Bat Speed

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Westshore Storm

www.freewebs.com/westshorestorm

How do you feel about 24oz bats in 16u.... is this common?

Would a lesser ounce bat help with bat speed?

 

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I could be a little off, but I was told by a pretty knowledgeable source that you could gain up to 3 mph of bat speed for every ounce you drop, to a certain point. ?

My daughter put down her end loaded 33/24 Rockettech and picked up a 33/23 balanced bat, and consistently picked up 6-8 mph in bat speed.

 

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I am going to say that this is very dependent on the player.

We have a young lady playing down here in Texas that has Bustos like strength. She has made a verbal to UT. The hitting coach told her to start using a 34 - 26. As I told Howard I have never seen a girl this quick and strong at her age. (16) They wanted her to get used to it now as they felt by the time she gets to them in 2 years she will have that weight down and will not loose any speed. She is only going to get stronger. She is a big girl. Plays 3rd base and is quick as a cat.

Has Olympic potential if she keeps her head on straight and plays to her full potential.

Mass = Distance but only if the bat speed doesnt drop too much because the player doesnt have the strength developed yet to handle it.

Elliott.

 

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Proper hand path to the ball or connection varies among hitting instructors and exactly how you do it will either create more bat speed or create bat drag and less bat speed.

Albert P swings the bat at 86.99 MPH source GQ Magazine Sept. 06 and CB swings at 76 -78 MPH source Team USA.

Their big zone however it quite different AP stays in it 60 inches and CB stays in it 72 inches, most of our new students are 30 to 40 inches as we measure and show how to do it at our clinics....the longer you can stay on the plane of the pitch the better your chances of making solid contact with the ball.

This is why we do not teach swinging down on the ball or level as it reduces your big zone coverage and bat speed.

Grounders being hit with an RT or end loaded bat? Quick solution use a balanced bat until you master a proper hand path.

I use the Swing Speed Radar unit produced by Sports Sensors, Inc.

When the elbow stays strong and stacked on the back side and the elbow clears the body you are stronger as was demonstrated to Elliot. We teach this to all our students so they can feel it themselves.

We recommend swinging the end loaded bat PROVIDED you have a proper bat path otherwise swing a balanced bat as you work on your bat path and yes we have proved it.

 

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DD has used a 34/26 since her dad ordered the wrong size when she was 13U. At 16U still uses it. Have to say her swing is affected more by the distance between her ears rather then the length and weight of her bat. She is bigger than some 16U players so maybe that does play into it, but doesn't seem to have too much trouble with her bat.

 

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Question.... let me go to the mountain on this one and ask the gurus, somethnig thats rattled around in my head today after reading the post this morning, considering a few things, ,,, the girl you spoke of using a heavier bat hasnt changed her style of bat (meaning switching from end loaded to balanced or vice versa) whats the thought of using an attack mode/pre loaded style swing to compinsate for any loss of bat speed up front, ive seen drastic improvement in bat speed from girls i work with that switched from a balanced to an end loaded bat and use the attack mode, this might be off the main topic a bit but it started me thinking, am i the only one doing this or are there others that have applied it ,.....

Tim

 

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The attack mode is part of our drills as you know....we work to get them to that position so they can handle the end loaded bats however it is the journey that gets us to that ultimate designation and it does not happen overnight as you well know.

We have several kids using it with two strikes and will hit it hard however no one has hit a home run yet because the linear phase is not there to provide the additional momentum.

You are correct that in that position you will feel like a snake coiled to unload which is why we do it...remember you have a little more knowledge of exactly what and why we do it and she is not the average hitter.

Just my opinion....

 

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i agree, she is not your avg hitter, i guess my thought was to add speed by the attack mode to make up for the extra weight of the heavier bat, and i guess if the student were already versed in this form before going to a heavier piece of lumber, it may help ,,, but i see what you mean,,,,, thats why i went to the mountain.....lol, talk to you soon

Tim

 

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i appoligise it seems i hijacked the thread, lol, wasnt intentional......

 

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I'm a grown man with tremendous strength and bat speed compared to absolutely ANY 16 year old female. I wouldn't use a 26-ounce bat against top pitching. Too heavy. Personally, I wouldn't go any heavier than 22. What's the point? The bats are so good now that the ball jumps no matter the weight. How far do you need to hit a ball? It's not slow pitch. It's not distance home run derby. It's fastpitch. Most of the fences are between 200 and 240 feet. Give a hitter with good bat speed a 32 inch 22 ounce bat and she'll be able to clear any fence --- and more important, she'll be able to get the barrel on the hard stuff inside. Just sayin'...

 

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Played,

I dont disagree with what your saying here but I am going to use a recent experience to explain to you why you might want a bigger bat for a stronger girl. Was watching Crystal Bustos last weekend playing against Canada. Had Howard sitting beside me. This is Crystals 3rd AB in the game. Howard leans over and says to me. Watch she will hit this one on the ground.

