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Optimizing Baseball and Softball Bats

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Optimization and Dynamics with Their Applications

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Abstract

Collisions between baseballs, softballs and bats are complex and therefore their models are complex. One purpose of this paper is to show how complex these collisions can be, while still being modeled using only Newton’s principles and the conservation laws of physics. This paper presents models for the speed and spin of balls and bats. These models and equations for bat-ball collisions are intended for use by high school and college physics students, engineering students and most importantly students of the science of baseball. Unlike in previous papers, these models use only simple Newtonian principles to explain simple collision configurations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bat Chooser and Ideal Bat Weight are trademarks of Bahill Intelligent Computer Systems.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Lynden Mahrt for comments on the manuscript. I acknowledge brilliant mathematical derivations from the Great Szidarovszky.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Systems and Industrial Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85704, USA

    A. Terry Bahill

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  1. A. Terry Bahill
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Correspondence to A. Terry Bahill .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Chuo University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

    Akio Matsumoto

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Bahill, A.T. (2017). Optimizing Baseball and Softball Bats. In: Matsumoto, A. (eds) Optimization and Dynamics with Their Applications. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4214-0_10

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