bats

[nwsa]

Hi,

I am researching batting techiques for the wheelchair softball player.
There are a variety of ways that wheelchair softball players use to
exploit their strengths to hit a ball. (some swing one handed, others
two handed, some use a "cage" to hold them in place, some roll into
the pitch, use a heavy bat, us a light bat for bat speed, etc.)

Regardless of their style to hit the ball, in my opinion, it still
comes down to bat speed vs bat mass.

I came across this interesting article call "Choosing A Club To Crush
A Clincher:". See link
http://home.ptd.net/~bobf/research.htm

What type of bats are wheelchair softball players using to hit a 16"
ball? Any recommendation for bat to use in wheelchair softball?

Any feedback would be welcomed!

Thanks,
Thomas

[Brad McGlone]

Hi, I myself have used several techniques. I have found that the one handed technique works pretty well for getting that solid base hit to drive in or advance runners in a homerun limit game or league.  When you want to clear the bases when several runners are on I definitely suggest the two handed, caged technique.  A lot of it depends on upper body strength.  If you are capable of hitting it deep, why not do it....As far as bats to use, I have always thought it was a good idea for a player who couldn't take the ball out of the ballpark to use the lighter, quicker bat.  As for the players who are able to hit the ball a long way, i feel it is best to use a bat with a little weight on it.  I hope this answers your question, I look forward to hearing from you again.
 
                                                                                                                                          Brad

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ri, 23 May 2008 17:04:51 -0700
> Subject: [wheelchair-softball:9] bats
> From: nwsa...@aol.com
> To: wheelchai...@googlegroups.com

[THOM...@aol.com]

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I am a t-10 para and don't have the trunk/hip muscles to use a two-handed swing so I swing one-handed and don't use a cage. For myself, I use a 28/30 weight bat mostly depending how my shoulder feels... 26 is too light and 32 is too heavy to swing.

 

Do you have a preference on manufacture of bats? an end loaded bat? balanced bat?

 

- Thomas

---

Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.

[Brad McGlone]

I really like Worth bats and an end loaded bat feels good most of the time but i will go with a more balanced bat from time to time.
 
                                                                                                                                                            Brad

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From: THOM...@aol.com
Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 08:58:47 -0400
Subject: [wheelchair-softball:11] Re: bats
To: wheelchai...@googlegroups.com

> </HTML

 

[Barons Coach]

From our team professor (with minor edits)

I have not had time to study this in depth, but at first glance here
seem to be some clear flaws in the argument presented in the
referenced article . The basic premise of the paper is that the
kinetic energy of the bat is the parameter of interest, and, ignoring
issues of technique, angle of incidence, transfer of momentum, etc.,
to optimize. Given this assumption, the properties of the ball are
irrelevant to the relative performance of a bat. Clearly the 16
inch ball will dissipate more energy than a 12 inch ball due to the
reduced density, but this energy loss will be largely independent of
the bat once a certain energy threshold is met, i.e., the density of
the ball changes as the ball is deformed by the impact of the bat. If
you hit the ball very softly the density will not change much, if you
hit the ball very hard the ball compresses at the point of impact and
eventually becomes hard. This explains the "duck snort" referred to
in the paper (as does the proximity of Rocket to the hitter). For
some amputee wheelchair softball players, I believe that they are
hitting the ball hard enough, independent of bat weight, to fully
compress the ball.

Second, since kinetic energy is linear in mass (bat weight), but
quadratic in velocity (bat speed), kinetic energy is much more
efficiently increased by increasing bat speed as opposed to bat
weight. Obviously, due to physical limitations on bat speed and
swing mechanics, one cannot tradeoff weight for speed indefinitely.
Over the range of bat weights we use, however, the tradeoff would seem
valid.

In my opinion, this tradeoff is somewhat mitigated for one armed
hitters by the complications of the swing mechanics. Since one armed
hitters are, for the most part, using their arm for bat speed, bat
angle and bat control, it is difficult to swing the bat full speed. If
you watch a one armed batter swing the bat when they are not trying to
hit the ball, the bat speed is much faster than when they are actually
trying to hit. Thus, they can to a point increase bat weight without
reducing their actual hitting bat speed (this is why a few hitters use
a 36 oz bat). Also, for one armed hitters, I think that arm extension
and hitting the ball toward the end of the bat are very important.
The farther the end of the bat is from the body, the faster it is
moving and thus the more energy it has.