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by Mark McDowell, Ph.D. |
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by Mark McDowell, Ph.D. |
One of the most asked questions that we get is how will the multi-wall bats perform when using mid-compression and low-compression balls. This is the 1st article in a three part series devoted to this topic. We will begin with the two definitions that are important for this article, the definition of a multi-wall bat and the definition of a mid-compression ball. A single-wall bat is one composed of one continuous, single shell composed entirely of the same material without the use of any type of glue or bonding system. Any bat that is more complicated than this definition, for our purposes, is considered a multi-wall bat. A mid-compression ball is a ball that has a compression value between 350-475pqi (pounds per quarter inch).
Experimental Setup:
Bats: The following bats were used for our tests; DeMarini FatBoy 2000, Easton ConneXion, Bombat TD2, Steele's Alien, TPS AI, Dudley Assault MW, DeMarini DW 2000 and the Steele's XLT 7178 bat.
Balls: The ball we used for our testing is our official 2000 test ball, the Dudley Thunder .47 COR Red Heat that has a compression value of 350+/-30lbs/0.25", which is in the required range of the ASTM standard for bat testing and what is supposed to be used in the USSSA BPF and the ASA 2000 test.
Players: The players used for out testing were 19 male players in skill level from Class A/AA down to Class E and 7 female players ranging in skill level from Class A down to Class C.
Radar System:Atec Speed Trainer with an accuracy of +/- 1 MPH and Jugs cordless MPH radar gun with an accuracy of +/ ½ MPH
Testing Procedure
Each player was required to swing each bat 5 times which was averaged for each statistic listed below:
Average Bat Speed: The speed of the ball measured with the bat speed meter. A reflective disk is glued on the end of the bat and radar sensors record the average swing speed. This statistic is taken without impacting a ball.
Average Ball Speed (Batting Tee): The speed of the ball after impact when the ball is placed on a batting tee. This is a repeatable statistic to use for determining average batted ball speed generated by each player and could be considered a power statistic. The radar gun was used to measure ball speed just after impact.
Delta (Batting Tee): The difference (+ or -) between the average bat speed and the average ball speed of a ball hit off of a batting tee.
Average Ball Speed (Batting Cage): This statistic measures batted ball speed of a consistently pitched ball at 19 +/- 2 MPH from a pitching machine in a batting cage. I gives a good indication of batted ball speed in a real game situation.
Delta (Batting Cage): The difference (+ or -) between the average bat speed and the average ball speed of a ball hit off of a batting cage ball.
Results:
| The results were quite interesting and indicate
that ball speed does indeed decrease off of multi-wall bats when mid-compression
ball are used. Table 1 lists the data from out testing. The average bat
speed for males is 85.36 MPH and the average ball speed of the batting
tee was 74.4 MPH and the average ball speed from the batting cage is 72.9
MPH. This results in a delta of (-11.32) MPH for the batting tee and (-12.46)
MPH for the batting cage. Using just the top3 bats, the average bat speed
for males is 88.86 MPH and the average ball speed of the batting tee was
76.21 MPH and the average ball speed from the batting cage is 75.33 MPH.
This results in a delta of (-12.65) MPH for the batting tee and (-13.53)
MPH for the batting cage. Based on our simple calculation in our Multi-wall
vs Single wall bats, A minimum of 67MPH is the required ball speed after
impact in order to hit a ball over 300 ft, which is a home run in over
95% of the softball fields in the USA. It looks like a ball with a compression
value around 350pqi (pounds per quarter inch) would be a good choice to
limit the number of home runs and still keep the home run hitter hitting
home runs.
The Female data average bat speed for is 70.34 MPH and the average ball speed of the batting tee was 56.93 MPH and the average ball speed from the batting cage is 58.85 MPH. This results in a delta of (-13.41) MPH for the batting tee and (-11.5) MPH for the batting cage. Using just the top 3 bats, the average bat speed for females is 72.81 MPH and the average ball speed of the batting tee was 59.1 MPH and the average ball speed from the batting cage is 61.73 MPH. This results in a delta of (-13.74) MPH for the batting tee and (-11.05) MPH for the batting cage. Conclusions: Using mid-compression balls and multi-wall bats definitely reduces ball speed off of the bat. As a matter of fact, only 3 players were able to generate a positive delta for any individual bat tested and all players, regardless of skill level, had a negative overall delta . This is actually good news because now we have scientific proof that the ball has a greater impact on the game than the bat nowadays in the sport. Our 1998 bat-ball impact testing using high-compression balls and multi-wall bats yielded an average increase of almost 14MPH and in this case, it would be a home run derby. Using mid-compression balls in the 350pqi range appears to be a good choice for any tournament or league director that wants to limit the amount of home runs and increase the response time of batted balls hit in the infield and especially back at the pitcher. Part 2 of this series will deal with how much of a decrease there is when using low-compression balls. |
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(MPH) |
(Batting Tee) |
(Batting Tee) |
(Batting Cage) |
(Batting Cage) |
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| NOTE:Do not under any circumstances; reproduce this article without the expressed written consent of Bomani Sports Research, Inc. |
