Bat Swing Velocities in Baseball

BRIEF REVIEW

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS SWING VELOCITY

DAVID J. SZYMANSKI,1 COOP DERENNE,2

1

FOR

INCREASED BAT

AND

FRANK J. SPANIOL3

Department of Kinesiology, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana; 2Department of Kinesiology and Leisure Science, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii; and 3Department of Kinesiology, Texas A & M University–Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas

ABSTRACT

Szymanski, DJ, DeRenne, C, and Spaniol, FJ. Contributing factors for increased bat swing velocity. J Strength Cond Res 23(4): 1338–1352, 2009—Bat swing velocity is an important characteristic of successful hitters in baseball and softball. The purpose of this literature review is threefold. First, before describing what components and training methods have been investigated to improve bat swing velocity, it is necessary to discuss the importance of bat swing velocity and batted-ball velocity. The second purpose is to discuss bat weight during on-deck circle warm-up, bat weight during resistance training, resistance training with an overload of force, performance of additional supplemental resistance exercises, the relationship between strength, power, lean body mass, and angular velocity and bat swing velocity, and the relationship between improvements in strength, power, lean body mass, and angular velocity and improvements in bat swing velocity. The third purpose of this review is to recommend some practical applications based on research results.

KEY WORDS baseball, bat speed, resistance training, overweighted training, underweighted training INTRODUCTION

I

n 1967, Breen (8) performed a cinematographic analysis to determine what mechanical attributes contribute to the movements involved in hitting a baseball effectively. He stated that 1 of the 5 attributes of successful hitting was greater bat velocity; this has been confirmed by DeRenne (15). A successful hitter was defined as a professional hitter who had a batting average greater than...