Ball Exit Velocity: USSSA Bat 2-1/4" Barrel vs USABat Standard 2-5/8" Barrel

Background:

USABat (bat performance) standard came out for youth baseball in January 1 2018. The USABat Standard allows for

• wood-like performance in the youth baseball bats

• baseball bats with a maximum 2-5/8 inch diameter barrel (used to be 2-1/4 inch in Little League and Cal Ripken)

Question:

Will changing from a USSSA bat to a USAbat reduce ball exit velocity?

Hypothesis:

Based on the fact that the new standard decreases the bat pop, we would expect a decrease in ball exit speed.

Bats Used:

Measurement Equipment:

FlightScope MEVO- Measures Ball Exit Speed, Launch Angle  and Carry Distance

Measurement Setup:

Procedure:

All swings were taken of the tee by a 10 yr old. The two tests in the experiment were counter-balanced. Which consisted of eight blocks of 5-swings done in the following order ABBA BAAB.  

• Swings with the USSSA bat were letter ‘A’,

• Swings with the USABat were letter ‘B’.  

• 40 total swings were completed in the experiment, 20 per test.  

Data:

Conclusions:

• The USSSA bat produced higher ball exit velocity (on average 3.4 MPH higher).

• There was only a 1.3 MPH difference between the maximum exit velocity produced by the two bats (USSSA- 51.7 MPH & USABat-50.4 MPH).

• The USABat produce a longer (maximum) carry distance by 10.5 Feet (USSSA-114.8 Feet & USABat 125.3 Feet). We thin this can be attributed to the larger barrel size helping getting to a better contact with the ball.

The Bottom Line? Well, according to the experiment data, it looks like the USSSA bat holds the performance edge when it comes to Ball Exit Speed, almost a 3.4-MPH difference.  Now, this data doesn’t mean that EVERY USABat will under-perform a USSSA bat, it just means you need to tinker with more bat and test to find out.