Power hitting : finding the right implement

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2018.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fay, Sarah Claire
Other Authors: A. E. (Peko) Hosoi.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118727
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author Fay, Sarah Claire
author2 A. E. (Peko) Hosoi.
author_facet A. E. (Peko) Hosoi.
Fay, Sarah Claire
author_sort Fay, Sarah Claire
collection MIT
description Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2018.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1187272019-04-10T22:43:26Z Power hitting : finding the right implement Fay, Sarah Claire A. E. (Peko) Hosoi. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering. Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2018. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 69-71). Striking a ball with an implement occurs often in sports. Athletes are given a large variety of options to choose from when they select their implements. The motivation for this study was the need for a simple method that athletes can use to choose the implement that will allow them to perform their best. The specific focus of this work is identifying the weight properties an implement should have in order to have the most "powerful" shot. The "power" of a shot is measured by how fast the athlete is able to make the ball move after hitting it (the outgoing ball speed). The particular weight property of interest is the implement's mass moment of inertia about an axis through its handle. Five simple models for how the implement's moment of inertia affect the outgoing ball speed are developed and compared, primarily in a field hockey case study. A new model based on the physiology of muscles proves to be more successful in capturing the behavior observed in real striking of sports balls and is the primary contribution of this study. Overall, the models predict that heavier implements than are currently used would produce more powerful shots. This result is reasonable, as implement's are rarely selected with the sole purpose of hitting power shots. Additional objectives should be incorporated into the model to more broadly aid in an athlete's implement selection process. by Sarah Claire Fay. S.M. 2018-10-22T18:46:38Z 2018-10-22T18:46:38Z 2018 2018 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118727 1057123173 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 71 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Fay, Sarah Claire
Power hitting : finding the right implement
title Power hitting : finding the right implement
title_full Power hitting : finding the right implement
title_fullStr Power hitting : finding the right implement
title_full_unstemmed Power hitting : finding the right implement
title_short Power hitting : finding the right implement
title_sort power hitting finding the right implement
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118727
work_keys_str_mv AT faysarahclaire powerhittingfindingtherightimplement