Softball Science (Backyard Variety) -- Exit Velocity
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- Apr 16, 2013
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I have never seen or heard of a heavier bat having a larger sweet spot.
I'm not a physics teacher, but I don't think this is difficult. Speed and mass, or mass and speed... Take away from one, but add to the other and you'll still have a similar outcome as if you do it vice versa. What happens when you add both? Now, yes, to be more specific, MOI is a better term than saying "mass". Swing a heavy end loaded bat at the same speed as you swing the same weight but balanced bat, the ball will go further.
When thinking about velocity vs weight, I always think about the skinny girl that swings a drop 11 fast. You see her hit the ball, and her bat almost stops. Then, you watch that strong girl swing a heavy bat at the same speed, and the bat barely slows down at all. That's to Rad's point. The mass of the bat is delivering more kinetic energy to the ball. Yes there are also other factors like hand/wrist strength, but Rad was certainly making the point. The ability to push the bat through the ball in motion. This is why I HATE measuring anything off a tee. You want super duper exit speeds off a tee for all those college coaches? Pull out your drop 13. What happens when the ball is in motion (the faster, the more pronounced the difference) is a whole 'nother ball of wax.
I figured the resident Okie professor would have shown up by now.
I'm not a physics teacher, but I don't think this is difficult. Speed and mass, or mass and speed... Take away from one, but add to the other and you'll still have a similar outcome as if you do it vice versa. What happens when you add both? Now, yes, to be more specific, MOI is a better term than saying "mass". Swing a heavy end loaded bat at the same speed as you swing the same weight but balanced bat, the ball will go further.
When thinking about velocity vs weight, I always think about the skinny girl that swings a drop 11 fast. You see her hit the ball, and her bat almost stops. Then, you watch that strong girl swing a heavy bat at the same speed, and the bat barely slows down at all. That's to Rad's point. The mass of the bat is delivering more kinetic energy to the ball. Yes there are also other factors like hand/wrist strength, but Rad was certainly making the point. The ability to push the bat through the ball in motion. This is why I HATE measuring anything off a tee. You want super duper exit speeds off a tee for all those college coaches? Pull out your drop 13. What happens when the ball is in motion (the faster, the more pronounced the difference) is a whole 'nother ball of wax.
I figured the resident Okie professor would have shown up by now.
- Oct 26, 2019
- 1,393
- 113
Hopefully @pattar chimes in because this is the point I was trying to make earlier. My understanding (and I could be wrong) is that there is no “driving through the ball”. The bat could be released right before contact and there would be no change in effect on the ball because the collision is so instant - the ball isn’t on the bat long enough to matter. Grip strength or hand wrist strength is irrelevant in the bat and ball collision.
It is, however, very important in the kinetic chain and transferring the energy into the swing. I’m signing off now and waiting for @pattar to tell me I am wrong
I'm not sure I agree.
If bat speed is 100 mph and EV is 30, I'm not using that bat.
If bat speed is 30 mph and EV is 100, I'm using that bat.
How fast the ball is going means more than how fast the bat is going.
I don't have the best grasp on "bat drag". I get the concept, but not sure I could identify it in a swing. Anyone have any good explanations or videos on it? (I'd google, but there's so much garbage out there I'm not sure I'd get the right answer).
radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
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Good for you to ask that question!
Because i commented earlier to this topic. Will say this about that.
There are
(*different perspectives)
to bat lag.
Some see it as a timing issue that if the batter swings earlier the bat/barrel would have been on time.
As is with hitting (and pitching)
The mechanical debate then takes presidence in the conversation ~
*How to swing and best way to get barrel to the ball.
That said
there may not be one answerto the question, What is bat lag?!
LOOK FORWARD TO OTHERS REPLYS TO YOUR GREAT QUESTION!!
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- Apr 16, 2013
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Bat lag and bat drag are two very different things. Head over to the swing mechanics forum and ask that question. Don't know that this forum is the best place to start delving into mechanics. I'd like to see this conversation stay on the physics behind EV. Bat angle shouldn't have much of anything to do with EV, that's just the direction the ball goes once hit. You can still hit a ball 100mph straight into the ground as you can over the fence.
radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
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Lag
Drag
Both mean fallen behind.
Creates the Tomato
Tomatoe conundrum.
It still comes down to how the person is interpreting what they are seeing.
And how to fix it if needed.
They are just words
interchangeably used by many.
because both words mean
Fallen behind.
Dont want either!
Prefer to use words that promote what we want to do!
... thats my interpretation
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- Jul 2, 2013
- 383
- 43
Your last line is definitely correct. But how fast the bat is going has a major impact on how fast the ball goes the other way.
I'm sure I'm not being as clear as I can be, so let me give you a real world example of this.
We decided to move DD up to a 34" bat this year for a few reasons. After doing a fair bit of research we went with a -10 LXT. When the bat arrived, I only compared EV to her 33/23 GA and found that the LXT was slightly better. I didn't go to the trouble of comparing bat speeds because, as you stated, it really didn't matter since EV was better.
Now, if I had the means to, I would have had DD test different weights and measured bat speed along with EV. I would have tested the same LXT but at -8, -9, -10 let's say. If the bat speed would have been drastically different between them, then it would have made the decision an easy one. Let's say the -9 and -10 were within 1mph of each other but the -8 was 5 below the -9. In that case, I would have gone with the -9. All of that because a very close bat speed with a bat that is an ounce heavier would produce a high EV.
Bat speed is not the only variable when it comes to EV but it is the biggest and also easily measured if you have a Blast or DK device. Outside of mass of the bat, the other factors are variable and difficult to measure or contol. Everything from how squarely the ball is hit to the weather conditions at the time could effect the EV.
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