How Ball Circumference And Compression Affect Pitcher Response Time!!! by Mark McDowell, Ph.D.

I was recently reading several articles dealing with pitcher response time that involved batted-ball speeds, ball COR and ball compression and decided to do my own investigation/experiment on the topic. I decided to conduct a study using over fifteen 2000 Model softballs. What I was most surprised about was a particular article talking about the average swing speed of a typical Class "A" player (only 70MPH?) and how this relates to the safety of the game. If you have read any of our articles in the past, you know full well that the average swing speed of any typical male softball player and even some female players is more than 70MPH. I set out to do a controlled study on this topic with the help of my BP partner, Terry James and Rocky Neale of Neale's Sports, Inc. Rocky was kind enough to let us utilize his batting cage facility for our controlled testing.

One of the main reasons for doing this study was that I have seen way too many pitchers get hit with the ball this year. It seems as if there is not a game that goes by that a pitcher doesn't get hit or a ball doesn't come dangerously close to hitting the pitcher. When and if a ball hits the pitcher, he/she very seldom ever sees the ball coming and this is the basis for the pitcher response time study. The pitchers just can't see the ball coming at them and have absolutely no time to react to the ball or get a glove on the ball.

The history of the pitcher response issue:
Back in the summer of 1999 when the ASA was determining a number for the batted-ball speed, they came up with the 125fps (feet per second - ft/sec) batted-ball speed, which translates into a .400sec pitcher response time. Since the pitcher's mound is 50ft. away from home plate, .400sec = 50ft/125fps. In another report, the average swing speed is assumed to be 70MPH as well, which actually comes from a baseball article done by a professor for the NCAA. The average swing speed of a baseball player and softball player are assumed to be the same. In a nutshell, if a batted-ball speed exceeds 85MPH, it will not comply with the .400sec pitcher response time statistic. It was also pointed out in the memos that the values were not consistent and varied from ball to ball for the testing because a .47COR from one manufacturer is different than another.

Based on my research on the issue, the .400sec response time is actually referring to baseball, not softball, so the basic premise is wrong. A baseball pitcher is trained in the skill of being defensive. He is trained to pitch a ball and come off the mound expecting the ball to be hit at him and to have his glove ready to field the ball just in case it's hit at him. This is not the case in softball. Most pitchers don't have a clue as to how to be defensive and rarely take two steps back to get ready to catch a ball. A hundredth (1/100) or even a thousandth (1/1000) of a second can be the difference between a near miss and a serious injury. The 70MPH value that is being used is still too low. Although this value is higher than the 60MPH required for the BPF test, it is still an unrealistic value to use. Compression is the issue here and in order to have any consistency in the results, the compression value differences must be solved or just use a ball that complies with the recommend compression standards. There are too many injuries occurring at all levels of softball and unlike the NCAA, which requires that an injury report be filed, no softball association requires such a report. If softball injuries were required to be reported, the associations would get a more realistic picture of the actual injuries that are occurring as a result of the balls and bats being used today.

I have no idea why the associations keep citing and relying on NCAA studies and paying big bucks to university professors and lawyers who have not hit with a softball bat in their life to implement standards. The bottom line is that if the associations want to know the truth, they need to conduct their own testing, be at the testing and use real softball players, not solely on machines or computer models to get a realistic perspective on the performance of softball bats and balls. For once, stop thinking about profits and think about safety!!!

Experimental setup and testing procedures:
We used myself, Dr. Mark McDowell - 6'2" and 250lbs. to represent the typical Class "A" softball player. The typical Class "A" player has been used in several reports as a standard. We decided to use 14 different balls listed in Table 1, including four .44COR balls and 11 .47COR balls. We used the two most durable bats that we have tested to date, the Steele's XXLT 7178 bat and the Miken Viper 14 bat. We chose to use these two bats in order to guarantee that bat denting would not be a factor in our testing results. We used an ATEC bat speed meter to determine average bat speed, a Jugs radar gun to measure batted-ball speed and a pitching machine that pitched balls consistently between 18-22MPH. We used both bats and got at least 5 good readings using each bat and ball combination. A total of over 200 swings were recorded and this took over 3 hours to complete. In order to prove that fatigue was not a factor, control balls were used after every round for batted-ball speed and at the end of the testing. The control ball testing after all of the data points were recorded were in line with all other control studies, which was an indication to us that the testing was valid and accurate. Since the issue really deals with average speeds, our measurements were taken approximately 25 feet in front of the batter, which means that the values truly represent an average batted-ball speed. There has been talk of air resistance affecting the batted-ball speed, but air has an insignificant affect on a ball coming right at a pitcher. Air resistance really affects a ball hit in the air or a pop-up, not a line drive hit such a short distance.

All balls were compression tested, weighed and measured in order to see if they complied with the rules of the associations. According to the ASA rulebook, An official 12" ball may have a circumference of between 11.875" and 12.125" and weigh between 6.25oz. and 7.0oz. According to the USSSA rulebook, An official 12" ball may have a circumference of between 11.875" and 12.125" and weigh between 6.0oz. and 7.25oz.

Results:
The average swing speed for both of the test bats used (Steele's XXLT7178 and Miken Viper 14) was 91MPH. Based on our testing results listed in Table 1, only 2 balls passed the .400 pitcher response time, ball #4 - Steele's Major NIT .44COR and ball #14 - Dudley Optic Yellow .47COR. There is no coincidence that both of these balls are low-compression balls. The Steele's ball was the only poly-core ball that had a .400 pitcher response time or greater and the Dudley ball is a cork-centered ball. According the rules of the ASA & USSSA, only 7 balls passed the circumference test, ball #4 - Steele's Major NIT .44COR, ball #7 - Worth Super Duper Min .47COR, ball #8 - deBeer Dyna Core .47 COR, ball #9 - Dudley ZN .47 COR, ball #12 - Dudley Titanium .47COR, ball #13-Dudley Red Heat .47COR and ball #14 - Dudley Optic Yellow .47COR. Not only are compression values having an impact on the ball performance, but the circumference of the ball is also having an impact as well. The smaller the ball, the less resistance, the farther it will travel and the faster the speed off of the bat. There was only 1 ball that had any circumference reading over 12" and that was ball #4 - Steele's Major NIT .44 COR ball. A true 12" ball is hard to find nowadays.

Based on our testing, batted-ball speeds averaged 89MPH or 131fps coming off of a bat, which translates into a pitcher response time of 0.382 sec. This value can definitely be controlled by selecting an appropriate ball COR, Compression and now Circumference with the Compression and Circumference being the two factors influencing ball performance the most.

Let's not use the typical Class "A" player and use our data from our bat-ball impact team in order to calculate the average pitcher response time. Using the data from our control group (see article titled: "High-, Mid- and Low-Compression balls, A Control Group Study Using Multi-Wall Bats".) consisting of 6 male players ranging in skill level from Class A/AA down to Class E, we find that when using a high compression ball (over 500pqi), the batted ball speeds are 87MPH or 128fps coming off the bat, which translates into a pitcher response time of 0.391sec. Using a mid-compression ball, the batted ball speeds are 79MPH or 116fps, which translates into a pitcher response time of 0.431sec, a significant improvement in pitcher response time over high compression balls. Using low-compression balls, the batted-ball speeds are 74MPH or 109fps, which translates into a pitcher response time of 0.459sec, even more of an improvement over the .400sec goal. It should also be noted that the average swing speed of the control group was 85MPH, which is significantly more than the 70MPH value being used today for bat testing.

It is clear that the compression of the ball is the main factor when dealing with pitcher response time. It is also apparent that the circumference of the balls are much smaller than the recommend 12". All companies are aiming on the low side of 12" in order to increase the performance of their balls. It may be time for a ring test for softballs.

The Bottom Line:
The real bottom line is to control the ball. There is no reason to use a high-compression softball in any game!!! The performance of the bat can directly be related to the ball and the ball can significantly change the BPF value of the bat (see article titled: ""Softball" - A Contradiction In Terms"). This means that we have to use mid- and low-compression balls exclusively and ban the use of high-compression balls if we are truly concerned about safety. If high-compression balls must be used, then the pitcher should be protected in some way from the ball (i.e. face mask, screen, automatic out if hit by a line drive, etc.).

We need to put pressure on the associations to push for safety, not maximizing profit at the risk of safety and pitcher injuries. I have full confidence in our testing results because they actually are very similar to at least 2 other groups that have conducted the same testing.