119 Three-dimensional orientation of baseball bat at ball impac: Probability of directing the batted ball toward the same and opposite fields

Abstract

In baseball batting, the horizontal direction to which the batted ball will project is influenced by two factors; (a) the direction to which the impacting surface of the bat is facing at ball impact and (b) the interaction of the inclination angle of the bat in the vertical direction and the position of the ball impact along the short axis of the bat. The purpose of this study was to describe the three-dimensional orientation of baseball bat at ball impact for each direction (same, center, and opposite field) of batted ball. Forty-seven elite baseball players performed 7-36 trials of free-batting. Behavior of the ball impact was recorded with two high-speed cameras (2500 fps). All trials in which the bat collided with the ball, including the foul balls, were used for the analysis. The orientation of bat at ball impact was described as the azimuth angle and the depression angle of the bat's long-axis. Frequency distribution maps were constructed to display the probability of hitting the ball toward the same, center and opposite fields for each combination of azimuth and depression angles of the bat at ball impact. The frequency distribution maps illustrate that a unique zone exists for each direction of the batted ball and that the zones overlap substantially. These results suggest that batters can hit the ball toward the three directions even if the orientation of bat at ball impact was same.