[AKAKBUCK]

Let's get something in here.

Force= Mass X Acceleration (Why do I feel Smithlabs lurking over my shoulder)

The Force in this case is the energy with which the hitter strikes the ball.

The Mass, is the mass of the bat (More or less)

The Acceleration is batspeed.

The only real physics argument you can make is that if you have the same swing, and you use a 30 ounce bat one time, and a 32 ounce bat the next. The ball will leave the bat at a greater velocity with the 32 ounce bat. (And Travel Farther, provided all the other variables, humidity, wind, angle of impact, pitch speed, since this is an elastic collision, remain the same).

If you assume that most power hitters are already pretty strong... Its my opinion that the addition of fast twitch muscle mass (The fast twitch is an important part) assists the consistent power hitter in one specific way.... and that's faster acceleration.... not necessarily higher maximum bat speed, but the ability to reach maximum batspeed faster.

As Dihard pointed out... most of the power in a swing is generated in a hitters lower body... that's where you get weight transfer, and control the pivot (hips) for a swing... but the last part of the swing is firing your hands through the zone.

The advantage of being able to reach maximum batspeed faster is an advantage because it gives you the ability to "shorten your stroke." Thus you can commit to a pitch later (if only a split second) thus giving you the abilty to react to the speed and breaks of the pitch better.... which in turn allows you to control your balance better.... which means fewer things can go wrong in the swing.... It also allows you to be more accurate when striking the ball, thus making more consistent contact. (Think if your trying to hit a mark on a tree with an axe... is it easier to hit the mark with a full swing or half swing if you swing as hard as you can?)

DiHard was absolutely right about Griffey... but if you look at Griffey's swing vs Bond's Swing... the obvious difference is the legnth of his swing arc... Griffey's swinging a Big Bertha, Bonds is swinging a hatchet... Ever seem like McGwire was just flicking his wristst and the ball would leave the park? Well... all the elements of his swing were there... he just did them all very quickly because he could get through the hitting zone so quickly.


Boy, that turned out a lot longer than I had planned.