Using vibrational analysis to investigate the batted-ball performance of baseball bats

Hollow nonwood baseball bats have performance advantages over wooden bats. The hollow barrel bats act as a spring or trampoline during the bat-ball collision. The trampoline effect can occur at different natural frequencies known as hoop modes. To examine the effect of the hoop mode on the bat-ball collision, modal analysis and performance measurements were performed on a sample of hollow nonwood baseball bats. A nonlinear mass spring model was created to show the effect of hoop frequency has on performance. It has been shown that by decreasing the hoop frequency of the baseball bat from that of the new bat the performance of the baseball bat increases.