Posts Tagged ‘science’

Does Your Grip on a Baseball Bat Affect the Trajectory of the Ball?

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Baseball Grip StrengthI saw this nifty little video on ESPN today about the effect of your grip on the trajectory of a baseball. Nomar Garciaparra gets wired up with electrodes to conduct this experiment. He used to be a pretty good ball player.

Essentially what happens, is this:

  • Pitcher throws the ball. In this experiment it is a 90 MPH pitch.
  • Bat comes in contact with the ball. Nomar swings the bat 67 MPH.
  • Shockwaves from the contact between bat and ball travel down the bat to the hands.
  • Some shockwaves are reflected and bounce back up the bat towards the ball.
  • The ball leaves bat before shockwaves bounce back.
  • Therefore your grip on a bat doesn’t directly influence the trajectory of the ball when hit.
  • … with a couple possible exceptions.

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