EmptyMessage board »Message Board home »Sign-in or register to get started
Online now: 2 members: Barney Rubble, sscottjames; 16 anonymousDiscussion: Is it bat \"speed\" or bat \"weight\"?
| Posted | Discussion |
| May 13 Mitch Men's 50 68 posts | We've all heard this arguement about what's more important, bat speed or bat weight. Check out this link: http://www.gmi.edu/~drussell/bats.html and then click on the title "How does bat weight affect swing speed and ball velocity". There's a lot of interesting reading on this site so hopefully it works and people can get there, if not please let me know so I can try something else. |
| May 28 W2 4 posts | Speed is more important than the weight of a bat. Remember this, Nothing beats proper mechanics, but the more bat speed that you maintain through the swing, the better the results. Question>>>Do you see the ball when it leaves the bat? |
| May 28 softballer Men's 65 594 posts | REALLY DEPENDS ON THE BALL BEING USED! |
| May 28 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | I would think that the two are inseparable. The lighter the bat, the faster that you can get it around. There are some factors such as weighting of the bat that make bats of the same weight a little different in getting around. All I know is that I remember it being very hard to find even a 30 ounce bat back in the days before Ray Demarini started proving that lighter bats gave us more bat speed. Of course I remember the guys swinging a 36 - 40 ounce bat, often a Bombat or a Tennessee Thumper. Now the guys call a 30 ounce bat heavy. One thing that I liked that Ray did besides lowering the bat weight was using a wiffle ball bat to warm-up for bat speed instead of a heavy warm-up bat. It is only a shame that he never had the pleasure of playing senior softball. |
| May 28 Mitch Men's 50 68 posts | All of these are good points and I agree there are a lot of factors in answering this question. However, the fact is, if you can swing a 32 oz. bat at the "same" speed as a 28 oz. bat, keeping all the other parameters equal i.e. the same ball, same ball speed, same bat material etc., the ball "will" go further with the heavier bat, the physics prove that beyand any doubt. The problem is that most players can not maintain the same bat speed with the heavier bat and the lighter bat is easier to control. What it amounts to is this, every player has a power curve in their swing. At some point along this curve, there is going to be their optimin bat speed to bat weight vs. ball distance ratio. The problem trying to find that perfect bat speed/weight combination and with the prices of bats these days, that could be very expensive. It's fun trying though. |
| May 28 STONEMAN Men's 50 535 posts | This is very complex. One needs to read some articles from L. Noble @ KSU, B & N SOFT- BALL, & others. FACTS: 1) one can have a swing speed of 100 MPH, but if one can't convert that speed into batted-ball speed & distance, it will not mean very much. In one test the bat speed was 80 MPH & the BBS was 84 MPH; the balls distance was 330'. Another test, the bat speed was 92 MPH & the BBS was 83 MPH; this balls distance was343 MPH. etc. 2) Softball COR. have a slight neg. effect on BBS; increasing the COR. from 40 to 47 COR. will decrease the BBS of over 3 MPH & decrease the balls distance by about 11'. 3) "A" players, over a 6 yr. test , bat speeds were in the range of 85-100 MPH. 4) Testing of ball collision is hard because of: a) angle of deflection b) inconsistent ball compression values c) ball cover slippage properties d) varying MOI values for each bat models. 5) Depending on the batters swing mechanics & the bats location of it's sweet spot, the speed of the sweet spot will be 85-90% of the end-of-bat speed. Simple? ... If a 6'-6", 280 lb. person swings a bat @ 100 MPH & another person, 6'-0" & 180 lb. swings the same bat @ 100 MPH, the one with more power & skill (TIMING) will hit the ball harder. Once a ball has been batted, how much does the bat slow down to? 90 MPH to 76 MPH or 90 MPH down to 69 MPH. |
| June 2 Walk 192 posts | Well I will voice an opinion on this but I do not claim to be an expert. Ray introduced us to a new concept in softball called bat speed and he was right up to a point. I believe warming up with a lighter bat is a great idea but unlike my friend Ray (and we argued this all the time while he was here on this earth) I believe you should swing the heaviest bat you can while maintaining your bat speed. The heavier bat will hit the ball harder, farther, and faster as long as you have the bat speed to control it. Another plus of the heavier bat is the fact that when the wind is blowing in you have a better chance beating the wind. For home run hitters this is a very important part of the game. Now I know some will disagree and I understand but this has worked for me for years and still does today. Of course weight lifting does help with this process. Well that is my two-cents on the subject and I will understand if some disagree each and everyone of us has our different thoughts that work for us. This works for me. But hey what do I know? Walk |
