Early bat speed - does it exist?

[_MIA_]

I read that they measure on the "Sweet spot" or 6 inches down from end of barrel. Which is why you have to actually input your bat length and weight into the app so it calculates correctly. So it should be measuring - barrel.

 

[fanboi22]

Start here :

Baseball Swing Speed

We recently sat down with Blast Baseball Manager Justin Goltz and Blast Motion Lead Biomechanist/Algorithm Developer Patrick Cherveny to discuss swing speed

blastmotion.com

Then read this :

David Ortiz Statcast, Visuals & Advanced Metrics | MLB.com

(ALL) Avg Exit Velocity: 92.9, Hard Hit %: 47.9, wOBA: .399, xwOBA: .422, Barrel %: 14.2.

baseballsavant.mlb.com

Thanks for the links, unless i missed it, i still don't know if early bat speed means something different. Everyone just focuses on bat speed and EV. So to Pattar's point, not sure we can conclude anything without more data points.

But if Big Poppy is a model swing and 'we' think that he has a good barrel turn and has 'early bat speed' because he is recognized as one of the better hitters, then i would guess that he would be pretty close to other big leaguers. I would then guess that 'early bat speed' is nothing more than not letting the barrel lag too far and keeping resistance with the hands to hold the bat tight enough to keep bat speed and hand speed consistent until whip.

But with Bobby's question, is it actually better to let the bat lag further and actually having less bat speed so that the whip is a more aggressive acceleration thru the zone? So a lack of 'early bat speed' may be better?

 

[Shawn]

I read that they measure on the "Sweet spot" or 6 inches down from end of barrel. Which is why you have to actually input your bat length and weight into the app so it calculates correctly. So it should be measuring - barrel.

Correct they measure 6 inches from the end of the bat, sweet spot, as well as 6 inches from the knob for hand speed. Yes that is why you have to input the bat size.

 

[Shawn]

Thanks for the links, unless i missed it, i still don't know if early bat speed means something different. Everyone just focuses on bat speed and EV. So to Pattar's point, not sure we can conclude anything without more data points.

But if Big Poppy is a model swing and 'we' think that he has a good barrel turn and has 'early bat speed' because he is recognized as one of the better hitters, then i would guess that he would be pretty close to other big leaguers. I would then guess that 'early bat speed' is nothing more than not letting the barrel lag too far and keeping resistance with the hands to hold the bat tight enough to keep bat speed and hand speed consistent until whip.

But with Bobby's question, is it actually better to let the bat lag further and actually having less bat speed so that the whip is a more aggressive acceleration thru the zone? So a lack of 'early bat speed' may be better?

In the double pendulum model a lack of early batspeed is a good thing.

 

[fanboi22]

In the double pendulum model a lack of early batspeed is a good thing.

I would even say that in your original Double Pendulum post the barrel isn't actually that rigid thru initiation. So if there was a tensioned spring or something on there that gave a little when the swing starts, that would probably be more realistic, as well as allowing the linear move at the end so the hands dont have to stop. but overall yes, i am not sure that early barrel speed exists as people have been talking about it. And that torquing the barrel only 'holds' the bat in the same spot in relation to the torso during the start of the swing. And torquing the barrel does not actually accelerate the barrel faster than the hands are traveling.

So to me 'early bat speed' is a fallacy based on the very little data we show. But it makes enough sense to me that i wont focus on it. Now, what type of cue to give DD to make sure she is turning the barrel on the swing may be the issue. as of now i tell her to keep hands rigid and hold on so the barrel comes with the torso,

 

[Rolling Hard]

Ok Think of it this way. Early bat speed accomplished by turning the barrel is like a running start in a race. But it has to be controlled as not to dump the barrel (so younger girls may struggle) and also controlled enough to keep lag and not cast. If done correctly there may even be some down cock. (increased angle) All these things can be overdone. So we all just need to swing like this:

 

[Rolling Hard]

Oh and by the way, Neither his hip chassis or his shoulders stay parallel to the plate.

 

[TDS]

Any kind of bat waggle (running start) needs to be synced with the core in the high level swing. Most use it for timing and tempo and not for early bat speed.

 

[Bobby Shirer]

So wouldn't it stand to reason that the quickness of the swing (the rapid acceleration of the bat from a standstill) is early bat speed? And once at speed, the inertia (resistance to change) would keep the bat moving at X speed until acted upon by the ball?
Also, the hand speed being greater than barrel speed at the early phases of the swing would only be the slack in the hinge of the hands-to-bat connection and the resistance to movement of the heavier end of the bat? and then torquing the handle becomes all the more important?
and if the bat is only moving X distance, what could early bat speed do other than give more space in which to accelerate the bat to a greater speed at contact?

 

[TDS]

I thought the whole premise behind early bat speed (HI version) is you could wait that much longer and hit it deep in the zone.