Effects of selected softball bat loading strategies on impact reaction impulse

Interior loading strategies to modify the location and size of the effective hitting area of aluminum softball bats were identified. The effects of these strategies on theoretically derived and empirically determined relevant mechanical parameters were compared. Loading strategies consisted of adding 315 g to the interior of three similar (790 g) aluminum softball bats: at the center of mass of the original bat (bat C); at the ends of the bat and distributed so that the center of mass was unchanged, (bat A); and at the ends of the bat and distributed so that the moment of inertia about the swing axis (I1) was the same as that of bat C (bat B). The following parameters were derived theoretically by considering the bat as a physical pendulum and empirically by observing the impact reaction impulse on the axis of suspension: moment of inertia about the suspension axis (I0); moment of inertia about the swing axis; distance from the suspension axis to the center of percussion; and the slope of the impact reaction impulse (P1) relative to the impact impulse (P) as a function of impact location. These values for each bat were compared. Both empirical and theoretically derived data indicated that: the center of percussion of bat B was farther away from the axis than bats A and C; the moment of inertia about the swing axis of bat A was much greater than that of bats B and C; and the slope of the impact reaction regression line as a function of impact location for bat B was significantly less than that of the other bats. Thus, the effective hitting area of bat B was moved toward the barrel end of the bat and enlarged without a substantial increase in the moment of inertia about the swing axis.