ASA illegal bat list and Federation High School

[SWFLguy]

For all of us who work high school girl's softball.
OK--- here's my thinking:
The ASA illegal bat list--- does it exist because of adult men's
strength and abilities ?? Or are these bats inherently dangerous
no matter who is using them ??

If the danger is solely in the use of adult males--
can anyone expalin to me why those bats could be dangerous
when used by high school girls ??
discussion ??

[WestMichBlue]

Originally Posted by SWFLguy

If the danger is solely in the use of adult males--
can anyone expalin to me why those bats could be dangerous
when used by high school girls ??
discussion ??

First – let’s talk physics. The energy of a slow-pitched ball is primarily provided by gravity as the ball falls from its apex towards the plate. The majority of energy imparted to the ball comes from the bat speed and power of the adult male’s arms and shoulders.

A ball pitched at 55 mph has a lot of energy when it reaches home plate. That energy is fully absorbed when the ball comes to a stop. The ball, as it compresses, absorbs some of the energy. The bat absorbs most. When the ball and the bat return to their normal size, some of the absorbed energy is now imparted back to the ball to send it in the opposite direction. Add that to the energy developed by the bat speed and you have a ball coming off the bat at a very high speed.

Second – let’s talk player locations. F5 in SP may be 70’ to 80’ or more from home; F1 may be 60’ to 65’ from home. F5 in FP may be 45’ from home; F1 will be 33’ – 35’ from home.

At 88’/sec, a 60 mph ball reaches FP F5 in a half second; less than that to F1.

Third – real life incident. Two decent varsity teams, no super athletes but good ball players, pitcher throwing about 55 mph. Bats are typical H.S. Eastons, probably purchased for $75, and all very legal.

Batter rips a line drive straight at F5’s head. With no time to react, F5 takes hit to forehead and collapses immediately. Ball ricochets off forehead into air all the way to center field, where it is almost caught in-flight. After half hour delay, injured player is finally boarded up and transported to local hospital. Fortunately, she survived with only an ugly bruise and one heck of a headache. Very lucky!

A hotter bat means higher exit speed means that ball gets to player quicker, and impacts more energy to player, thus possibility of greater injury.

Pitcher and infielders are very vulnerable now; lets not increase the risk. Fact is, regardless of bats, these players greatest protection is simply chance. A player’s face represents less than 1% of the nearby space around her. Thus the greatest chance is that the ball will pass through some other part of that space. Players are getting hit, but I suspect that it is less than one in a hundred of the balls that pass nearby. Still – if they do get hit, the ball off the hotter bat can inflict more damage. Why take the chance?

WMB