Kinetic Analyses on Increase of Bat Head Speed in Baseball Batting

Horiuchi, Gen; Sakurai, Shunsuke

doi:10.5432/ijshs.201617

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The bat’s longitudinal speed, which is one of the main interests of this study, statistically affected the side spin rate of the batted ball, but only to a small extent (ΔR 2 = 0.017). The force acting on the bat in the forward and centripetal directions on the swing plane during the impact phase [ 29 , 30 ] could be a factor generating longitudinal speed. However, the bat’s longitudinal speed in itself was only 9.0 ± 3.9% of the resultant speed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between impact characteristics and launch direction in softball hitting: A study involving elite players

Kidokoro

Morishita

2021

PLoS ONE

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In the game of softball, the batter should possess the necessary skills to hit the ball toward various directions with high initial speed. However, because various factors influence each other, there are limitations to the range that can be controlled by the batter’s skill. This study was aimed at extracting the impact characteristics associated with the launch speed/direction and batted ball spin and clarifying the important skills required to improve the batter’s hitting performance. In our experiments, 20 female softball players, who are members of the Japan women’s national softball team, hit balls launched from a pitching machine. The movements of the ball and bat before, during, or after the impact were recorded using a motion capture system. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to extract factors relating the side spin rate. The undercut angle (elevation angle between the bat’s trajectory and the common normal between the ball and bat: ΔR2 = 0.560) and the horizontal bat angle (azimuth of bat’s long axis at ball impact: ΔR2 = 0.299) were strongly associated with the side spin rate (total R2 = 0.893, p < 0.001). The undercut angle in opposite-field hitting was significantly larger than that in pull-side hitting (p < 0.001). The side spin rate was associated with the undercut angle because the bat’s distal (barrel) side inclined downward (–29.6 ± 8.7°) at impact. The ball exit velocity was higher when it was hit at a smaller undercut angle (R2 = 0.523, p < 0.001). Therefore, it is deemed desirable to focus on maximizing the ball exit velocity rather than ball spin because the ball–bat impact characteristics vary inevitably depending on the launch direction. Meanwhile, the use of the ball delivery machine and the slower pitched ball are the limiting factors in the generalization of the findings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between impact characteristics and launch direction in softball hitting: A study involving elite players

Kidokoro

Morishita

2021

PLoS ONE

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“…Compared with a regular baseball (diameter: 74 mm, mass: 145 g), the sponge ball was about the same size and lighter. Data collection was repeated until three successful trials were obtained, and unsuccessful trials were excluded in the same way as a previous study (Horiuchi & Sakurai, 2016). A successful trial was defined in which (1) the posture of the batter was not lost, (2) the tossed ball was in the strike zone and (3) the batter accurately contacted the tossed ball with a bat.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to a previous study which computed the forces and torques exerted to the bat's grip during baseball batting (Ae et al, 2013;Morishita et al, 2015), the force exerted to the bat along the long axis largely contributes to the bat head speed at impact. In addition, Horiuchi and Sakurai (2016) suggested that the mechanical energy inflow into the bat by the force exerted to the bat along the long axis mainly contributes to the increase in bat head speed at impact. These studies indicate that the batters are required to generate the mechanical energy at each joint.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical energy flow in torso during baseball toss batting

Horiuchi

Nakashima

Sakurai

2021

Sports Biomechanics

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between the efficiency of mechanical energy flow in the torso and bat head speed at impact. Ninety-eight amateur baseball players batted a light ball tossed from the pitcher direction 3.2 m away. The batting motion and ground reaction forces acting on each foot were recorded using a motion capture system and two force plates, respectively. The mechanical powers of the joint forces and joint torques were calculated to measure the generation, absorption, and transfer of mechanical energy in the torso. The transfer efficiency of mechanical energy in the torso was defined as the ratio of the mechanical energy inflow into the thorax from the torso joint to the mechanical energy outflow from the pelvis to the torso joint. The correlation coefficient between the bat head speed and transfer efficiency of mechanical energy in the torso was very low. Conversely, the mechanical energy flow in the torso was significantly correlated to the bat head speed. Therefore, the results suggest that the torso in baseball batting is not utilised for the generation of mechanical energy but acts as a pathway for the transfer of mechanical energy.

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“…To increase the initial velocity of a batted ball, batters must increase the velocity with which they swing their bat. To that end, there has been a great deal of discussion about how to increase the bat swing velocity [1,2]. On the other hand, not only the initial velocity but also the launch angle and the batted ball's spin can affect the flight distance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Standard of the Initial Ball Velocity for a Fly Ball in Baseball Hitting

Nakashima

Horiuchi

Sakurai

2020

The 13th Conference of the International Sports Engineering Association

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This study aimed to determine the minimum required initial velocity to hit a fly ball toward the same field (left-field for right-handed batters), center field, and opposite field (right field for right-handed batters). Six baseball players hit fastballs launched by a pitching machine. The movements of the balls before and after bat-to-ball impact were recorded using two high-speed video cameras. The flight distance was determined using a measuring tape. Seventy-nine trials were analyzed, and the minimum required initial velocities of batted balls were quantified to hit balls 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, and 120 m in each direction through regression analysis. As a result, to hit a ball 120 m, initial velocities of 43.0, 43.9, and 46.0 m/s were required for the same field, center field, and opposite field, respectively. The result provides a useful index for batters to hit a fly ball in each of the directions.

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Kinetic Analyses on Increase of Bat Head Speed in Baseball Batting

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Relationship between impact characteristics and launch direction in softball hitting: A study involving elite players

Relationship between impact characteristics and launch direction in softball hitting: A study involving elite players

Mechanical energy flow in torso during baseball toss batting

Standard of the Initial Ball Velocity for a Fly Ball in Baseball Hitting

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