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As you are walking back from the concession stand, a beer in one hand, a hot dog in the other, you may notice a baseball player practicing with a funny contraption on the end of their bat in the on-deck circle. This is called a baseball bat donut, not to be mistaken with the kind you eat. A baseball donut is essentially a weight that is put on the end of a baseball bat when the player is warming up. Traditionally, it was one of the main practicing mechanisms used in the sport. It was created in the 1950's so that a hitter could swing it to loosen and strengthen up. He would then take it off and the bat would magically feel lighter. This is called deceleration training.

The idea behind this is to increase a hitter's power, that is, the rate at which one can hit the ball, or the ability to exert muscle force quickly. This ability is related to, but separate from strength, which is defined as the ability to exert muscle force.

When hitters warm up using the weight, they get used to the heavy feel of the bat. When they take it off, the bat feels like it is a lot easier to swing. When they are up at bat, they use the same force and speed as they did when the weight was on it. Some professionals claim that this tool can even increase bat speed up to 8mph if the proper repetitions are done. Additionally, this method of training helps build up the arm muscle strength which can aid in more powerful hits. For the best results, usually the weight is no more than 20% than that of the bat. However, many feel that this method of training actually makes things worse.

Dr. Coop De Renne says that traditional donuts and barrel weighted devises that slows down a hitters swing more then 10% "slow down bat velocity and retards [the] hitter's performance" (Nolan). This can happen because the hitter is more used to the slow and steady follow through of the swing. When put in a typical game situation, the hitter is not quick enough because they were used to the latter. Another problem is that a heavy bat reinforces the wrong swing. The weight pulls their arms away, upsetting the hitter's natural swing and weight distribution right before they go up to the plate. Lastly, when you exert energy while using the weighted bat, your arms may get tired and actually impair your swing.

Ultimately the use of the donut is up to the hitter. They must weigh the pros and cons and hopefully the result is a homerun!

Works Cited:

Nolan, Tim. "Why Ballistic Training?". http://www.procut.com/why_ball istic.cfm. Procut Hitting System. Copyright Procut.com, 2006.

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