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Essay / The Physics of Baseball
Table of ContentsWhat is the "sweet spot"?How to find the sweet spotThe targetMany people might think that swinging the bat directly through the ball would be enough to hit the ball at a decent distance from the stick. There are many more mechanisms involved in the swinging process. Muscle has only a small role to play in swinging a bat for power. There are two types of mechanisms involved when swinging a bat: linear and rotational. Rotational mechanics are the dominant source of power in the swing. From rotational mechanics come the two forces that help generate the speed and power of the swing, torque, and the other comes from rotational energy. The speed from rotational energy comes from the path your hands take when you swing the bat. The speed generated by the circular rotation of your hands is like a ball on the end of a string, as long as your hands move in a circle, the ball continues to accelerate in a circle. So the bat will also move at an increasing speed as long as your hands follow a circular path as you swing. Any forward movement of the hands or body in a straight line will not increase the overall speed of the bat. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Torque is another key ingredient of a good power hitter, or even a good power hitter. Torque is the result of two forces applied to an object in opposite directions. In this case, both forces are applied by the hands and wrists on the bat. When you begin your swing, instead of moving your hands directly over the ball, you want your hands to begin a rotation. The top hand begins to move back while the lead arm pushes the end of the bat toward the ball. The torque involved is created around the tip of the bat that is in your hands. This torque considerably accelerates the head of the bat which will have to act with greater force when (or if) it comes into contact with the ball. A good hitter will use almost all of this rotational and torque energy before or during contact with the ball. ball. After contact your body is relaxed and its remaining movement is fluid, this extra movement is caused by the momentum of the bat pulling the arms up and through. Your follow through is also very important, although if the ball has already been hit this is ideal. that you finish your swing so that you are not thrown off balance by this extra momentum when you start to run. So just remember these three things: During the swing, keep your hands moving in a circular motion. Remember to rotate your wrist as you swing. And always follow through. The most notable difference between a wooden or metal bat is the sounds each creates when struck by the ball. I myself am quite fond of the sound of a wooden bat. These differences occur due to the different vibrations that occur in each material. A wooden bat has fewer vibration waves than a metal bat. This gives the metal bat a larger “sweet spot,” but it also causes a bigger sting if you miss that sweet spot. So what would be a compromise for using metal bats has been changed with newer technology. Newer metal bats have certain qualities that help alleviate the sting of a mishit ball. The “ping” sound made by a metal bat has also been a sign of the “trampoline effect.” It is believed that this effect allows a bat inaluminum to “bounce” the ball further and faster from the start. Compared to a wooden bat, there is little difference if both bats hit the ball at their ideal points. The “metal bat” effect comes into play when you miss the sweet spot. When you swing away a little with a wooden bat, the bat takes away kinetic energy from the ball, resulting in a weaker hit. With a metal bat, bending vibrations still take away energy, but cylinder vibrations return that energy to the ball. There are times when the energy returned may be greater than the energy initially removed from the ball, causing the ball to fly off the bat much faster than the pitcher threw it. Which raises many safety concerns about whether or not metal bats should be allowed for use in lower level baseball leagues. What is the “Sweet Spot”? The “sweet spot” is the area of the bat where you get the most pop. ' from the start. This is the ideal place to hit the ball from a distance. In most bats, the sweet spot is about 17 cm from the tip of its barrel. Every hitter can feel when you've hit the sweet spot or not, if you're swinging and connecting and you're not really feeling anything, chances are you're hitting right in the middle of the sweet spot. If your hands sting after hitting the ball, you missed the sweet spot, and there are times when you really wish you hit that “sweet spot.” The sweet spot exists because of the vibrations that occur in the bat. You become very aware of these vibrations if you hit the ball off the end of the bat or too close to the shaft. In fact, the sweet spot exists because of the lack of vibrations occurring there. When a bat is swung, it is bent enough to excite two different vibration frequencies. These vibrations create two separate nodes towards the end of the bat. A node is a point where the amplitude of vibrations is zero, basically there are no vibrations at that point. The area between the two knots of a bat is the sweet spot. If you hit the ball too far from the nub, a lot of energy is transferred from the ball and through the bat, exciting the vibrations even more. As you see in the diagram above, the vibrations get worse the closer you get to the bat handle. When the bat is struck between the nodes, little energy is transferred into the bat's vibrations. Allowing the ball to come off the bat with greater velocity, it's not enough to hit a home run every time, but it's a lot better. How to Find the Sweet Spot To find the sweet spot in a bat, all you need is a hammer, a bat and a friend can come in handy for an extra pair of hands. Have your friend lightly hold the bat by the bat handle knob. Start hitting the hammer from the barrel of the bat. Your friend, or whoever is holding the bat, will be able to feel the vibrations when you hit the bat, when you hit the bat and little to no vibration is felt, chances are you have found the "point ideal ". . You can also tell by the sound the bat will make when struck on its nub. The Target (or What's Inside a Baseball) The ball, an ever-elusive target for hitters. The best hitter in the world had only hit the ball 4 times out of 10, a good hitter did it barely 3 times out of 10 at bat. The only difference in today's game is that the balls fly farther than through the.