Speed of ball off the bat

Also other variables such as bat weight. Justin used a 32 Oz bat, chipper used a 30. I'm not sure what EY and Maybin use.

Nuh-uhh. Chipper used a 33 oz bat, or even heavier, following the philosophy taught him by Willie Stargell.

Heaviest bat you can handle. I'm assuming one of the terms in that equation represents mass. Basically F = MA.
 
Nuh-uhh. Chipper used a 33 oz bat, or even heavier, following the philosophy taught him by Willie Stargell.

Heaviest bat you can handle. I'm assuming one of the terms in that equation represents mass. Basically F = MA.

I've read so many damned opinions on that. Bonds used a 32oz bat to hit 73 homers, lighter than McGwire's 35 oz bat. In the end what matters is putting the right part of the bat on the ball. Doesn't matter the weight. I think in the old days (think pre 1960s) it did, because pitches weren't humming in at 90+ mph Now a days the name of the game is batspeed. You want the ideal bat for your timing though. Don't want to be too far out in front or behind.
 
Nuh-uhh. Chipper used a 33 oz bat, or even heavier, following the philosophy taught him by Willie Stargell.

Heaviest bat you can handle. I'm assuming one of the terms in that equation represents mass. Basically F = MA.

you're right however I remember Chipper switching over to a 30 in 2010 when he was struggling and then started hitting well right before he blew out his acl in Houston.
 
I've read so many damned opinions on that. Bonds used a 32oz bat to hit 73 homers, lighter than McGwire's 35 oz bat. In the end what matters is putting the right part of the bat on the ball. Doesn't matter the weight. I think in the old days (think pre 1960s) it did, because pitches weren't humming in at 90+ mph Now a days the name of the game is batspeed. You want the ideal bat for your timing though. Don't want to be too far out in front or behind.

Weight does matter. It matters in cricket, it matters in tennis, it matters in golf, and it certainly matters in baseball. These are all sports where the object ball is being re-directed by the force of an assisting object rather than a just a human body part.

In tennis, professional rackets vary from 10.3oz on the lighter side to 13.5oz on the heavy side. Also some rackets are heavier at the top of the frame, some heavier at the bottom (head light vs. head heavy). The weight distribution in some rackets is different, and can favor someone who can create a lot of racket head speed by themselves naturally, or someone that can't will need a lighter frame. And then there's the added factor of string tension for racket sports. Some pros string as low as 40lbs of tension, some as high as 68lbs (the lower end being more power, the higher end being more spin). Something strung at 40lbs can tend to feel like a trampoline where the ball just gets caught in a spider web and thrown back out. Something strung at 62lbs can feel as stiff as if you were using a ping pong racket. Not as much elasticity.

Bonds could swing a 32oz in 2001 because he was just ripped. His physical beast of a body at that age helped him generate a lot of bat speed, and in addition to that when he did square up with a heavy bat, the ball is going to travel farther and faster. McGwire was very muscular we all know that, his 35oz bat is also why his swing looked almost too casual. He didn't have to swing as fast with a heavier bat, which is why a lot of his homers looked effortless.

Sheffield would hit rockets because of the heavy bat he used like Bonds plus the tremendous bat speed he created. Ichiro uses a heavy bat, but his swing is so long yet short that he doesn't need to create much bat speed to do what he wants​ to do.

Also cannot forget the impact that maple bats have had on the game. Bonds was one of the first to really make maple bats a popular commodity in MLB. Now I think a lot of big name guys use maple bats compared to the ash.
 
Back
Top