Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Industrial and Managements Systems Engineering

Committee Chair

Dianne McMullin.

Abstract

Traditional wooden bats are being replaced by metal bats. These metal bats can increase the exit ball speed. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of the exit ball speed off of a bat on a recreational baseball player's ability to react to the ball.;Ten male subjects, ages 18 to 30, participated in this study. A pitching machine projected balls toward each participant. Each subject was placed behind a safety net and asked to react to the ball as if he was going to field the ball. A radar gun, video cameras, and video editing equipment were used to determine the subject's reaction times.;Every subject reacted to the ball before the ball reached 55 feet. A tolerance test revealed with 99% confidence that 99% of the population was between 0.09 and 0.45 seconds. A Pearson's R correlation test found no correlation between ball speed and reaction time.

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