The only good donut is the edible kind

[Ken Krause]

The other day, one of our players showed up with a new addition to her bag -- one of those round "donuts" that you slip onto your bat. She was all happy about it until she saw the look of horror on my face. I told her those things don't help you in the on-deck circle. They actually hurt you.

While you may think they're making your bat faster, they're actually making it slower. At least that's what I remembered some experts saying. Generally speaking, heavier things are helpful for building strength, but they have to be balanced by something lighter than normal for speed; swinging a heavier bat trains you to swing slower.

Afterwards, though, I thought I'd best check on my facts to be sure that was still the thinking. You never know -- things change in the game all the time. So I did an Internet search, but the results were inconclusive. Then I went out to the good oldDiscuss Fastpitch Forum and there it was. Down in a thread on batting cages was an embedded YouTube video from FSN Sport Science that studied the effect of using a donut (or any heavy weight for that matter) on swinging a bat.

For those who don't have time to view the full video right away, I'm happy to report that I was correct. Those donuts are bad for your swing. In the video segment they not only show that it makes you swing a little slower rather than faster, it actually activates your slow-twitch muscles.

The full video is worth a look. You'll have to scroll down a bit to see it. I tried to find it on YouTube directly but it doesn't appear to be posted anymore -- or else I don't know how to search there.

Either way, if you have one in your bag take it out. Use it for a doorstop or a paperweight if you must, but not to prepare to swing on-deck. It's not doing what you think it is.

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[Greenmonsters]

Righto, Ken. The only good donuts for SB are "sinkers" not those air filled things you get at DD (Dunkin Donuts), but those fried cakes, just 2 of which will cause you to sink if you were to try to swim immediately thereafter.

 

[de Groot]

Wow, that's really interesting.
I use one myself but I knew I wasn't increasing my bat speed, It just made me feel a lot more comfortable up to bat because when I pick up my game bat at the start of a new game it feels heavy but I put the weight on, take it off and it feels lighter. I knew it wasn't making me swing further or anything though.
So basically you shouldn't use any type of weight when going on deck? I personally like to.

 

[Ken Krause]

Righto, Ken. The only good donuts for SB are "sinkers" not those air filled things you get at DD (Dunkin Donuts), but those fried cakes, just 2 of which will cause you to sink if you were to try to swim immediately thereafter.

Totally agree, Greenmonsters. If I'm going to eat a donut, and if you see my photo you know I've had plenty, I want to know I ate it after I'm done. Those air-filled ones have all the calories and none of the satisfaction.

 

[Ken Krause]

Wow, that's really interesting.
I use one myself but I knew I wasn't increasing my bat speed, It just made me feel a lot more comfortable up to bat because when I pick up my game bat at the start of a new game it feels heavy but I put the weight on, take it off and it feels lighter. I knew it wasn't making me swing further or anything though.
So basically you shouldn't use any type of weight when going on deck? I personally like to.

Seems to be ok for just loosening up the muscles, but the added weight "my bat feels lighter" doesn't actually work. Marc has written on that a lot -- overload training on speed skills. Your muscles will do what you've trained them to do. Bat weights train your muscles to swing slower and turn off your fast twitch muscles. Not what you want to do right before you go out to hit. Overload/underload, away from the game, however, does work. But you need both.