BESR Rating

[Jake Patterson]

Because we are talking so much about bats here's the report from the BESR NCAA Panel. Both bat and ball are moving at a fixed speed and the velocity of the ball off the bat is what's measured.

http://webusers.npl.uiuc.edu/~a-nathan/pob/BESRWhitePaper.pdf

Jake

[randy]

Looked at it for 30 seconds and my brain got very tired.

[Jake Patterson]

Looked at it for 30 seconds and my brain got very tired.

It's easier than it looks....

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

Interesting... It sounds alot like the COR (Coefficient of Restitution) in Golf.

I know this isn't the case, but it would seem to me that since they set the BESR according to a wood bat, you shouldn't be able to hit a ball further with a metal bat than you can with wood. But I have heard from various people that you hit the ball 30% further with metal. Does this simply come from the fact that off-sweet spot hits go further with metal?

[Jake Patterson]

Interesting... It sounds alot like the COR (Coefficient of Restitution) in Golf.

I know this isn't the case, but it would seem to me that since they set the BESR according to a wood bat, you shouldn't be able to hit a ball further with a metal bat than you can with wood. But I have heard from various people that you hit the ball 30% further with metal. Does this simply come from the fact that off-sweet spot hits go further with metal?

The BESR premiss is to allow for metal bats that would best emulate a wood bat made from Northern Ash. I am not certain the advantage a -3 BESR rated bat has over a good piece of wood, I believe it isn't that much. The problem comes with the high drop kiddie bats that have much higher Bat Exit Speed Ratios.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

That's what I thought. I guess the advantage of a -3 metal bat is that the hitting surface is much bigger, and you can still hit a decent single off the handle. A bigger "sweet spot" so to speak.

[Jake Patterson]

That's what I thought. I guess the advantage of a -3 metal bat is that the hitting surface is much bigger, and you can still hit a decent single off the handle. A bigger "sweet spot" so to speak.

That is what most think. I did see a report that agree with you some time ago, I do not however have a copy. I would have to believe that a broken-bat hit off a wood handle does not generate as much power as the same off a metal bat.

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

Has there been any push to, instead of switching to wood bats, simply "deaden" bats more by lowering the BESR rating?

[TG Coach]

That's what I thought. I guess the advantage of a -3 metal bat is that the hitting surface is much bigger, and you can still hit a decent single off the handle. A bigger "sweet spot" so to speak.

In 14U I've seen some fisted soft liner singles that probably would have broken a wood bat. It also depends on the metal bat too. The LS's have thicker shafts. The Stealths and Demarinis have thinner shafts.

[TG Coach]

Has there been any push to, instead of switching to wood bats, simply "deaden" bats more by lowering the BESR rating?

ASA Softball (the highest level of travel) went in a different direction. They softened the core of the ball. The ball feels just as hard on the outside but doesn't propel as hard off the bat as it used to.