In recent years, an acoustics professor and engineer, Daniel Russell, from Pennsylvania State University helped, Bat-Ball Science Mass Moment of Inertia article, The Science Behind Breaking Baseball Bats, Characterizing the performance of baseball bats, Performance versus moment of inertia of sporting implements. >> Collisions.- 11.Bat Performance.- 12. Every bat has a sweet spot.. However. Elastic Properties of Balls.- 9. This includes both the length of the barreltop part of the batand its diameter The longer the barrel, generally, the larger the sweet spot for hitting the ball The standard diameter is 2 , and big barrel bats, allowed in some leagues, are 2 5/8. There is a difference between a bat and a racquet here, in that tennis strings are very light and give back to the ball 95% of their stored elastic energy. This point, usually 5-7 inches from the barrel end, does not move when the bat is vibrating in its first (or fundamental) bending mode. The node is related to where the sweet spot is - where the bat does NOT bend or vibrate. Similarly, an impact at the node of the second mode will not excite the second mode but it will excite the fundamental mode. As discussed earlier, missing the sweet spot can cause vibrations in the bat. Baseball bats are an integral part of the game of baseball, and their physics is an important aspect of the sport. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Elastic behaviour in the horizontal direction can be described by a tangential coefficient of restitution, which is about 0.5 or 0.6 for a superball but only about 0.2 for a baseball on a rigid surface. The faster the hit ball travels, the longer it should travel. Alan Nathan has the world's best Physics of Baseball site at http://go.illinois.edu/physicsofbaseball, Another very interesting Physics of Baseball and Softball site is maintained by Dan Russell at http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell. << In Section 4, we present a dynamical model to modeling the sweet spot on a baseball bat. A heavier bat is a better choice for hitting faster balls. endobj /R [316 73 572 791 ] However, the COP shifts a long way toward the handle when a batter holds the handle, and plays only a minor role in the feel of the bat for an impact at the sweet spot. If you have two bats, each with the same weight the bat that carries more weight in the end will perform better in terms of speed. Baseball is a science that is based on fluid dynamics. Each impact was recorded on a video camera at 25 frames/sec. Since its vibrations that hurt your grip, the sweet spot is clearly the point where an impacting ball doesnt cause the bat to vibrate. The whole mass of the bat is not involved in the collision, unless the collision happens to occur at the centre of mass of the bat. All this means that if goal of the bats design is to provide more power and speed, it makes it more likely to to crack and shatter. Nathan hopes to test the theory of Robert Adair, a Yale University physics professor and baseball guru, who believes the subjective sweet spot sits on the node where the bat's lowest frequency vibrations drop out. Learn How To Personalize Your Hat With Vinyl Stickers! listeners: [], The effect of the hands on the centre of percussion is described in American Journal of Physics, , 622-630 (2004). The wake gets deflected depending upon which way the ball rotates. The second definition is where the ball comes off the bat fastest. Rather, the physics depends more on the ratio of the bat and ball speeds, regardless of whether the actual speeds are around 1 mph or 100 mph. Ball Trajectories.- 4. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. A question that is equally interesting is how the swing speed of each body segment varies as the bat speed varies and as the bat swing weight varies. The spot is close to the centre of percussion (COP) for a freely supported bat, so it was thought at one time that the sweet spot might be associated with the COP. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. } Basic Physics.- 2. Baseball bats have a sweet spot which is the ideal location on the bat to hit the ball for maximum performance. On average, the sweet spot occurs between 5 and 7 in (12.7 and 17.8 cm) from the barrel end of the bat. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. } /V 12 0 R << These spots are also described in the physics of tennis page. The technique here can be be used to measure the performance of any bat, at least at low ball speeds. not apply to baseball or softball bats. An aluminum bat is much lighter than a wooden bat, increasing its range and allowing it to hit the ball farther. If there was no loss of energy during the bounce then COR would be 1.0. << Neither the CoP nor the 'sweet spot' maximises the velocity which the ball gains from the impact. This is due to the fact that the collision is able to create a larger transfer of energy when the bat and ball are in perfect alignment. When a ball is hit in the sweet spot, the collision of the bat and ball creates a compression wave which travels through the bat and is then transferred to the ball, causing it to travel further. For most bats all of these "sweetspots" are at different locations on the bat, so one is often forced to define the sweetspot as a region, approximately 5-7 inches from the end of the barrel, where the batted-ball speed is the highest and the sensation in the hands if minimized. Physics 1998 The sweet spot of a