Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate how the surface conditions (wet or dry, smooth or rough surface) of the metal baseball bat affect the batted ball characteristics of rubber-ball baseball. A bat swing robot was used for generating bat-ball impact. The experimental results showed that the wet surface of the normal metal baseball bat makes the ball slippery and it would cause worse batting performance. To prevent the slipping phenomenon, an additional bat was also tested. By knurling the surface of the additional bat, it inhibited the larger slip of the ball even under the wet surface condition. Furthermore, a questionnaire revealed that most rubber-ball baseball players wipe up water drops from the bat surface, which corresponded to the experimental results.
