Message board »Message Board home »Sign-in or register to get started
Online now: 1 member: TABLE SETTER 11; 102 anonymousDiscussion: Does This Make Sense??
| Posted | Discussion |
| Dec. 1, 2014 Home Plate 35 posts | Does This Make Sense?? When I was a younger man (which seems like a long, long time ago) 28-32 oz bats seemed to be the ideal weight for me. Then about 18 years ago the 27 oz bat was providing all the speed I needed to put the ball over the fence. I could get in the low to mid 80's mph on a speed meter. But in the last few years I can't get beyond the warning track. So with a bat speed meter I found that my bat speeds were in the mid to upper 70's mph. swinging the 27 oz. I also tried swinging some different weight bats. I learned that I am able to get a 29 oz. bat speed nearly the same as the 27 oz bat. So I was wondering that is it possible that as a person gets older their bat speed will slow down (just like a persons reflexes slows down as they age) so much, that they are better off going back to a heavier bat? |
| Dec. 1, 2014 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | yes it will...you need to check the speed after you contact a softball...if that speed is dropping a whole lot..your not powering thru the ball...ray demarini in his video showed he could dry swing a bat 95 mph 26-29 oz(using speed gun)....but would loose speed when he made contact with the ball.......he lost the least amount of speed swinging a 26 oz bat...that is what your looking for..... |
| Dec. 2, 2014 ? 121 posts | I think that as a person gets older their twitch or high speed muscles decline. Which would explain why there are less home runs in the older age groups. Even though a person is just as strong they lose the higher speeds due to age. So it would be possibe that the higher speeds you once had with the lighter bat will decline to about the same speeds as a heavier bat as you get older. |
| Dec. 2, 2014 hemi racer Men's 65 237 posts | I'm 67 and my bat speed with a 26oz. is about 73-74 mph. When I try a 29oz. bat it drops some 4 mph. So for me I'm still better of with the lighter bat. Don't know about a couple of years from now. |
| Dec. 2, 2014 softballnuts 81 posts | hemi racer Is it possible that 4 mph drop in bat speed could be made up for by swinging a 3 ounce heavier bat? |
| Dec. 2, 2014 Full Monty 88 posts | I don't know if there is any study on the effects of swing speed as a person ages. Maybe somebody did a study on a Golf swing. It's too bad Ray DeMarini didn't live longer, he probably would have made a video on this subject. |
| Dec. 2, 2014 Clean Up 68 posts | The more I think about it, I believe that as you age your bust or twitch speed will decrease even if your body strenght remains the same. The only example I think of is Major League Pitchers. The pitchers fastball velocity will decline as he gets older no matter how much working out he does. |
| Dec. 2, 2014 hemi racer Men's 65 237 posts | softballnuts, if I understand your question is can you make up bat speed by going to a heavier bat? That has not been the result in my case, as a matter of fact it has resulted in just the opposite in losing bat speed. Oh!, I think I understand your thoughts now. You're thinking the extra mass of the bat will compensate for the lower bat speed? If that's your question I really don't know. I'm sure it would make up some of the difference. Maybe some of our bat experts can answer that for us or give us an educated guess. |
| Dec. 3, 2014 softballnuts 81 posts | The widely accepeted Rule of Thumb is: Use the Heaviest bat that you can and still maintain your highest swing speed. Or words to that effect. And the Rule of Thumb works well. Probably the 26-28 ounce bats will give you about 7 mph or more over the heavier bats. But at some point in time you start noticing your swing speed has slowed down to the point where you are getting about 5 mph or less speed over the heavier bat. If the Rule of Thumb applies, then using the heavier bat may become a logical option! |
| Dec. 3, 2014 cal50 Men's 50 328 posts | I agree with softballnuts if always swinging for power, but a lighter bat gives you more bat control when place hitting. |
| Dec. 3, 2014 laramie55 13 posts | softballnuts is correct. For every hitter there is a point at which the batted ball speed will decrease as you increase your bat weight (or mass as the physicists prefer) because of the decrease in bat speed. Add mass (weight) until you lose no more than 4-5 mph. I talked hitting for half an hour with Ray Demarini back when he was one of the first to understand that bat speed was paramount. Each of us is going to have to find the optimum weight (and if you are a lifelong player, more than once over the course of your life). You can't cheat the laws of physics but you can get them to work for you by adding mass to the end of the bat, i.e, end loading. Again, it's about striking a balance, this time it's about getting the maximum end load and still being able to control the bat. End loading benefits all types of hitters. The data is out there, from numerous sources, just search "physics of baseball/softball bats". |
| Dec. 4, 2014 Snot Nose Kid 67 posts | Hey Mr. Swing Makeover Ken, Mr. Senior Softball Bat Reviews Super Dave or any other Senior Softball YouTube Stars. I would like for you to make a video that sheds light on the effects of aging in relation to hitting softballs. Sharing some your thoughts and suggestions on this subject would be very helpful to the all of us senior softball players that watch your videos. After all, you are one of us and you will be facing this is the not so distant future. |