Crystal jumps on an inside pitch turns on it hard it hits the ground about 3 feet in front of Candrea and drills him in the knee. I am surprised he didnt drop. He was in some serious pain. So Howard is correct. Howard says she will do it again. Crystal looks at the next pitch and its about 4 inches outside. She doesnt offer at it. The very next pitch was in almost the EXACT same location. Crystal tilts over the plate, disconnects the swing, reaches out that 4 inches and then some. The ball lands in the LEFT field bleachers about 6 rows from the top. This is on a pitch way outside. I look at Howard and he has this grin about 4 feet wide on his face and we give each other a high 5.

Crystal doesnt touch that pitch or hit a home run with a shorter bat. All she really did was flick her wrist through the ball. The centrifugal force of the bat did the rest. When I watched the swing on the replay monitor, it was flat UGLY in terms of staying connected. BUT sometimes to get to the extreme outside you have to disconnect. That is what Crystal did and it paid off for her with a 3 run shot that sealed the deal against Canada that day. If they are going to pitch away you have to figure out a way to hit the ball. I am sure Team Canada is still picking their jaws off the dirt after seeing that. I know that pitcher didnt expect that one.

Now granted we are talking about the strongest female hitter out there in the game today. But in this case bigger was better. If I am a good hitter the more bat in terms of length I can keep in the strike zone the more dangerous I am. Add that weight and I will hit it with authority

Elliott.

 

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As of last week she was using a 34 inch 28 ounce and swings at 76-78 MPH.

Her elbows slotting to there position is where she gains a lot of her momentum and by keeping the head down during contact she engages the intrinsic muscle group and in her and my opinion we think it could add 30 to 70 feet on the ball.

She started doing that in 2002 and since then she has been hitting it farther and farther and her bat speed is picking up or staying equal as she was swinging a 26 ounce back then.

Elliot I was informed it is not centrifugal force but is actually centripetal force.

Bottom line F=M x A and that means more distance provided you have the correct hand path and you maintain your maximum bat speed while using the heavier bat.

Most MLB players could swing much heavier bats than they currently use and in years past they were indeed heavier. They went to the 34-33 inch and 31 32 ounce in favor of bat control knowing they could get the distance and maintain the bat speed with what they were using.

Yesterday we showed two parents about hand path and bat speed...I set a tee up exactly 11 inches off the outside corner and she was swinging down on the ball as that is what her father taught her and she was not even close to touching it. I told them after we redirect her hand path at the end of the session she will be able to do it. After 2 hours she did it and with power and force and he shook his head in disbelief. Would I want her to hit a ball that far out of the zone? No! However you better make sure when you try to walk her you pitch far enough away or surprise!

 

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great discussion, the way pitchers at the 12u level have a passion for that outside corner our girls better learn to hit it. Especially if blue is giving a big corner. Last weekend we had a guy giving 6-8 inches off the corner. I thought by the 4th inning we might get called out for standing on the plate trying to hit. The team that has more girls being able to reach the borderline outside strike and actually hit it with authority the better off your team will be.

We really had problems sunday. If I saw 1 ball dribbled off the end of the bat I must have seen 2 dozen.

I do have a question (I know I should know this !) but anyway , If "hitting around the ball" or overextending occurs then why does keeping the hands inside the ball make it easier for a kid to hit the outside pitch ? MD

 

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If you will recall we put the bat in against the stomach of the person standing at the end of the bat and without moving the hands we simply rotated towards the pitcher and the bat pulled off the stomach area.

The over rotation is one of the reasons we hit around the ball. Use the belly button position/ direction as an indicator of how far you have rotated. Additionally, not releasing or uncocking the wrists soon enough on the outside pitch will also result in hitting around the ball especially if the front side is opening too soon.

Extension as to after hitting the ball will be in the direction you are trying to hit the ball by keeping your hands inside the path of the ball and NOT knob of the bat to the ball.

Get them to release the wrists earlier and and rotate as need to prevent over rotation.

Remember we tested Kayla by having her try to hit a ball 11 inches off the plate by using her old swing and then after two hours she hit it by keeping her hands inside the ball and with her hands above the plane of the pitch.

Simply extending around the ball will not drive the ball off the bat hard enough and the ball will be spinning or sliding off the bat. As a right handed batter this usually can be seen with the ball hooking to right field and going foul as evidence of hitting around the ball and over rotation.

 

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don't know if anyone else will see the humor in this but that was the most technical explaination of our entire game last weekend VS the Doom 95. "simply extending around the ball will not drive the ball hard enough off the bat and will result in the ball spinning off the bat " I swear you must have sneaked over to Rumpke and watched us ! Pitcher was living outside, We must have hit a dozen "squibbers" to the pitcher and 1st/2nd basemen. Lots and lots of hits with tons of spin on them, exactly as you described (without being there ) MD