Division-I schools moved to a lower seamed baseball this season to help spark the long ball. Should high schools follow suit?
At the midpoint of the season, home runs are up 39% over a year ago at D-I. I think anything that adds offense to the high school game is a good thing.
There are a multitude of articles out there explaining the physics, but essentially the lower seamed ball maintains the safer exit velocity the BBCOR bats were designed for, but the reduced drag of the lower seams allows the ball to carry further, hence more home runs and extra base hits.
Added links:
Decision to change:
http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2013-11-05/di-committee-changes-flat-seamed-baseballs-2015-championship
2015 Midseason Results
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/12419383/ncaa-reports-big-jump-home-runs-new-flat-seam-ball
This post was edited on 4/9 9:44 PM by gg2224
At the midpoint of the season, home runs are up 39% over a year ago at D-I. I think anything that adds offense to the high school game is a good thing.
There are a multitude of articles out there explaining the physics, but essentially the lower seamed ball maintains the safer exit velocity the BBCOR bats were designed for, but the reduced drag of the lower seams allows the ball to carry further, hence more home runs and extra base hits.
Added links:
Decision to change:
http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2013-11-05/di-committee-changes-flat-seamed-baseballs-2015-championship
2015 Midseason Results
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/12419383/ncaa-reports-big-jump-home-runs-new-flat-seam-ball
This post was edited on 4/9 9:44 PM by gg2224