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Online now: 7 members: Bobby B, Dick6, Mugshotz, Todd Farmer, dbh029, kotonk, marcster13; 12 anonymousDiscussion: AN ARTICLE by RUSSELL on FAST & SLOW PITCH BATS!!
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| Aug. 10 STONEMAN Men's 50 535 posts | Matching the Right Bat to the Right Game At the youth level there is no difference in bats for softball and baseball. The dynamics of the game at the youth level are quite different than when played by adults who are stronger and more experienced. But, at the adult level, baseball and softball bats are designed to match their respective games. Conceivibly you could use a baseball bat to play softball, as long as you can adjust to the slightly shorter total length, and the heavier weight. You would probably find that the performance would be about the same as an older lower performance softball bat. Using a softball bat to play baseball would most likely result in cracking or breaking your bat. Softball bats are not designed to withstand the forces resulting from an impact with a baseball. The performance might be really good and the ball might come off the bat pretty fast, but you would most likely break your softball bat. The same would be true of using a fast-pitch softball bat in a slow-pitch game; you would probably damage your fast-pitch bat. You could use a slow-pitch bat in a fast-pitch softball game without damaging it but the larger weight (actually, larger moment-of-inertia) makes the slow-pitch bat more difficult to swing quickly and you would probably not hit as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- References [1] D.A. Russell, "Hoop frequency as a predictor of performance for softball bats," Engineering of Sport 5, Vol. 2, pp. 641-647 (International Sports Engineering Association, 2004). [author's preprint version (PDF)] Will this HELP??? ...The STONEMAN |
| Aug. 10 STONEMAN Men's 50 535 posts | Slow Pitch Versus Fast Pitch Softball Bats. No softball bat review could commence without separating out the two basic games, slow pitch and fast pitch, and see how game style and rules has driven related albeit unique design and manufacturing technologies. As a player, you just want the best softball bat, end of discussion. However, you'll benefit from knowing how these new generation bats are designed in order that you best exploit the properties when you're up to the plate. In simplest terms your slow pitch softball bat at up to 30 ounces is heavier by almost 7 ounces over the heaviest fast pitch softball bats which top out at around 23 ounces. Lengths are comparable, especially in the adult leagues where bat lengths vary from 30 to 34 inches. Where's The Bat's ‘Sweet Spot'. Because more material, more weight, is carried by the slow pitch softball bat it becomes an engineering certainty that the increase in material weight will be reflected in an increasingly large barrel. Larger and longer barrels sizes mean that your hitting ‘sweet spot' is also expanding. Light weight, shock resistant composite materials and alloys have permitted softball designers to exaggerate the barrel end surface area to over 12 inches in length, without sacrificing strength or stability in the bat. Tapered handle design is shared by both slow pitch and fast pitch softball bats. Fast pitch bat designs separate away from slow pitch bats primarily in the barrel end of the shaft, where a smaller ‘sweet spot' is inevitable due to less materials being invested in the manufacturing process. |
