Bat Speed Question

Andrew,

Though I can not answer your question.

I will give you this little bit of information.

The last Showcase I attended in 2004, there was a MIF who had balls coming off his bat at 91 MPH, he was a High School Senior. This reading was taken during a game while using wood bats.

I searched some past posts on HSBBW. Here are various people's comments regarding bat speed:

"An associate scout measured my son's batspeed at 86 mph and told him that was up there with a good D1 player. A BA top 100 teammate was measured at 90 mph."

"Some benchmarks for HS:
Throwing speed: 80 mph
Throwing distance: 250 feet
Hitting distance: 300+ feet
Max Bat speed (my guess): 90+ mph
60 yard sprint: 7-8 seconds"

"I'm a high school senior and am signed to a D1 school and my bat speed is 94 according to one of the Perfect Game showcases I went to."

For more information, click on this link:
http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6616002781/...831006151#3831006151

Good question. I'd like to hear more comments.

Some random thoughts:

Because of the trampoline effect, ball would launch somewhat faster than the bat's velocity. Radar would pick up the fastest moving thing...the ball.

My guess is readings are only meaningful in comparison with camps that use the same testing method.

How is "bat speed" normally measured? Isn't it done just by swinging the bat with no ball involved?

I think there is a way to measure bat speed with the radar gun. Probably just swinging the bat in front of the gun. The baseball exits the bat at a higher speed than the bat was swung. For a ball thrown at 80 mph, and hit with the bat moving at 80 mph, the exit velocity of the ball is around 115 mph. I would say that 80 mph batspeed in high school is pretty good.

A chronograph is used to measure batspeed. Not sure what speed is considered "fast" but I'm sure if your speed is less that "fast", plate presence, location, and deception will be more important than speed.

Sounds like they may have been indirectly trying to measure the true power, rather than standard bat speed, a player generates while swinging. As stated, standard bat swing is usually measured with a chronograph. I have read articles, some very convincing, that propose that the speed of the bat and mass of the bat are not the only thing that determine power - or how far you hit the ball (everything else being equal other than the player). The contention is that a factor is left out of that equation and that factor is “bat rebound”. The theory is that two players can both swing at 90 mph but one will hit the ball farther because when a bat meets a ball it is slows down once in contact with the ball. The player that hits the ball farther is able to carry more bat speed through the ball (less rebound of the bat) and thus hit the ball farther (generate greater ball speed off the bat) than another player even though their maximum swing speeds were the same. Thus some people like to measure ball speed off the bat rather than measure pure bat speed.

It is very difficult to measure bat speed. By sure, a radar gun against the ball hit from a tee can't do it.( this method only can messure the strengh of the hitter) A radar gun against the bat at the end of the swing, can't do it.( because this method can not measure the time of the whole swing, that include the exact time when the hitter start his reaction to the pitch.

I shot the bat on the left with my Phantom radar gun at dusk.



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And my readings, with a 40 mph tailwind, fall in line with results done by experts in the field...

Bat Speed

Forward speed (U) in flight is measured as distance traveled per second. The Common Reebok Vector Bat cruises at a speed of 6.1 meters per second, covering just over 3 meters in 1/2 second:



This calculates out to between 13 mph and 14 mph...ideal for that push bunt situation.

My info pretty much concurs with what some of you guys are saying. I will put the ball on the tee and let the guys hit it while i'm behind an L-screen and measure the speed of the ball (our record is 96, he had an awesome swing; drives a Pepsi truck now)... I'm not sure it proves a thing but it is kind of fun and the guys enjoy it. (Most of the average high school players are in the low 80's)

Hey Woodrow, how about my guy's Pepsi truck??? How fast did you clock that one?

I should have stated in my earlier post that the exit speed listed for the ball is based on using an aluminun bat that has BESR(Ball Exit Speed Ratio) certification. Also, I think the current acceptable BESR is .72

I'm not sure how fast he was going skipper, but I do know he sure stirred up a lot of interest with the law enforcement folks. I was watching the high speed chase on...
All America...All The Time!. I decided to follow the action so I hopped into my nearly authentic AMC Pacer Pursuit Cruiser to catch up to the action. My ol' Chrysler was in the shop.


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Your guy was driving that '59 Ford for all it was worth...according to the reporter in the helicopter, your guy was probably doing 75 mph or better...blew the head right off each one of those tall boy Pepsi-Cola cans in the back.

It took me a fairly long time to catch up with them...it being after 5pm and a Tuesday, of course, I had to stop at the Sonic in Dodge City and get 5 burgers for $5. What a deal! Those burgers slowed me down plenty...along with those two large Coconut Cream Pie Shakes.


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I caught up with them in Cimarron on US Route 50. They had your guy out of the truck and the truck was cordoned off...they called in a Haz Mat team...something about not knowing if it was really Pepsi-Cola or not in those cans.


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One of the policemen asked if I knew anything about the Pepsi-Cola driver. I said he was a friend of the skipper. He said that was good enough for him. He then asked me to try and pick your guy out of a line up...a real police line up...not the baseball kind.


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It was really, really hard to do...most Pepsi-Cola drivers look pretty much the same ...I went with the guy third from the left...is that your guy skipper?