No More Freaks or Syn2s – What Are We Losing?
By Dan Hughes
As of January 1, 2008, the Amateur Softball Association of America banned nine 100-mph bats that had been grandfathered in for the past several years.
The bats that are now banned include two of the most popular bats of all time: the original Miken Freak (also known as the Freak 100), and the Easton Synergy 2.
The rest of the list:
Louisville
Slugger
SB304
SB404
Worth
XGOLD-Fastpitch
XRED-Fastpitch
XPST4
WWSCA
SBWKA
In a separate action, the ASA also banned the Combat Lady Virus bat.
So how will this ban affect the game? Or to be more precise, how much distance will batters lose when they switch from a 100 MPH bat to a 98 MPH bat?
Here is what two experts have to say about it.
--------------------
Steve
Zawrotny
Steve is a baseball fitness guru.
Check out his site at http://baseballfit.com.
He writes,
Hi
Dan,
Yes,
the drop in “ejection speed” off of the bat means you won’t be able to hit
the ball as far with a 98 mph bat as you could with a 100 mph bat, assuming your
mechanics and bat speed stay the same.
So
the key to making up the difference with the lower performing bat is to increase
your performance (bat speed) by several mph. You’ll have to be better, so to speak,
to offset the lower performing equipment.
The
good news is that everyone will be similarly affected, except for two groups of
players:
1
1)
Those who could already hit it well over 300+
feet. The 2% reduction won’t noticeably affect their performance.
2
2)
Those who do the extra work to enhance their
abilities so as to overcome the new limitations imposed by their equipment.
Both
groups are pretty small.
Regards,
--------------------
Alan is a physicist at the University of Illinois, and
a recognized authority on the physics of baseball.
(See his fascinating page of referenced articles at http://www.npl.uiuc.edu/~a-nathan/pob/).
Here is his
reply:
Dan....The answer is...
1. If softball were played in a vacuum, then a 2% drop in batted ball speed
(BBS) would be a 4% drop in distance.
2. Softball is not played in a vacuum. There is air resistance, so the answer is
more complicated.
3. For a baseball, each mph of BBS is worth about 5 ft on a long fly ball.
4. For a softball, there is more drag since the ball is larger. As a result,
each mph of BBS is worth about 3.5 ft on a long fly ball.
Best...Alan Nathan
© 2008 Dan Hughes