The Sweet Spot in Racket or Bat Sports
Channel: Stuart McErlain-Naylor
Date: 2021-12-13

Understanding the effects of impact location (sweet spot) in racket or bat sports. What does research say about the badminton smash, cricket power hitting, and historical racket development in tennis?

This video presents an overview of the scientific research (including my own) on the relationships between impact location and performance outcomes (speed, direction, and margin for error) or injury risk factors in racket and bat sports. This includes theoretical definitions of the sweet spot such as the geometric center, vibration node, center of percussion, and maximum apparent coefficient of restitution. Likewise, studies including realistic performances by elite badminton or cricket players are used to show the interactions between athletes and their equipment. Novel methods are applied to track the ball or shuttle and calculate impact location / sweetspot on the bat face or racket face. #ScienceOfCricket

00:00 Understanding the effects of impact location in racket or bat sports
01:16 Tracking the shuttlecock in badminton
08:41 Theoretical definitions of the sweet spot in racket or bat sports
14:53 The effect of racket-shuttlecock impact location on performance outcomes in badminton
30:49 Calculating impact location in cricket batting
33:55 The effect of bat-ball impact location on performance outcomes in cricket
40:39 Historical racket development in tennis

Add your old rackets to the dataset: stuartmcnaylor.com/rackets 

Other videos mentioned (name order):
Cricket Batting Biomechanics - Stuart McErlain-Naylor - https://youtu.be/mTJfW2skBuk 
Cricket Batting Biomechanics Study: Male and Female Power Hitting - https://youtu.be/wwu-Cu_9u48 
Gait Cycle Phases, Events and Normalization - https://youtu.be/jRnxaawNne0 
Tennis Biomechanics - Bruce Elliott - https://youtu.be/NyhHHORjnaE 
Visual3D: Segment Colors & Equipment - https://youtu.be/qNEQ0_p53jA 

Thanks to Badminton Insight:
@BadmintonInsight channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk2gRC4RewYvvXXqXZxaTbQ 
@BadmintonInsight 'Sweetspot + Accuracy Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuzGFTj7oFk 

Studies mentioned (ordered by name then year):
Afzal et al., 2020: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343059428_Spatial_speed-accuracy_trade-off_in_international_badminton_players_performing_the_forehand_smash 
Allen et al., 2016: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12283-014-0167-x.pdf 
Brody, 1995: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=2266606 
Choppin et al., 2011: doi.org/10.1007/s12283-011-0062-7 
Hatze, 1994: https://doi.org/10.1123/jab.10.1.43 
Kidokoro & Morishita, 2021: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260520 
King et al., 2012: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2011.12.028 
King et al., 2017: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1211308 
King et al., 2020 - A Correlational Analysis of Shuttlecock Speed Kinematic Determinants in the Badminton Jump Smash: doi.org/10.3390/app10041248 
Kwan, 2010: https://www.worldbadminton.com/reference/documents/Kwan_2010_Designing_Racket.pdf 
McErlain-Naylor et al., 2015 - Determining instantaneous shuttlecock velocity: Overcoming the effects of a low ballistic coefficient: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333827763_Determining_instantaneous_shuttlecock_velocity_Overcoming_the_effects_of_a_low_ballistic_coefficient 
McErlain-Naylor et al., 2020 - Effect of racket-shuttlecock impact location on shot outcome for badminton smashes by elite players: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342919196_Effect_of_racket-shuttlecock_impact_location_on_shot_outcome_for_badminton_smashes_by_elite_players 
McErlain-Naylor et al., 2021 - Comparing power hitting kinematics between skilled male and female cricket batters: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.1934289 
Peploe et al., 2018a - A curve fitting methodology to determine impact location, timing, and instantaneous post-impact ball velocity in cricket batting: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319048935_A_curve_fitting_methodology_to_determine_impact_location_timing_and_instantaneous_post-impact_ball_velocity_in_cricket_batting 
Peploe et al., 2018b - The relationships between impact location and post-impact ball speed, bat torsion, and ball direction in cricket batting: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320438138_The_relationships_between_impact_location_and_post-impact_ball_speed_bat_torsion_and_ball_direction_in_cricket_batting 
Peploe et al., 2019 - Relationships between technique and bat speed, post-impact ball speed, and carry distance during a range hitting task in cricket: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330800596_Relationships_between_technique_and_bat_speed_post-impact_ball_speed_and_carry_distance_during_a_range_hitting_task_in_cricket 
Taraborrelli et al., 2019: https://doi.org/10.3390/app9204352 
Whiteside et al., 2014: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2013.03.001 

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