Sports Engineering

, Volume 15, Issue 1, pp 41–52 | Cite as

A new technology for resolving the dynamics of a swinging bat

  • Kevin King
  • Jessandra Hough
  • Ryan McGinnis
  • N. C. Perkins
Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

Hitting a major league fastball, with approximately half a second to react, poses one of the greatest challenges in sports. The ability to hit the ball derives from the dynamics of the bat swing which can be measured using video motion capture. However, doing so necessitates swinging the bat within the confines of a motion capture laboratory, often with considerable time and expense. This paper introduces an inexpensive and highly portable measurement method for use right on the field of play to support player training, coaching, rehabilitation, and player-bat fitting. The method employs a highly miniaturized, wireless MEMS inertial measurement unit (IMU) affixed to the knob of the bat. The IMU incorporates three-axis sensing of bat acceleration and angular velocity with a low-power RF transceiver to transmit this data to a host computer. Analysis of this data yields a near-instantaneous and highly resolved summary of three-dimensional bat dynamics. This paper describes this novel technology for use in baseball and softball, presents example results, and reveals new features of bat motion overlooked in previous studies.

Keywords

Baseball Softball Bat dynamics Inertial sensors Sports training 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

Ryan McGinnis gratefully acknowledges research support from the National Science Foundation through a Graduate Research Fellowship. Photographs courtesy of Lon Horwedel Photography. The authors also thank Dr. Scott McLean (Kinesiology, University of Michigan) for access to use his VICON motion analysis system.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Copyright information

© International Sports Engineering Association 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Kevin King
    • 1
  • Jessandra Hough
    • 1
  • Ryan McGinnis
    • 1
  • N. C. Perkins
    • 1
  1. 1.Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborUSA

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