How to measure baseball bat speed

R

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RScott

What would be the best way to measure the speed of a baseball bat at several places in the swing? I am thinking several (4 to 8)infared sensors hooked to some time measuring device (board)in my computer. It would be nice if I could get the output in Excel. Thanks in advance.
 
Your swing may knock off some of the sensors on the way past. One way is to use a high-speed video camera from above. I did this for hockey puck speed years ago but I can’t remember how exactly. The parts I remember are, you need to find out the film speed. You need to make a large piece of white paper with lines every inch. Place that board or paper on the ground so the camera sees the bat moving across the lines. You film from above and somehow calculate the film speed in with how many inches the bat is moving over the lines.

You could do it with an accelerometer or G meter. The G meters are directional so the curve may not affect the reading.

I assume you are looking for speeds along the swing path not top speed as that can be seen with a simple radar gun. PM or PS magazine had an article several years ago on bat speed and the difference in performance with weight and where the weight was. The main focus was on do you want lighter for more initial acceleration or weight for more swing through. Check with them.

Bob Hogg
[email protected]
 
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