Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The sweet spot of a cricket bat for low speed impacts

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sports Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The impact location of a cricket ball on a cricket bat has a large influence on the resulting rebound velocity of the ball. To measure this, a cricket bat was swung in a pendulum motion towards a cricket ball suspended in space. The position of the ball was modified so that it impacted the bat at 24 different positions on the face of the bat. This included six positions longitudinally and four positions laterally. The speed of the bat and each rebound were measured by a radar gun so that the apparent coefficient of restitution (ACOR) could be calculated. Impacts occurring centrally and 1 cm either side of the midline produced significantly higher rebound speeds and ACOR’s than impacts occurring 2 and 3cm off centre (p < 0.01). Impacts occurring 15–20 cm from the base of the bat produced the highest rebound speeds (p < 0.01) and impacts occurring 20–30 cm from the base of the bat produced the highest ACOR values. Implications for higher speed impacts and game scenarios are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bower RG, Sinclair P (2007) Tennis racket stiffness, string tension and impact velocity effects on post-impact ball angular velocity. Sports Eng 10:111–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Brooks R, Mather J, Knowles S (2006) The influence of impact vibration modes and frequencies on cricket bat performance. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 220(4):237–248

    Google Scholar 

  3. Brody H (1979) Physics of the tennis racquet. Am J Phys 47(6):482–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brody H (1981) Physics of the tennis racquet II: the “sweet spot”. Am J Phys 49(9):816–819

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Brody H (1986) The sweet spot of a baseball bat. Am J Phys 54(7):640–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Carre M, James D, Haake S (2004) Impact of a non-homogenous sphere on a rigid surface, proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. J Mech Eng Sci 218(3):273–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cohen J (1992) Statistical power analysis. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 1(3):98–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Cross R (1997) The dead spot of a tennis racket. Am J Phys 65(8):754–764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cross R (1998) The sweet spot of a baseball bat. Am J Phys 66(9):772–779

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cross R (2003) Oblique impact of a tennis ball on the strings of a tennis racket. Sports Eng 6(4):235–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Cross R, Nathan A (2009) Performance versus moment of inertia of sporting Implements. Sports Technol Rev 2(1–2):7–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Elliott B, Ackland T (1982) Physical and impact characteristics of aluminium and wooden cricket bats. J Hum Mov Stud 8:149–159

    Google Scholar 

  13. Gutaj F (2004) A comparison of methods for modelling the dynamics of a cricket bat. J Mech Eng Sci 218(12):1457–1468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Haake S, Allen T, Choppin S, Goodwill S (2007) The evolution of the tennis racket and its effect on serve speed. In: Tennis Science and Technology 3, vol 1. International Tennis Federation, London, pp 257–271

  15. Hatze H (1992) Objective biomechanical determination of tennis racquet properties. Int J Sport Biomech 8:275–287

    Google Scholar 

  16. John S, Li Z (2002) Multi-directional vibration analysis of cricket bats, Engineering of Sport 4, Blackwell Science Ltd, Oxford, pp 96–103 (ISBN: 0-632-06481-1)

  17. Knowles S, Mather J, Brooks R (1996) Cricket bat design and analysis through impact vibration modelling. In: Haake (ed) The Engineering of Sport, Balkema, Rotterdam

  18. Miller S (2006) Modern tennis rackets, balls and surfaces. Br J Sports Med 40:401–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Nathan A (2000) Dynamics of the baseball–bat collision. Am J Phys 68(11):979–990

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Stretch R, Brink A, Hugo J (2005) A comparison of the ball rebound characteristics of wooden and composite cricket bats at three approach speeds. Sports Biomech 4(1):37–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Technology, Kuring-gai Campus, PO Box 222, Lindfield, Sydney, NSW, 2070, Australia

    Rob Bower

Authors
  1. Rob Bower
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rob Bower.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bower, R. The sweet spot of a cricket bat for low speed impacts. Sports Eng 15, 53–60 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-012-0087-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-012-0087-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation