High-, Mid- and Low-Compression balls, A Control Group Study Using Multi-Wall Bats. by Mark McDowell, Ph.D.

This study was conducted to compare the batted ball speeds of high-, mid- and low-compression balls and answer the question of just how much velocity and distance is lost or gained when using the three levels of ball compression. We will start with our definition of ball compression levels.
 

We also need to include the definition of a multi-wall bat for completeness. 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. We often get several questions about why can one bat be considered a single wall bat in some leagues and a multi-wall bat in others. The answer is quite simple. If one league calls a certain bat a single wall bat and another league calls this same bat a multi-wall bat, there is a 100% chance that the bat is a multi-wall bat. We decided to use a control group comprised of consistent players on the A/AA down to the Class E level. This group of players has been testing bats together for over two years and was chosen because they are very consistent hitters and represent the ideal test set for this study. This test was conducted in a controlled lab over a 1-month period. Here at Bomani Sports Research, Inc., our main goal is to bring back the safety of the game of softball and make the game safe and enjoyable for all players, regardless of skill level. We believe that the performance of softball bats today are essentially capped and it's the ball that has the greatest influence on the game today and the reason why more and more softball scores are becoming more like high school basketball scores. This study will shed light on the issue of just how much the ball influences the game today and can be used as a reference for any league or tournament director who wants to optimize the safety of the game.

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, Steele's XLT 7178 bat and the Easton Typhoon Titanium bat.

Balls: The balls we used for our testing were a High Compression ball (Worth .47COR Super Blue Dot) with a compression value over 500pqi, 2 Medium Compression balls (Med1- a .44COR Dudley Gold Heat with a 400pqi compression and Med2- our official 2000 test ball, the Dudley Thunder .47 COR with a 350pqi compression) and a Dudley Low Compression ball, SB12 .50COR cork-centered ball with a compression value of 245pqi.

Ball Note1: The recommend ASTM range for ball compression is 350+/-30lbs/0.25", and is supposed to be used in the USSSA BPF and the ASA 2000 test.

Ball Note2: We would have used all Dudley balls but none of the Dudley balls that we have ever tested were over 500pqi. We used a Worth ball instead for our ball over 500pqi.

Players: The players used for our testing were 6 male players ranging in skill level from Class A/AA down to Class E. All players used their optimal bat weight.

Radar System: An Atec Speed Trainer, a Sports Radar Gun and 2 Jugs cordless MPH radar guns 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 - based on 2 sensors. This statistic is taken without impacting a ball.

Average Impact Speed (Batting Cage): The speed of the ball at impact. This is the point where energy is absorbed by the bat for a fraction of a second, then returned to the ball to get the batted ball speed. This is by far the most difficult statistic to measure and the least useful if you are a player. The most important statistic to a player is how much ball speed increase or decrease is gained from using a particular bat/ball combination. The impact speed is no real indication of how fast the ball will rebound, this really depends on the individual players and how much they follow through on the swing. The impact speed is extremely useful to me because it is used in a theoretical model to calculate the amount of energy absorbed and returned by the bat. I used two radar guns to measure this statistic and took an average from the two.

Impact Delta (Batting Cage): This is the difference between the average bat speed and the average impact speed and is always a negative number.

Average Batted-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. It gives a good indication of batted ball speed in a real game situation.

Batted-Ball Delta (Batting Cage): The difference (+ or -) between the average bat speed and the average batted-ball speed.

Results:

This study took 3 days to complete unlike our Fall 1999 bat-ball impact testing, which took only 1 day. This is probably the most comprehensive study on the performance of softballs to date. The combination of multi-wall bats and high compression balls has finally been quantified. The results were exactly what one might expect that has been following the debates raging about ball compression. Table 1 lists the results from our study. The results clearly show that the compression value of the ball can be used to determine the safety of the game and control the scores as well. The average bat speed for all bats was 84.55, which is well above the 60MPH range used for the BPF and ASA2000 tests. The impact delta was very consistent and only varied by about 3MPH on average for all players. This indicates that the players used in this test could consistently connect with the ball at the same speed. The compression or ball efficiency was the determining factor in the speed of the ball after impact. The higher the compression, the more the bat flexes and the more energy it returns to the ball. The batted ball speed delta varied from a low of -10.3 MPH to a high of 2.83 MPH, which is a significant difference. If you translate this into approximate distances, the data shows that there can be as much as a 150 foot gain in performance depending upon which ball is used. The titanium bat data was shown just as a comparison and there is a very good reason why titanium bats were banned several years ago; most outfielders could not even react to a ball hit at them with a titanium bat. If you were an infielder, GOD help you. The data also shows that the optimal value for ball performance is around 400pqi, a value that we will be recommending this year. If you play on a field that has fences shorter than 300', the Low-compression ball is the way to go and if you play on field where the fences are 300-325', the Mid-compression balls are the way to go. If you happen to play on a field that has dimensions greater than 325', then the High-compression balls may be the answer for you. Whatever value you ultimately choose, you now have scientific data to make an intelligent decision.

Conclusions:

The most important statistic in this study is the batted-ball speeds. When the batted-ball speed gets over 80MPH, the infield must be put on high alert because the average player will not be able to react to a ball hit that fast off of a bat. This is the main reason why infielders are playing in the outfield now, so they can at least have a change at putting a glove on the ball.

Using mid to low-compression balls will probably work for most leagues. If you need to boost home run production, then a mid to high-compression ball can be used. If you want flat out performance, then the only choice would be high compression balls, but you should be aware that using high compression balls pose a safety risk for all infielders and especially pitchers.

This study can be improved by using actual distance data from hitting off of a pitcher on a real softball diamond. I will conduct these tests as the year progresses and post the results when I get a sufficient number of data points, I will update the report or write a new one listing just distance data.

It appears that the compression debate has reached a critical point in the 2000 season and this study should prove once and for all that the BALL has much more to do with controlling the outcome of a game than the BATS…