10yo Maddie

[Stever]

Stever, point me to the post where I wrote "it doesn't matter if you go through the ball".

I don't remember the exact words, but you said, "the more the bat slows down at impact the further the ball will go as there is more energy transferred to the ball", this to me says that your not interested in going through the ball. You might as well stop the bat at impact, by your terms the ball would go further yet.

EDIT: Here was your words FFS

You won't like the answer.

If both swings reached 95mph just before impact, and one slowed to 50mph due to impact and the other slowed to 40mph due to impact, then the one that slowed to 40mph would hit the ball farther.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

I don't remember the exact words, but you said, "the more the bat slows down at impact the further the ball will go as there is more energy transferred to the ball", this to me says that your not interested in going through the ball. You might as well stop the bat at impact, by your terms the ball would go further yet.

EDIT: Here was your words FFS

You won't like the answer.

If both swings reached 95mph just before impact, and one slowed to 50mph due to impact and the other slowed to 40mph due to impact, then the one that slowed to 40mph would hit the ball farther.

Stever, you're a bit selective in what you try to draw conclusions from. In the same post I wrote the following.

It isn't like the hitter tried to slow their bat down ... it's just that she is transferring energy more efficiently.

That's important ... the hitter should not be trying to slow their bat down through impact.

How you extract from this that there is no interest in getting through the ball is beyond me.

The thread died down, in part because of logic like this, and in part because basic fundamental laws of physics ... such as the law of conservation of momentum, where not understood. You can try to revive the thread ... but it became a big yawn to me.

 

[rdbass]

What does a 100mph swing speed mean? - Beyond the Box Score

 

[Eric F]

I don't remember the exact words, but you said, "the more the bat slows down at impact the further the ball will go as there is more energy transferred to the ball", this to me says that your not interested in going through the ball. You might as well stop the bat at impact, by your terms the ball would go further yet.

Regarding the physics of the impact/contact event, once the ball leaves the bat, what the bat does has zero effect on the ball. From a swing mechanics standpoint, what the hitter does before, during, and after contact may have an effect on bat speed at contact. If the bat comes to a complete stop during contact due to the impact forces of the ball, we can conclude that all of the bat's energy has been transferred to the ball (minus losses due to materials deflection, vibration, etc.), and there was no energy left on the bat side of the equation to continue the bat's momentum. If the bat continues to travel during impact, that means that the bat's energy was more than was required to change the ball's direction of travel.

A batter TRYING to stop the bat at impact is a different issue, and no one is advocating that as a good idea.

If both swings reached 95mph just before impact, and one slowed to 50mph due to impact and the other slowed to 40mph due to impact, then the one that slowed to 40mph would hit the ball farther.

IMO, this statement ^ can lead to some confusion. From a purely physics perspective, it's true that a larger drop in bat speed after impact would indicate a larger transfer of energy to the ball. However, talking about a bat-ball contact scenario, assuming identical impact conditions (ball speed, bat mass, quality of impact, etc.) the bat speed after impact will be the same every time if the bat speed at impact is the same every time. Energy of the bat is the same, energy of the ball is the same, change in bat speed will be the same.