Oh, I’m out here in rightfield just watchin’ the dandelions grow!
Hello fastpitch softball enthusiasts,
On April 2nd Greenfield beat Pius XI and for head coach Jack Miller the win marked the 400th time his teams have won varsity games. The first 13 took place in South Carolina and the next 387 have all come as Head Coach at Greenfield. I’ve updated t he Coaches Honor Roll lists on both the Fastpitch Chronicle website and on the wissports website.
After Fox Valley Lutheran’s win which gave Head Coach Julie Detjen her 100th win I added her name to both of those lists under the 100 win milepost.
There are a few games on Saturday with the biggest matchup being in Paddock Lake where two of the state’s top three or four teams will play. Kaukauna travels to Paddock Lake to take on Westosha Central. That is where I’d like to be but the day will find me here in Poynette working on our new batting cage projects. Other games find Parkview playing Belleville in a twinbill beginning at 11:00 am while Fort Atkinson, Janesville Craig, Milton and Janesville Parker will play as well.
Things really heat up, weather permitting next week so be sure to check the wissports site daily to see who is playing where and at what time.
A bat has three "sweet spots." One of them is called its "center of percussion" or COP. That's physicist talk for the point where the ball's impact causes the smallest shock to a batter's hands (that nest full of bees feeling). If a batter hits a ball closer to the bat's handle than the center of percussion, they will feel a slight force pushing the handle back into the palm of their hand. If they hit the ball farther out than the COP, they will feel a slight push on their fingers in the opposite direction as if trying to open up their grip. But if they hit the ball right on the COP, they won't feel any force on the handle. It feels sweet!
To find the Center of Percussion on a bat try this.
When you hold the bat with your hands at the bottom of the handle (normal grip), the COP is located about six to eight inches from the fast end of the bat. If you "choke up" on the bat, the COP moves closer to the fast end. That's because the location of your top hand is the place you want the bat to pivot. Changing your hand's position on the bat changes where that pivot point is which therefore changes the position of the COP to one that corresponds to the new pivot point.
To find the COP on a bat, hold it parallel to the ground in your hand. Make sure you hold it at the same place you normally do when batting. It's easier to feel the push if you hold the bat only in one hand; a two-handed grip helps counteract the push in either direction. However, be sure to hold it with the top hand in its "normal" position and no closer to the handle knob than you normally put your top hand. Close your eyes so you can concentrate on the sensations you feel in your hands.
Have someone else throw a ball at the bat from a few inches away starting at the end farthest from you hand and moving down the bat. The harder they throw it, the better (as long as they are able to control where on the bat they are throwing the ball). Notice how the bat feels in your hands when the ball first hits it. The amount of vibration and "push" varies, depending on where on the bat the ball is hit. Some may find it a little hard to distinguish between the two feelings, but if you can, the COP is where you feel the smallest push on your hand.
A bat is essentially a long stick. When you hit a stick off center two things happen"1) the entire stick wants to move straight backward and 2) it wants to rotate around its center. It is this tendency to rotate that makes the bat's handle push back on or pull out of your hands.
When the ball hits the bat's COP you don't feel a push or pull as the bat tries to spin. This is because when the bat spins/rotates it pivots around one stationary point. When you hit a ball at the COP the stationary point coincides with where your top hand is. So your hand feels no push one way or the other.
This is important if you want to hit a ball a long way. Every time you hit a ball at a point that's not the COP of your bat, some of the energy of your swing goes into moving the bat in your hands, not to pushing the ball so that it moves away from you farther and faster. If less of the bat's energy goes to your hands, more of it can be given to the ball.
High tech aluminum and composite bats are a bit different than wooden bats but still have a COP. A good test of where the COP is consists of holding the bat with your top hand in its normal grip location (right hand for righties and left hand for lefties) against the knob. Use a poly-core ball and try to bounce it off the barrel end of the bat as many times as you can without losing control of the ball. As it bounces on the bat, notice where it hits when it feels good and where it hits when you feel a deadening sensation or vibration.
All bats, no matter what they are made of have a tendency to rotate in the hands. Holding the bat properly eliminates the rotational forces on the bat when contact is made.
Hey there is still time to get a preview in and get it posted.
Have a great weekend!
Keep it Rising!
Bob
