Batted Ball Distance

[Eric F]

ok, te results of my backyard experiment.

I hung the 33 drop ten cf5 from a string. I finally got one to square off in the sweet spot, and to my surprise, it went 55 feet in the short grass.
I then secured the bat and after I squared on off the sweet spot, it traveled 55 feet in the short grass.

The difference that I noticed that balls that were not squared up with bat held by the string, deflected badly, along with the bat.
The secured bat handled the not quite squared up balls in a way different matter, resulting in harder hit balls, than the string held bat.

so if you hit the bat off the sweet spot, best have a hold on it.

and still looking for a zepp swing chart with no contact. I love the idea off hitting the ball at 3inches of your 12 inch max bat speed zone, stever (based on the 12 inch max speed zone estimate pulled out our butts)

Not what I expected on the squared up contact with a light (-10) bat. It challenges - and changes - my beliefs. Thanks for making the effort of putting the theory to test.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

My guess that the sharp drop is caused by impact, but I would like to see a chart with no impact, just the dry swing.

You say that there is no, none, maintained max speed, and to ideally reach and start losing it before contact.

I agree with JJ on the distance the max speed of about a foot, but that number is also just a guess.

I like how you are saying zepp is wrong, along with all its reps, zepp would like contact to be at max speed.

now here is the kicker, since impact causes this sharp drop, and max bat speed should be at impact, it would be hard to tell if the bat is still accelerating at impact, because of impact.

Mann, look closely at the plot after the peak. At first it falls off at one rate, and then at impact it falls off at a greater rate.

Impact does cause the rate to decrease ... but velocity had already peaked just ahead of impact.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

View attachment 8576

Most here say that it does not matter if the bathead is traveling 40mph or 50mph at this point. I say it does!

I'm not aware of anyone making such a statement.

 

[mann]

Mann, look closely at the plot after the peak. At first it falls off at one rate, and then at impact it falls off at a greater rate.

Impact does cause the rate to decrease ... but velocity had already peaked just ahead of impact.

do not think so Five, I think the sharp drop was from impact. can you find a no contact swing chart? I am trying

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

and still looking for a zepp swing chart with no contact.

Mann, don't hold your breath waiting for this. The way the Zepp was engineered requires that contact be made for a reading to be displayed.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

do not think so Five, I think the sharp drop was from impact. can you find a no contact swing chart? I am trying

It's not really open to an opinion. Immediately after the velocity peaks the velocity drops off at one rate (dV/dt) and at impact it drops off at a steeper rate. Simply look at the change in slope.

 

[Greenmonsters]

ok, te results of my backyard experiment.

I hung the 33 drop ten cf5 from a string. I finally got one to square off in the sweet spot, and to my surprise, it went 55 feet in the short grass.
I then secured the bat and after I squared on off the sweet spot, it traveled 55 feet in the short grass.

The difference that I noticed that balls that were not squared up with bat held by the string, deflected badly, along with the bat.
The secured bat handled the not quite squared up balls in a way different matter, resulting in harder hit balls, than the string held bat.

so if you hit the bat off the(away from) sweet spot, best have a hold on it.

and still looking for a zepp swing chart with no contact. I love the idea off hitting the ball at 3inches of your 12 inch max bat speed zone, stever (based on the 12 inch max speed zone estimate pulled out our butts)

Since you're not afraid to swing and like experiments - here's one to think about and try. Use a Whip-It bat to try to hit off: 1) a tee; and 2) a machine at 55 mph.

 

[Stever]

I'm not aware of anyone making such a statement.

That's my point. The bathead was going 95mph, until the ball first touched the bat.....what speed is the bat head traveling now (picture), is what I believe is the difference in Girl #1 & #2.
Edit: I was watching the two girls hit last night trying to see more....when the slower bat speed girl (Girl #1) dad came up to me and said his kid was clocked at 68mph at a camp in San Diego....hmmm. We have been working on bat speed and improvement is possibly shown, or is the kid possibly swinging harder in an actual live situations. From the naked eye, when watching them hit in the academy last night it looks like Girls #1 is crushing the ball and Girl #2 really slows on the way to extension.

If two swings reached 95mph, and during compression one slowed to 50mph and one slowed to 40mph....would be there be a difference in batted ball distance?

Mann thanks for the test! And I have two whip hits if you want to borrow one for the next test

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

If two swings reached 95mph, and during compression one slowed to 50mph and one slowed to 40mph....would be there be a difference in batted ball distance?

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.

Why is this the case? Because the transfer of energy was more efficient.

The conservation of momentum states that "Mass x Velocity" (momentum) is conserved. So if going into impact the Velocity was 95mph, and leaving impact the Velocity was 40mph, then that loss of MV is transferred to the ball (... note that the Mass of the bat did not change, but the Velocity did change). The greater amount of momentum being transferred is rewarded with greater ball exit speed.

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.

 

[BadMonkeys]

I got no solid answers as to why the slower bat hits it further. Timing is not the answer, to many swings have been taken. The bats both seem to be pretty live....maybe the next step is for me to swing both just to see if one bat is not ridiculous......but then, when hitting off the tee there distances seemed to coincide with there perspective bat speeds.....who knows...

From Dr. Russell, "a gain in batted-ball speed only results if you are swinging the same bat faster. Swinging a lower MOI bat faster does not resulting in a faster batted-ball speed. This is because the effectiveness of the collision between bat and ball depends on the MOI of the bat, and a lower MOI bat produces a less effective collision with the ball. If the bat-swing speed is held constant, a bat with a lower moment-of-inertia produces a less-effective collision with the ball such that the batted-ball speed actually decreases for the lower MOI bat. In fact, when a player switches to a lower MOI bat, the increase in batted-ball speed due to higher swing speed is almost exactly cancelled out by the reduction in batted-ball speed because the lower MOI bat impacts the ball less effectively."

Since the same bat is not being used it is possible the girl with the slower swing speed is using a bat with a higher moment of inertia