting heavy bags. They train drive, so they can knock someone's teeth through the back of their head. Throwing a ball? Frisbee? Shooting a free throw? How about teaching follow through after throwing a fielded ball? Surely jogging a couple of steps towards the intended target doesn't get the ball there faster. I would hope that no one actually thinks that they can push a ball off a bat. How exactly do you teach kids how to swing? Do they stop motion once they touch the ball?

There's no wonder why the majors leagues are filling up with bottle cap hitters from tiny countries. They're just great instinctive hitters who don't know what they're "supposed" to do
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,876
Messages
680,129
Members
21,594
Latest member
ourLadGloves
Top