Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing the position of "sweet spot (the impact position that maximizes batted ball speed)" of baseball bats. A finite element analysis was used to construct an impact model between a baseball and a wooden baseball bat, and a series of simulations were conducted with various bat swing speed and impact conditions. The simulation outcome showed two characteristic phenomena: One phenomenon is that, in the case of increasing the linear momentum of the bat, batted ball speed decreases when impact position offset from the node of bat 1st bending mode particularly the position that offset in the direction of the bat end. The other phenomenon is that, in the case of increasing the angular momentum of the bat, batted ball speed that impact position offset in the direction of the bat top from the sweet spot became higher than the speed when impact position is the node.
