Aluminum vs. wood: Brown bioengineers building apparatus to measure ball speed in time for new NCAA rules
There is one spot on John Sunderdick's ankle where the baseball always seems to nail him.
Never has getting struck by a ball been serious enough to knock the Brown pitcher out of a game, but there have been times when it has come close to his face, and could have done serious damage if he hadn't reacted fast enough.
Those on the college mound speak from experience: Balls jump off the aluminum bats used in their games faster than they do off wooden bats used by professional ballplayers, often leaving them with less than a second to get out of the way.
But exactly how fast the ball comes off each type of bat has moved beyond discussion on the baseball diamond to the laboratory study of bioengineers - including two Brown professors.
New National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules limiting the speed at which a ball can fly off a bat made it necessary to develop an apparatus to measure that velocity. Local researchers are hoping they can do so by the time the rules take effect next August.
Brown faculty members Joseph "Trey" Crisco and Richard M. Greenwald, co-directors of the National Institute for Sports Science and Safety in Providence, have designed and are now beginning to build an apparatus to measure batted-ball velocity in the laboratory.
"Most people believe aluminum bats outperform wood," said Crisco, associate professor of orthopedics in the School of Medicine. "But can you detect a difference and measure it in a laboratory?"
In their lab, the researchers will connect a computer to a motor that will swing a baseball bat at a stationary ball. The motor will move the bat at programmed speeds and the velocity of the ball it hits will be recorded on motion analysis cameras.
The cameras will capture the moment the ball breaks first one light beam and then another for each hit. By determining the time it takes for that to happen, the researchers will be able to calculate ball velocity, according to Greenwald, adjunct assistant professor of orthopedics in the School of Medicine.
A variety of bats will be tested: wood, high-performance aluminum, and aluminum bats designed to perform more like wood. In addition to the laboratory tests, testing will be done in the field using real ballplayers to determine the same type of information from a true-life situation.
The experiments are expected to begin in October with funding from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and the support of the NCAA.
Although other groups of scientists are attempting to develop tests to measure batted-ball velocity, the Brown pair hopes to design a simple version that is cost effective for those who will likely need them under the new regulations, such as bat companies.
It may take about six months to complete the study, time enough to publish the results before the NCAA rules take effect. Once published, the design will be available if manufacturers want to make the test machines.
"Our goal is to do the research and build it only for research and publish the results and specifications," said Crisco. "The idea is that with our research the better everyone will be."