Would mandated regulations for bat usage at all levels of baseball provide a safer environment for the sport and reduce costs. Decades of debating over these questions leaves people in disagreement. When it comes to discussing the use of metal bats from Little League to the Majors cost, safety, and performance are among the currently most heavily debated topics, with wide spread disagreement among people in the industry. Complicating the debates, especially the safety debate, is the fact that little scientific, researched based, safety studies have been conducted.
When determining the safety of metal bats there are two assumptions that one must consider. batted ball aluminum bats perform……) states these assumptions as follows: “Assumption #1: Baseballs hit by players swinging metal bats travel at extremely high speeds, well in excess of the speeds that could be achieved if the same player were swinging a wood bat.” Many people in baseball believe the difference in speed can be as great as 20 mph. Russell’s second assumption states, “Pitchers do not have enough time to react to line drives from metal bats, but would have enough time to react from a line drive from a wood bat.” Those factors assumed, the argument can definitely be made that metal bats do indeed impose a safety risk. Needless to say, assumptions must be supported with scientific studies and data.
This is where the problem arises. One would think that in today’s world, safety would be of the upmost importance; resulting in numerous, high quality, scientific, safety studies. However, despite the high level of controversy over the safety of metal bats due to the batted ball speed, few scientific studies have been conducted to compare the batted ball speed di...
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...Debate over metals on the upswing." Sports Business Journal (2007): n. pag. Web. 16 Feb 2010.
Russell, Daniel. "Why Aluminum Bats Can Perform Better Than Wood Bats." http://paws.kettering.edu/-drussell/bats-new.alumwood.html. 2003. Web. 16 Feb 2010.
Russell, Daniel. "Should Metal Baseball Bats Be Banned Because They are Ingerently Dangerous?." http://paws.kettering.edu/-drussell/bats-new.bansafety-.html. 2007. Web. 16 Feb 2010.
"When Will Baseball Tame Broken Bats? ." http://www.popsci.com/score/article/2008-05/when-will-baseball-tame-broken-bats. 2010. popsci, Web. 16 Feb 2010.
Volti, Rudi. "Aluminun Baseball Bats." The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Science, And Technology. New York: 1999. Print.
Zieglar, Terry. "Debate Over Aluminum Bats Continues." http://sportsinjuries.suite101.com/article.cfm/debate_over_aluminum_bats_continues. 2009. Web. 16 Feb 2010.
...al properties, the five most important being the length, diameter, weight, weight distribution, and stiffness of the bat. Bats are about six times heavier than balls and about six times lighter than a batter’s two arms. This is no mere coincidence. Tennis racquets are also about six times heavier than tennis balls. The factor of 6 is about the best ratio to ensure that energy in the batter’s arms is well coupled to the bat, and that energy in the bat is well coupled to the ball.
Another exciting characteristic of aluminum bats is the speed at which the ball leaves the bat compared to the speed that it leaves a wooden bat. A one time representative of Louisville Slugger, J.W. MacKay, says “When a ball is traveling at 94 miles per hour as it leaves the bat, a pitcher has four milliseconds to respond…you can’t react that fast”(Palmer 2). Studies show the bats have enough power to propel balls at speeds up to 123 miles per hour, up to 30 mph faster than balls struck with wooden bats. In a memorandum written to the NCAA, Cedric W. Dempsey states that “traditional wood bats when swung at 70 miles ...
Albert G. Spalding created the first major league baseball glove. “Wearing a glove just wasn’t manly” said Smithsonian. It used to be that the strongest player on the field was whoever had the most broken fingers or blisters, but after a while, players realised they
Baseball has been of the longest living sports in our world today. The game started with the idea of a stick and ball and now has become one of the most complex sports known in our society. Several rules and regulations have been added to help enhance the game for everyone. Although baseball has endured several issues during its history and development of the game the game has still been a success throughout the world.
The game of baseball can be divided into three broad categories: hitting, pitching, and defense. No other facet of the game gets as much attention as hitting. For example, every year the MLB puts on a home run derby. No other part of the game draws as much attention. The traditional statistic that measure hitting ability is batting average (BA or AVG). To find a players batting averag...
Many people might think that swinging the bat straight through the ball would be enough to hit the ball a decent distance off the bat. There's many more mechanics involved in the swinging process. Muscle has only a small part to play in the swinging a bat for power. There are two types of mechanics involved while swinging a bat, Linear and Rotational. Rotational mechanics are the dominant source of power in the swing. Out of the rotational mechanics come the two forces that help generate the speed and power of the swing, torque and the other comes from the energy of rotation. Speed from the energy of rotation comes from the path that your hands follow as you swing the bat. The speed generated by the circular rotation from your hands is like a ball at the end of a string, as long as your hands are moving in a circle then the ball continues to accelerate in a circle. So the bat will also move in at an increasing speed as long as your hands are following a circular path as you swing. Any foward movement of the hands or body in a straight line won't add to the overall bat speed.
