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This week we test the fact that a lighter bat gives more bat speed than a heavy bat, and what does that mean.
Episode 62 – Bat Speed? – The Fastpitch Softball TV Show
This video comes from softball site fastpitch.tv and deals with how changes in bat weight effect bat speed, batted ball velocity, and batted ball distance. Fairly simple test – use radar to measure bat speed of different weighted bats (imagine that!). They could have just hit balls off a tee and measured the ball exit speed (like this), but I suppose getting actual calculations assuming a more constant environment are more controlled. Here are some conclusions:
Keepin it rollin’ with more updating, transferring this old link from ‘06
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Here is what she wrote:
“Hey Jeff, hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to let you know that I made first team all county this year and lead my team in doubles and almost tied the school record for homeruns, all thanks to you.”
Here is another study that I was a part of at La Tech – this one was done to see if adding weight to the forearms while training (taking swings) would help improve bat speed and batted ball velocity.
First, a long overdue congratulations to the Louisiana Tech Softball team, who won their first ever WAC conference championship back in May. What a great group of hard-workers who pulled off multiple wins against ranked opponents to bring home the title.
Along with another assistant, I got involved in directing the team’s strength and conditioning program for the 2007-2008 season. What we were very fortunate to be able to do was measure/test all kinds of physical and performance variables at the beginning and end our training.
I made a previous post about presenting a conference poster about our intial findings regarding the relationship of the players’ physiological characteristics to the performance characteristics. So after all this time, here is the actual poster that I presented:
Big surprise, the girls who were bigger and stronger hit the ball harder! It was nice to find some relationship between the variables, but the correlations are not great, with the highest r-squared value being .25
Just the other day I saw someone in the weight room doing wrist rolls and it made me think of this article. I’ve been meaning to post it for a while now, so here it is.
Dr. Szymanski is an assistant professor here at La Tech and is one of the main reasons I decided to attend. As I’ve mentioned, we’ve already started a study about the effects of weight lifting on bat speed and batted ball speed.
Basically, this study finds that although group 2 (which does additional grip/forearm strngthening exercises) achievs significatly greater grip/forearm strength, but their bat speed does not improve significantly as compared to group 1.
I do have a copy of this entire article, but I will post the abstract (as found here) below:
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Szymanski DJ; McIntyre JS; Szymanski JM; Molloy JM; Madsen NH; Pascoe DD
Department of Health and Human Performance, Auburn University, Alabama 36849, USA. dszyman@latech.edu
This study examined the effects of 12 weeks of wrist and forearm training on linear bat-end velocity (BV), center of percussion velocity (CV), hand velocity (HV), and time to ball contact of high school baseball players. Forty-three baseball players were randomly assigned by a stratified sampling technique to 1 of 2 training groups. Group 1 (n = 23) and group 2 (n = 20) performed the same full-body resistance exercises while training 3 days a week for 12 weeks according to a stepwise periodized model. Group 2 also performed wrist and forearm exercises 3 days a week for 12 weeks. Wrist and forearm strength were measured pre- and posttraining. Linear BV, CV, HV, and time to ball contact were recorded pre- and posttraining by a motion-capture system. A 3 repetition maximum (RM) parallel squat and bench press were measured at baseline and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of training. Both groups showed statistically significant increases (p < or = 0.01) in linear BV, CV, and HV (m.s(-1) +/- SD) after 12 weeks of training; however, there were no differences between the 2 groups. Both groups statistically increased wrist and forearm strength (p < or = 0.05). Group 2 had statistically greater increases (p < or = 0.05) in 10 of 12 wrist and forearm strength measures than did group 1. Both groups made statistically significant increases in predicted 1RM parallel squat and bench press after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of training; however, there were no differences between groups. These data indicate that a 12-week stepwise periodized training program can significantly increase wrist and forearm strength, linear BV, CV, and HV among high school baseball players. However, increased wrist and forearm strength did not contribute to further increases in linear BV, CV, or HV.
These accompanying charts and figures may also be of interest:
*of special note is that the study was done with HIGH SCHOOL players
My basic comment is that forearm and grip strength does not have to be totally neglected, but it also does not have to be insanely over-hyped. There are plenty of exercises and training scenarios that allow a player to focus on moving and using the major muscle groups while allowing grip and forearm strength to improve (ie deadlift)
I found this to be an interesting study:
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| RELATIONSHIP OF GRIP STRENGTH AND FOREARM SIZE TO BAT VELOCITY IN COLLEGE FEMALE SOFTBALL PLAYERS by Drew Giardina, Heather Leslie, Lezlie Raridon, and Dan Zimmer Exercise Science Program, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO |
| Original Publication Information: IAHPERD Journal Volume 30. No.2 Spring, 1997. |
INTRODUCTION
Most research in the field of baseball and softball has been done to investigate the relationship to the properties of throwing the ball. Little research has been completed to determine the various aspects of swinging a bat. While throwing is a major portion of the game, hitting is becoming increasingly important. Hitting for power and higher averages are what are more important in today’s game.
