The Advantages of a Heavier Bat

One of the factors of what bat a batter will choose to use is the weight of a bat. Heavy bats have advantages and disadvantages, just as lighter bats do. A heavy bat is about 27 ounces whereas a light bat is 20 or 18 ounces. If the batter has a lot of arm strength, the advantages may trump the disadvantages.

  1. Hitting the ball further

    • You may be able to hit that home run with a heavier bat.

      The main advantage of using a heavy bat is that you may be able to hit a ball further. The momentum of the extra weight will be transferred to the ball when you make a direct hit, hence sending the ball further out. This is combined with the overall speed that the bat is traveling at the time, so if you can keep your speed up while hitting with a heavier bat, you will definitely hit the ball further than with a light bat.

    Scientific Formula

    • The basic scientific formula for the advantage of hitting the ball further with a heavier bat than with a lighter bat is: p = mv (momentum = mass*velocity). If the batter can keep the speed of the bat going with the heavy bat, he can keep the velocity up. The momentum will then be much more. If the velocity cannot be kept up to speed, then the momentum will be less.

    Get Stronger

    • The heavier the weights, the stronger the person will get.

      Another advantage to using a heavier bat is that the batter should get stronger with practice. This uses the same idea as lifting weights. The heavier the weights the person lifts on a regular basis, the stronger he will get. After a while, lighter bats will seem even lighter than normal and the batter will be able to swing extremely fast.

    Disadvantages

    • By using a bat that is too heavy, the batter can injure himself.

      The disadvantages to using a heavier bat are mostly connected to using a bat that is just too heavy for the batter. If using a bat that is too heavy, the speed of the swing will considerably slow down, causing the batter to hit the ball less far away than he would with a lighter bat more suited to him. If using a bat that is too heavy, the person could also hurt himself and pull a muscle or damage his shoulders.