baseball bat, like that of a tennis racket, can be defined either in terms of a vibration node or a centre of percussion. A model is developed for the collision between the baseball and bat, taking into account the transverse bending vibrations of the bat. /N 13 0 R It's this tendency to rotate that makes the bat's handle push back on or pull out of your hands. Lighter bats, on the other hand, are better suited for contact hitters who are looking to make contact with the ball and generate less power. >> However, when the bat strikes the ball at the dead spot then the ball exit speed = V = speed of bat just before the collision. The bat then magnifies that force by a factor of about 100-5,000 lb or so when it collides with the ball, enough to squash the ball in half. The more general recommendation is that a teams best hitters should be grouped together in the batting order, rather than spread out, as this maximizes the chances of someone being on base when a good hitter comes to bat. Otherwise, the effective mass of the bat is less than its whole mass. The reversal of the spin in each bounce implies that there is some tangential elastic behaviour of the ball in a direction parallel to the block. Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. Not hitting the ball with the sweet spot of the bat causes more vibrations, which causes the sting for the batter. /N 9 0 R << << Physics of Baseball & Softball R. Cross Published 22 February 2011 Physics, Education Preface.- 1. 5 0 obj Hitting the "sweet spot" is something that baseball players strive for. The collision of a bat and a ball can be understood by treating the bat as a heavy ball whose mass depends on the impact point. QuickTime movie files A and B show a baseball bouncing on a block of granite. The length, weight, and shape of the bat also affect its performance, as longer bats tend to have more power, and heavier bats tend to have more control. Aluminum bats are believed to have longer sweet spots than wooden bats. This is not an easy rating to obtain. A great way to keep a rhythm throughout your swing is to step or stride toward the pitcher. Opines that close to where the point of percussion occurs is the "sweet spot." Explains that a net force hit on small mass will go farther than large mass. Largest thickness - The sweet spot Bat - Ball Collision Diagrams Vball 1 = Vb Vbat 1 = V2b V bat 2 = V2a Vball = V1a Before After There are some models that include oak, but it is not as popular as maple or ash. Since its vibrations that hurt your grip, the sweet spot is clearly the point where an impacting ball doesnt cause the bat to vibrate. Its center of mass is 52.6 cm from the knob end. Aluminum tubes are 24 to 35 inches (61 to 89 centimeters) long and 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 centimeters) in diameter for making an aluminum bat. The ratio of ball speeds after and before colliding with the bat is called the is combined with the kinematic properties of the bat (determined from the moment-of-inertia of the bat and the impact location) to obtain the Bat-Ball Coefficient-of-Restitution, or BBCOR for the collosion. In case that didnt quite clear it up for you, lets break this down a bit. /V 6 0 R 6 0 obj The Physics of Baseball Bat Sweet-Spot. The physics of baseball Baseball players know from experience that there is a ``sweet spot'' on a baseball bat, about 17cm from the end of the barrel, where the shock of impact with the ball, as felt by the hands, is minimized. The answer depends on how fast each bat can be swung. Hey, were not all headed to the majors. /N 10 0 R So, after a rainy day game, ensure your bat is dry before you store it. Maple and ash are the most commonly used materials in major league baseball. The shoulders reach maximum speed first. So, if you make sure the label is up, it means that you will be making contact with the edge of the grain which is the strongest part. Experience. throughout the paper. The higher the number, the heavier the bat will be, meaning it will have more mass and therefore more power when it makes contact with the ball. The lines behind the bat, passing through the axis, mark out angles of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 degrees. Ash bats, on the other hand, are more flexible, making them perfect for contact hitters. The pain of hitting away from the sweet spot motivates you to learn how to find itthat, or buy a composite bat with a vibration damper in the handle. As Russell explained before, there are two related ideals that we conflate into one sweet spot. Metal bats, on the other hand, are lighter and more forgiving, but they lack the power of iron bats. Ball exit speed = (1 + q)V where V = bat speed at impact point just before the impact. /Gamma [1.8 1.8 1.8] If you hit the ball on the "sweet spot" of the bat, you get the feeling of a solid connection with the ball. Where is the sweet spot on a bat? There is no set formula. The sweet spot of a baseball bat Rod Cross Physics Department, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia Received 10 November 1997; accepted 22 January 1998 The sweet spot of a baseball bat, like that of a tennis racket, can be dened either in terms of a vibration node or a centre of percussion.In order to determine how each of the sweet spots inuences the ''feel'' of the . Generally, heavier bats are used for power hitters, as they are able to generate more force when swinging. 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