They are also know as mouse-eared bats. The little brown bats being one of the most common bat species in most of the United States and Canada have many interesting and unique characteristics that set them far apart from other animals. Unfortunately, with a disease called white-nose syndrome bat populations have been on the decline. With the species being threatened it is even more important to fully understand the little brown bat and all of its habits and characteristics.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the softball swing anatomically, mechanically, and analytically. By analyzing each move one makes when...
American football is full of exciting competition, but do we realize the danger! Helmet safety in football remains an immense problem as the sport accounts for the highest incidence of concussions. Since leather football helmets, the technology for safer helmets has improved drastically and continue to improve. The development of newly designed helmets and technology has lowered the risk of head injuries for players. Furthermore, improvements in helmet testing methods have led to better understanding head injuries and the protectiveness of the helmet. In respect, football helmet safety still remains a challenge, such as a necessity of a proper categorization system to rank helmets and regulations to improve helmet safety. Regardless, standards and regulations attempt to address helmet safety through government intervention and a proper measuring system for football helmets. Despite the cultural perception of football, measures are taken to ensure safety, such as the reforms and education with regards to playing safer football. I intend to address the technological advances and regulation of football towards the discussion of helmet safety. Therefore the aggresivity in football’s culture should embrace stronger helmet standards and regulation that are promoted through improved testing methods and innovations because of the need to prevent further dangerous head injuries, especially concussions.
Baseball is a fascinating sport that is exceptionally fun to play. This assignment is all about understanding the physics of a few key aspects of this sport. One might ask what physics could have to do with baseball? Like most sports baseball involves physical motion. Baseball encompasses all three planes of motion through throwing, hitting, and fielding. All of the classical laws of mechanics can be applied to understand the physics of this game.
In American football, helmets are required to decrease traumatic brain injuries and have been successful in doing so. A large part in the success of helmet design is improvements in technology. The sizes of athletes have gone up to make football more dangerous. To protect against brain injury, helmets designs have changed to become heavier and wider, filled within the space are energy absorbing materials, air space and padding to protect the skull upon impact. Originally, helmets were designed to prevent only traumatic brain injuries, but technology is advancing to fill the gap of concussions. Until recently, the seriousness of concussions were not considered part of the equation that needed to be addressed, so manufactures did not utilized in constructing helmets to address this issue (Post et al. 653). Upon predicting risk of concussions in tests, by themselves linear and rotational acceleration are not suitable measurements for modern helmets. These testing measurements do not address the rotational forces and minor hits to the brain which are associated with concussions (Post et al. 654). Given the seriousness of concussions in contact sports, more attention is given to prevent and reduce concussions through testing methods and advancing technology, stronger regulation and changes to the sport. As stated in the article involving the National Football League (NFL), “The risk involved in playing sports are also very real. The NFL is struggling with serious mental and physical health problems because they sustained repeated mild traumatic brain injuries, is what concussions are called. (“Concussions and Marketing of Sports Equipment” 6).
Across numerous sports in the world, helmets are a staple of safety. Assumed to be a benefit, most athletes do not consider the risks of a helmet; both mental and physical risks. Society tells us that no matter what; a helmet will be safer than being exposed to harmful elements. There is also the idea that helmets are beneficial, but the way athletes use them causes more injuries than if a helmet had not been used at all. This culture, using your helmet as a tool, encourages more risky behavior for helmet wearers. Adventure writer and pilot, Lane Wallace argues that football culture is to blame for current helmet use, and that helmets are beneficial in her article “Do Sports Helmets Help or Hurt?” In his article “Disposable Heroes”, Neurologist David Weisman reasons that the worst helmets might be a better solution than better helmets.
Contact sports in America, like football and boxing, carry a rich history of the spirit of the game, and the feeling of victory. These games bring us together as we cry out and cheer for our team or fighter as they deliver the winning touchdown, or the knockout that brings them the undisputed champion belt. However, these players are facing injuries that can destroy their career and affect their brain for the rest of their lives. We shouldn’t outlaw contact sports, but we should force safety to become more important. If we want to keep our players safe and continue the tradition of the contact sports we enjoy as a country, then we must evolve our safety in sports, and change the way we view contact sports as a country.
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...