By BK, Athletic Hitting Development
Complete Hitters Are Built… It’s Earned!
Key takeaways
- In Division I softball players, bat speed tested across bat weights with a swing sensor gave a reliable profile.
- Peak bat speed with a 0.99 kg bat correlated with in-game stats (r=0.60–0.67). Promising, not proven.
- The study abstract doesn’t state the sample size.
- Speed only counts if it’s usable: pair it with MAA and the athletic position.
One bat speed number tells you something. A profile tells you what to train.
Test softball bat speed with one swing sensor across two or three bat weights to build a profile, not a single number. In Division I players the bat test was reliable and peak bat speed lined up with game stats, but speed only counts if it’s usable.
Train it: Online Fastpitch Softball Hitting Lessons →🛠️ Compare her numbers with typical ranges for her level in the free exit velocity calculator and bat speed calculator.
Division I softball research shows a simple way to build one.
1. What the softball study found
Researchers tested NCAA Division I softball players with what’s called a load-velocity profile. Simple idea: swing bats of different weights with a swing sensor on the bat and see how bat speed changes as the bat gets heavier.
Three findings matter to a fastpitch coach:
- The bat test was reliable. Swinging different bat weights with a swing sensor gave a consistent profile. Test it twice and you get a similar answer. That’s what makes a test worth running.
- The med-ball version mostly wasn’t. Profiling med-ball throws with a wearable sensor (IMU) mostly did not hold up as reliable.
- Bat speed lined up with game stats. Peak bat speed with a 0.99 kg bat correlated with several in-game batting stats, with r values from 0.60 to 0.67.
Now the limits. The abstract doesn’t say how many players were tested, so I can’t tell you the sample size. These were Division I athletes, not 14-year-olds. And a correlation with game stats is promising, not proof that raising bat speed raises a stat line. Using this with younger fastpitch hitters is my coaching judgment, not a proven result.
2. Why a profile beats one number
Most people test bat speed with one bat and get one number. That number is useful. A profile tells you more. It shows whether a hitter’s speed falls off a cliff when the bat gets heavier, or holds up. That points you toward what to train next.
This lives in Strength & Explosiveness, one of the 4 Pillars of a Complete Hitter. But speed doesn’t live alone. A fast swing that loses the athletic position, or fires from a bad launch, won’t show up as hard contact. That’s where Mechanically Advantaged Angles (MAA) come in: a setup with hip hinge and spine tilt, a loaded back elbow (“pull back the bow”), launch above the ball, bat lag with the barrel behind the hands and an athletic front side. An MAA is an advantage, not a rule. Those angles help turn raw speed into usable speed. More on that in Mechanically Advantaged Angles.
Fast and out of position is just fast. Fast and athletic is dangerous.
ONE SENSOR. THREE BATS.
PROFILE THESPEED.
- Light bat. Game bat. Heavy bat.
- Same sensor, same setup.
- Best swings, not every swing.
- Retest every 4–6 weeks.
SPEED ONLY COUNTS IF IT’S USABLE.
3. The AHD softball bat speed profile
Here’s how I’d run it for a fastpitch hitter. Keep everything the same every time you test.
- Pick 2–3 bats.A lighter bat, her game bat and a heavier bat. Write down each bat’s weight. Use the same bats every test.
- Same sensor, same setup.One swing sensor, mounted the same way. Same warm-up. Same tee height or same soft toss.
- Swing for real.Three to five full-intent swings per bat, rest between. Record the best and the average.
- Check the position.Film a few swings. Was she athletic at the start, through launch and at the finish? Feel isn’t always real. The video and the number tell the truth.
- Graph it.Bat weight on one side, bat speed on the other. That’s her profile.
- Retest.Every 4–6 weeks, same setup. Look for the whole line to move up, not just one number.
4. How to use the results
- Speed drops hard with the heavy bat. Likely a strength gap. Build the base. See strength training for young hitters by age.
- Speed is low with every bat. Check the swing first. Fix the earliest breakdown: setup, load, forward move, launch.
- Good speed, weak contact. That’s a positions problem or a processor problem, not a speed problem. Look at MAA and timing.
Don’t chase the number at the cost of the swing. If she starts losing her posture to swing harder, the test just found your next lesson.
5. For coaches and parents
Coaches: one sensor can profile a whole team in a practice. Run it at the start of fall and again before the spring season. It’s an easy team testing day, and it gives every hitter a target.
Parents: a swing sensor is a good investment if you use it the same way every time. Track the trend, not the single swing. And remember the game-stat link is promising, not proven. Bat speed is one pillar. Complete hitters train all four.
Quick answers
How do you test bat speed in softball?
Use a swing sensor and test 2–3 bat weights: lighter, game bat and heavier. Take three to five full-intent swings per bat with the same setup each time.
Is a bat speed profile reliable?
In a study of Division I softball players, swinging different bat weights with a swing sensor gave a reliable profile. A med-ball sensor version mostly did not.
Does bat speed predict softball game stats?
Peak bat speed with a 0.99 kg bat correlated with several in-game batting stats (r=0.60–0.67). That’s promising, but a correlation doesn’t prove more speed causes better stats.
Should I just chase a higher bat speed?
No. Speed only helps if it’s usable. Keep the athletic position and Mechanically Advantaged Angles, and fix the earliest swing breakdown first.
What does it mean if a softball hitter’s bat speed drops with a heavier bat?
If speed drops hard with the heavy bat, it’s likely a strength gap, so build the base. If speed is low with every bat, check the swing first and fix the earliest breakdown.
Research: Herring CH et al., “Utility of Novel Rotational Load-Velocity Profiling Methods in Collegiate Softball Players,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2024). The abstract doesn’t state the sample size, the players were NCAA Division I athletes, and the game-stat link is a correlation, summarized here from the abstract.
Don’t collect drills. Build a complete hitter.
Complete Hitters Are Built… It’s Earned!
This article is part of the AHD guide Fastpitch Softball Hitting. Start there for the full picture and every related article.
