Indian or arrow?

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ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
Test: 12 swings each with 5 different bats off of a tee... throw out top and bottom ball exit speed and average the 10 remaining exit speeds. This test was conducted swinging each bat 2 times and alternating over a couple sessions. The bats were hit in different sequences over each of those sessions. All the bats have been used for at least a few hundred hits in BP.

Bats in no specific order:
  • 2018 Ghost -8 ASA 33/25 actual weight 24.8oz
  • 2018 Xeno -8 33/25 actual weight 24.6oz
  • 2017 Xeno -8 33/25 actual weight 25.3oz
  • 2016 Mako Torq -9 33/24 actual weight 24.6oz
  • 2014 Rocketech -9 33/24 actual weight 27.4oz


Throwing out the top and bottom reading and then averaging the 10 remaining swings from each bat led to a variation of a whopping .7mph from the top bat to the lowest bat. I'll do another set of tests with the Zepp when I get a chance.


How do you think they ranked?
 
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ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
This was the actual ranking:
  1. 2016 Mako Torq ~60.9
  2. 2014 Anderson Rocketech ~60.8
  3. 2018 LS Xeno ~60.6
  4. 2018 Easton Ghost ~60.5
  5. 2017 LS Xeno ~60.2

Again, .7 mph was the spread of the ball exit averages from #1 to #5. IMO ranking doesn't make much sense because they were so close it doesn't amount to much if any difference. If I were to test again it wouldn't surprise me to have a different order and the spreads to remain similar.

Oh and the 2017 Xeno that tested the worst is my daughters gamer and cranked (2) HR's this past weekend. :p
 
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TMD

Feb 18, 2016
433
43
Interesting test but not surprised by the results. Unless the arrow is defective, it is always the indian.
 
Oct 2, 2015
615
18
Not the results we were seeing when the exit speeds were from 65-78 mph... (3 different DDs)
All 34/24 bats...
The Ghost was beating the New Xeno and DeMarini, by 2-3 mph.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Not the results we were seeing when the exit speeds were from 65-78 mph... (3 different DDs)
All 34/24 bats...
The Ghost was beating the New Xeno and DeMarini, by 2-3 mph.

So it is the Indian not the arrow only when the Indian isn't very good :cool:
 
Oct 2, 2015
615
18
So it is the Indian not the arrow only when the Indian isn't very good :cool:

I'm guessing my DDs are older, and or stronger than his DDs.

My oldest DD is 5'10", 185 lbs and built like Kendyl Lindaman, and is fairly strong.
I'm thinkin' that has something to do with it...
Maybe a bigger/stronger Indian slingin' the arrow...

Maybe bats react differently to impact and compression when the batter is bigger/stronger...

That Newer Xeno has been officially been re-purposed as a tomato stake... :D
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
I'm guessing my DDs are older, and or stronger than his DDs.

My oldest DD is 5'10", 185 lbs and built like Kendyl Lindaman, and is fairly strong.
I'm thinkin' that has something to do with it...
Maybe a bigger/stronger Indian slingin' the arrow...

Maybe bats react differently to impact and compression when the batter is bigger/stronger...

That Newer Xeno has been officially been re-purposed as a tomato stake... :D

I thought the OP was the one hitting. In any case, there is probably a reason why people tell parents of younger kids that spending coin on a higher end bat
is probably not in their best interest. From a physics perspective, it does make sense that a collision with more energy (e.g. a higher swing speed) would see a larger
difference in exit velocity for bats which allow more energy to be stored in the hoop modes of the bat.
 
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ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
If I wasn't objectively looking at the data I could easily find 5mph to reinforce that any one bat was significantly better than another. However, when things are averaged the truth comes out, that there is very little difference for this test given the variables I had. Oh and throwing out the top speeds and lowest speeds for each bat had almost no effect on the averages.

More data:
If I looked at the spreads of the top exit speeds for each bat the best was 65mph and the worst was 63mph.
Looking at the worst speed for each bat was 54mph for the worst and 57mph for the bat with the highest low.

My DD is 5'7" and about 125# so, she probably isn't as big and strong as others but she is the best power hitter on her HS and TB teams. She led or leads both teams in HR's.

The last time I did this was about a year ago and those results indicated that she wasn't strong enough to swing the heavy 33" Rocketech but the 32" Rocketech competed with the other 33" composites in the test.
 
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
83
Keep in mind, hitting off a tee does not equal hitting a live pitch. You have zero power behind the moving ball. The amount of "trampoline affect" the bat produces can vary a LOT more once the ball has kinetic energy behind it.

For example, my DD uses a slowpitch bat with an extreme end load. Nothing like what fast pitch bats have. If she's swinging any bat (say a 34/24 xeno) at the same speed as her current bat vs a moving ball, there will be a far more noticeable exit speed with a moving ball, because the MOI of the bat now comes into play.

I'm not "batting" for or against any of these bats, as my DD doesn't use any of them. Just saying, hitting off a tee is not indicative of what a bat can do. Not too mention a HUGE factor of how large the "sweet spot" is.
 

ez_softball

Life at the diamond...
Apr 14, 2017
158
28
I agree but at least it is something to look at... when hitting live pitching the results appear to mirror what is seen above, in that one bat really isn't any better than any other. Again, it isn't my contention that any of these bats are better or worse than the others ... rather that none of them perform much better or worse than the other. The batter is what really matters.
 
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