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In my opinion no as I have found the height of the MOI to release (weight) with the centrifugal force to the release of the wrist angle and rotating as needed.
Hitting and Hitters Discussion What is the scientific explanation for ....
In my opinion no as I have found the height of the MOI to release (weight) with the centrifugal force to the release of the wrist angle and rotating as needed.
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would the speed of the weight nearing the end of the bat at about the time the wrists start to unhinge increase bat speed ? I have a bat w/ fluid inside of it and as I swing the bat it feels as thou the weight will help increase or pull the bat through faster. fr
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In my opinion it does as you can feel the hands and wrists directing the release better when it starts from the hands up verse putting a sleeve or donut on the bat. I have found most kids can handle 3 ounces and I use number 9 bird shot. I tried the water one and I did not like it myself and there is also one that has a metal rod in it and it slides and I did not like that one either.
We demonstrate the pulling of the hands by using a rope and having the hitter load, toe touch and separate and I hold the other end and put a little tension on it and as they come to slot we are looking to see if the elbows stay connected and the lead elbow makes a good first move and the back elbow is slotting and clearing the body. I find it humorous when I hear someone say keep the rear elbow close to the body...so when we do this I point out the elbow must clear the body and they pull really hard and when I ask them to keep the elbow close they can feel the reduced ability to pull. For me when using the weighted bats like we use the weight is being to slide a little rearwards and as we release the wrist it slides effortlessly to the end of the bat and the muscle memory begins.
A lot of our kids use the Edge Weighted gloves for hitting and long toss so the weight is in the hands verses the end of the bat.
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I have thought of using some bentonite in the water to give it more viscosity, that way the travel through the bat would be slowed a bit. The weighted gloves for long toss is a good idea. FR
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There is something else to consider other than batspeed. This might actually explain the difference more than bat speed at the younger ages.
What I am talking about is player strength or their stiffness to the ground (balance, core strength, player size, etc). The bat is connected to the player who is connected to the ground through their body. The force delivered to the ball must react the force from the ball itself. If the connection between the bat and the ground is weak (as in a weak or low force spring), not all of the kinetic energy of the bat goes into the ball. I believe this is why we teach good balance, developing core strength, keeping our head down (to engage those special muscles in your back), etc. Do you agree Howard?). Therefore, the larger girl, even though she may be swinging the bat slower, can convert more of the kinetic energy into the ball since she is stronger and has more mass (essentially a stronger spring connection to the ground) than the smaller girl who may be whipping the bat at a faster speed.
I believe I have actually seen smaller girls bats appear to slow down on impact with the ball in slow motion video. (my daughter when she was young, for one.).
My guess is that this effect is a stronger influence when the girls are young. As they get stronger and improve their fundamentals, bat speed (and the mass of the bat) become much stronger influences on the distance the ball will go. I also think the physics of what is happening is more complicated than the way I am describing it, but the bottom line is size and strength of the player also influence the distance of the ball.
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pecos --sounds logical to me. I like that addt' info and I think you are dead on about there being a more complicated "physic's" explanation also. My son is a brianiac I should sic him on it. BUT HE ALSO SAYS A CURVE BALL IS AN OPTICAL ILLUSION !!! LOL (i'll start a new thread on this one with a very cool video) Thanks MD
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MD,
Relative to the curve ball, just tell your son, "Magnus effect, go look it up".
Relative to the curve ball, just tell your son, "Magnus effect, go look it up".
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Kurt I pulled this off the net:
"In classical mechanics the term ground reaction force (GRF) refers generically to any force exerted by the ground on a body in contact with it.[1] For example, a person standing on the ground exerts a force on it (equal to the person's weight) and at the same time an equal and opposite ground reaction force is exerted by the ground on the person.
The use of the word reaction derives from Newton's third law, which essentially states that if a force, called action, acts upon a body, then an equal and opposite force, called reaction, must act upon another body.
The force exerted by the ground is commonly referred to as the reaction, although the distinction between action and reaction is completely arbitrary and the expression ground action would be, in principle, equally acceptable."
I think you are correct in that we balance and sequentially load the core by bending at the waist first and softening the knees next and have great balance. We do not use a balance beam or 2 x 4 to hit off of so we need to be at heel plant to maximize the ground reaction forces you alluded to.
The next huge issue is when we hit the ball most girls stop their swing and you will see the bat go up against the shoulder or dump over their back between the shoulder and neck. By doing the hand over drill where we reverse the top hand upside down and pull the bat out of the top hand they get a better idea of making that good first move with the lead arm elbow and actually hit the ball harder with the lead arm verses both hands because they never get to extension. Then when they use both hands they get that big smile. We worked with Mel at Beaver Creek on this drill and she put the next pitch to right center at the base of the 300 foot fence...she is so much like her Mother and stays focused!
