baseball "sweet spot"

[ishmael]

Why is it better for the batter to hit a pitch a little distance down from the end of the bat, rather than close to the end, where the bat speed is clearly greater? It happens in almost every game. The announcer will say the ball didn't go as far because "he hit it off the end of the bat".

How would one calculate where the sweet spot is?

[Pangloss]

I'll take a swing at it! (grin)

 

First, I think we have to define "better" as "having the full energy from the swing available and transmitted into the ball". The usual scenario here is a smack that seems, because of location and arc, to be a sure-fire home run, but ends up falling short of the fence.

 

I think the answer is that the end of the bat is not as structurally sound as it is a few inches further "in" towards the grip. So when the ball strikes there, some of the energy is lost and not put into the ball.

 

Here's an image for no reason whatsoever.

 

[Skye]

It's due to the range of bending and harmonic responses of the bat.

 

http://paws.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats-new/sweetspot.html

[Pangloss]

Cool article.

[jonnyquest]

i think it also has something to do with the core of the bat. the core obviously doesn't run all the way to the end or you'd be able to see it.

[zapatos]

i think it also has something to do with the core of the bat. the core obviously doesn't run all the way to the end or you'd be able to see it.

What do you mean 'it doesn't run all the way to the end'? Are you saying the bat is hollow at some point?

[swansont]

i think it also has something to do with the core of the bat. the core obviously doesn't run all the way to the end or you'd be able to see it.

 

Core? In major league baseball, it's a single, solid piece of wood by rule (pdf)

 

1.10

(a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.

[rktpro]

Isn't sweet spot the point where when the ball hits the impulse suffered at the end held in hand is zero. It can be calculated using some concepts of rotatation of hinged rods and conservation of momentum both linear and angular abot the gripped end.

[Enthalpy]

If hitting at the tip, the handle would retainor even gain speed. Not only unhealthy, it would also be suboptimum.

 

Same for a tennis racket: not only should the ball hit the centre of the strings; masses must also be balanced so that this point coincides with the minimum shock at the handle.

[zapatos]

You can roughly find the sweet spot by letting the bat hang straight down, by holding the very end of the handle with your finger tips. You then take another bat and lightly hit where you believe the sweet spot to be. If you miss the sweet spot the bat will wobble. If you hit the sweet spot the bat will smoothly swing away.

 

We used that method to teach the kids where they want the bat to hit the ball.