500 average and 1.500 SLG%) the #’s are more like 67mph+ and between 20-38 degrees launch angle. In Softball, for a batted ball to fall into the “Barrels” category (where it leads to. You don’t have to hit the ball 98 mph to get it out of the ball park in softball (The hardest softball I’ve ever seen recorded is 85mph) as you read earlier you can hit one out at many fields with the right angle at around 63mph. I’ve also learned that the same “Barrels” principle applies in softball for batted balls but the exit velocity correlation is much different. Depending on the location of the pitch and the height of the infielder (haha). In order to hit the ball over an infielders head it usually takes a 10-14 degree angle. Now, for the most part, the MLB Glossary definition of what is a ground ball, line drive, and fly out still apply in softball. Hit the same ball at 63mph with 3-degree launch angle the ball travels 85 feet in the air and may not get out of the infield. If there is no wind and average conditions (humidity, etc.) you can hit a ball 63mph at 31 degrees and it will just barely scrape over a four foot high 200-foot fence. Having said that, you don’t necessarily have to hit the ball that hard to hit a home run. Now I want to share some of the things I’ve learned.įor the hitters that I work with that hit the highest percentage of Home Runs, most of them have a max exit velocity of 76-82 mph and an average exit velocity of 64+. I’ve been on a personal journey the last two years to collect data and learn as much as I can about launch angle in relation to softball.
As much as we’ve learned about exit velocity and launch angle in baseball, what does it mean for softball where the ball is bigger, heavier, and the fences are much shorter? At that threshold, the Barreled designation is assigned to any ball with a launch angle between eight and 50 degrees. Add one more mph - to reach 100 - and the range grows another three degrees, to 24-33.Įvery additional mph over 100 increases the range another two to three degrees until an exit velocity of 116 mph is reached. For every mph over 98, the range of launch angles expands.įor example: A ball traveling 99 mph always earns ‘Barreled’ status when struck between 25-31 degrees. At that speed, balls struck with a launch angle between 26-30 degrees always garner Barreled classification. To be Barreled, a batted ball requires an exit velocity of at least 98 mph. Join The Hitting Vault Private Membershipĭuring the 2016 regular season, balls assigned the Barreled classification had a batting average of. 500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage since Statcast was implemented Major League wide in 2015. In Major League Baseball, they have enough data to know that if a ball is hit at X amount of Exit Velocity (the speed in which the ball comes off the bat) with the X amount of Launch Angle, they know how far the ball with travel and the likelihood of whether or not it will result in a hit, out or home run.Īnd because of that, a new statistic has emerged called “Barrels”Ĭreated by Tom Tango, the Barrel classification is assigned to batted-ball events whose comparable hit types (in terms of exit velocity and launch angle) have led to a minimum. Over the last few years hitting coaches, players and front office personnel have learned a lot about Launch Angles and what they mean.
What We’ve Learned about Launch Angle and Baseball With a high average Launch Angle indicating a fly-ball hitter, and a low average Launch Angle indicating a ground-ball hitter. Average Launch Angle (aLA) is calculated by dividing the sum of all Launch Angles by all Batted Ball Events.Īs a guideline, here are the Launch Angles for different types of contact:Īverage Launch Angle tells us about the tendencies of hitters. Launch Angle represents the vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player’s bat after being struck. What's the #1 Power Killer for the Average Hitter? Take :59 sec Quiz What is Launch Angle?