Relationship Between Bat Speed and Performance in Division I Softball Players

Abstract

Bat speed is an aspect of softball that may have an affect on overall hitting performance. Successful hitting performance has previously been defined as a hitter who has a batting average greater than.300 or has been defined by a variety of hitting statistics. These statistics may be directly associated with bat speed and may play as an important marker in the enhancement of hitting performance. PURPOSE: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between bat speed and performance in Division I softball players. METHODS: Nine Division I NCAA female softball players (age 18-21yrs, height 166.77 ± 5.30cm, mass 65.73 ± 8.46kg) volunteered to participate. Each subject completed a general warm-up by cycling for three minutes on an upper body ergometer at 50 rpm followed by five warm-up bat swings with 30s rest followed by five recorded maximal bat swings with approximately 5-10s between swings. Each subject used a standardized collegiate softball bat (25.31oz and 84cm long) for all swings. Maximal bat speed was assessed by an apparatus that consisted of two vertical photoelectric sensors spaced 45cm apart. Signals were sampled at 10,000Hz via a data acquisition computer and converted to bat speed in mph. Pearson correlations were calculated between tested maximal bat speed and in-season statistics (total hits and batting average). RESULTS: Moderate correlations were found between maximal bat speed and bating average (r=.55, P=.12) and between maximal bat speed and total hits (r=.51, P=.15). CONCLUSIONS: Maximal bat speed is associated with in-season batting average and total hits. Increasing bat speed may increase hitting performance which has previously been reported to elicit three benefits such as increased decision time, decreased swing time, and increased batted-ball velocity.