One of the main focuses in hitting is the quickness with which a player can “get around on the ball”. This concept may be even more important in the game of softball than in baseball. Decreasing the amount of time it takes to swing the bat will enable the female softball athlete to have more time to decide whether to attempt to hit the ball.Past research has also shown that the faster a bat is swung, the more force that can be applied to the ball causing it to travel farther in flight, all other factors being equal. Therefore, identifying factors that can increase bat velocity may increase hitting productivity. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of grip strength (GS) and forearm size to softball bat velocity.
METHODS
Eighteen female college varsity softball players (age = 20.3 yrs; weight = 162 lbs) with a minimum of five years of competitive experience were used in the study. An electronic timing system was used to measure the time interval of each bat swing through a 0.54 m space over home plate. The system consisted of two infrared cells attached to a digital timer. Following five practice swings, each player was measured for three trials, and the average bat velocity used for all analyses.Three right and three left isometric GS measurements were taken on each subject using a Jaymar hand dynamometer. The dynamometer was held to the side of the body with slight flexion at the elbow to maximize results (Vanderburgh, Mahar & Chou, 1995). Trials were done alternating hands to decrease fatigue, with approximately 45 seconds rest between each trial. The average for each hand was used. Right and left forearm circumferences were taken around the maximum girth immediately distal to the elbow. Forearm skinfold (SKF) measurements were taken on the lateral aspect of each forearm while in the anatomical position. These values were used to calculate right and left cross-sectional area (CSA) according to the following formula:
CSA (cm2) = [(Circumference - (pi)SKF/2)2] / 4(pi)
RESULTS
There were no significant relationships between bat velocity and any size or strength measurements (Table 1). The relationship between bilateral measurements were positive and significant, indicating symmetry in size and strength.
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DISCUSSION
The current study agrees with Adair’s theory that the torque applied by the hands and wrist during the bat swing are negligible (Adair, 1994; Adair, 1995). This may suggest that increases in either or both grip strengths beyond a minimal amount will have no effect on enhancing bat velocity. Performing exercises such as forearm curls to increase forearm CSA and strength will not have a measurable effect on bat swing velocity.
The current results may indicate that other factors not examined in this study may have more effect on bat velocity. Adair (1994) suggests that the energy for the swing must come largely from the large muscles of the thighs and thorax. The rotational force generated by these large muscles are then transferred to the arms for the swing in a carefully orchestrated summation of forces (Shaffer, Jobe, Pink, & Perry, 1993). Previous research has suggested that strengthening the triceps brachii muscles of the lead arm may increase bat velocity to a greater extent than grip strength (Kitzman, 1964). It would be worthwhile to determine the contributions of arm extensor strength and trunk rotational forces on batting performance (Shaffer et al., 1993).Effective batting may be more dependent on coincident anticipation timing of the bat to contact the ball over the plate than on strength (Mikel, 1984). Therefore, future research might include measures of both anticipation time and trunk rotational and/or arm extension strength. Identifying the contribution of these factors might provide ground work for the development of conditioning programs to improve hitting.
r = 0.47 significant at p<0.05. |
REFERENCES
- Adair, R. K. (1994) The physics of baseball (2nd ed). New York: Harper Collins.
- Adair, R. K. (1995). The physics of baseball. Physics Today, 48:26-31.
- Kitzman, E. W. (1964) Electro-myographic study of batting swing. Research Quarterly, 35:166.
- Mikel, R. A. (1984) Relationship of specific variables to successful baseball batting in selected varsity college baseball players. M. A. thesis, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, MO.
- Shaffer, B., Jobe, F. W., Pink, M., & Perry, J. (1993). Baseball batting: an electro- myographic study. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 292, 285-293.
- Vanderburgh, P. M., Mahar, T. M., & Chou, C. H. (1995). Allometric scaling of grip strength by body mass in college-age men and women. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 66:80- 84.
I had always been told that baseball players NEED strong hands and forearms. Made sense – that’s what holds on to the bat and ball, a lot of MLB guys seems to have huge forearms – so, there I went with the wrist roller and rice bucket. Didn’t get me too far.
On the other hand, when I started to learn a bit about specificity, over/underload and feedback, things started to change. During the time when I really increased my bat speed, I did absolutely no direct hand/forearm strength training.
And I have seen the same scenario play out for a number of other players as well.
Hey, just my experience.
Until I was 21 years old and a junior in college, the focus I had heard from almost every instructor I can remember was the hands. Throwing the hands at the ball, quick wrists, use those hands, etc. I’d never had someone explain to me what it meant to use my body efficiently.
The following is an explanation on the role of the hands and forearms from Yale University Physics professor Robert Adair’s The Physics of Baseball:
The main thing that jumps out to me here is that the role of the hands is to TRANSFER energy rather than supply it. So the hands/arm need to be strong enough to transmit energy generated by the body’s rotation.
More on “efficient” forearm/grip strengthening to come…
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