Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

Just saw this article - "Barry Bonds' Home Run Record Tainted by Mechanical Device?" link - in which the author posits that the body armor/device that Bonds wears on his elbow does more than just let him hang over the plate without fear of getting hit by the pitch. The author lists six additional advantages that he believes the device gives Bonds:

1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.

2) The apparatus locks at the elbow when the lead arm is fully elongated because of a small flap at the top of the bottom section that fits into a groove in the bottom of the top section. The locked arm forms a rigid front arm fulcrum that allows extraordinary, maximally efficient explosion of the levers of Bonds' wrists. Bonds hands are quicker than those of average hitters because of his mechanical "assistant."

3) When Bonds swings, the weight of the apparatus helps to seal his inner upper arm to his torso at impact. Thus "connected," he automatically hits the ball with the weight of his entire body - not just his arms - as average hitters ("extending") tend to do.

4) Bonds has performed less well in Home Run Derbies than one might expect because he has no excuse to wear a "protector" facing a batting practice pitcher. As he tires, his front arm elbow tends to lift and he swings under the ball, producing towering pop flies or topspin liners that stay in the park. When the apparatus is worn, its weight keeps his elbow down and he drives the ball with backspin.

5) Bonds enjoys quicker access to the inside pitch than average hitters because his "assistant" - counter-intuitively - allows him to turn more rapidly. Everyone understands that skaters accelerate their spins by pulling their arms into their torsos, closer to their axes of rotation. When Bonds is confronted with an inside pitch, he spins like a skater because his upper front arm is "assistant"-sealed tightly against the side of his chest.

6) At impact, Bonds has additional mass (the weight of his "assistant") not available to the average hitter. The combined weight of "assistant" and bat is probably equal to the weight of the lumber wielded by Babe Ruth but with more manageable weight distribution.



I've not seen these arguments before, but they seem to have at least some merit.

The article mentions that current players must provide evidence of injury to wear such a device, whereas Bonds got grandfathered in. Are there other batters who use similar armor/devices? If so, it would be interesting to analyze their performance to see if they enjoy similar benefits.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

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1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.


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This right away ruins this guy's case. This is ridiculous.

edit: I don't understand the crap about the device keeping his upper arm close to the chest.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

This guy doesn't understand body mechanics of physics. Almost all of those points are somehow terribly wrong.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

[ QUOTE ]
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1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.


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This right away ruins this guy's case. This is ridiculous.

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Yes, that one puzzled me a bit as well, but I think he's suggesting that the device prevents some rotation of the arm, which helps generate a more consistent plane? But that's just a guess.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

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This guy doesn't understand body mechanics of physics. Almost all of those points are somehow terribly wrong.

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I was trying to determine his expertise, but all I find is "currently a mechanics consultant to a major league baseball team" and "a well-known illustrator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Time, Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal and dozens of other publications. The New Yorker recently wrote a piece about him and his study of mechanics. He appeared on network TV coverage of the 2003 World Series, providing cartoon sketches of some of the action." Kind of hard to tell if his "study of mechanics" includes physics of body mechanics/kinesiology.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

But it doesn't. Everyone's elbow is hinged the same way. It only has one plane of motion relative to the upper arm. The upper arm, with respect to the shoulder, has 3 degrees of freedom (up down, left right, twist). His armor doesn't change this.

His credentials are just bogus. He's basically looked at a lot of photos. That extra "flap" of material that "locks" in place for an extended arm is BS. It's there to cover the elbow when the arm is cocked.

The #1 advantage gained by his equipment is hugging the plate. Most (or all) his points are bogus and misinformed.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

[ QUOTE ]
1) The apparatus is hinged at the elbow. It is a literal "hitting machine" that allows Bonds to release his front arm on the same plane during every swing. It largely accounts for the seemingly magical consistency of every Bonds stroke.

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This is pretty much crap. Anything that impedes your ability to naturally move your arms and body as you desire is going to cause problems. If it did what the OP said it did, it would bar the arm and it would make him completely unable to hit inside pitches with power.

I think Bonds does alright with middle-in pitches.

However, the argument that it helps him stay over the plate with less fear is true. That being said, everyone is allowed to use it.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

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4) Bonds has performed less well in Home Run Derbies than one might expect because he has no excuse to wear a "protector" facing a batting practice pitcher. As he tires, his front arm elbow tends to lift and he swings under the ball, producing towering pop flies or topspin liners that stay in the park. When the apparatus is worn, its weight keeps his elbow down and he drives the ball with backspin.

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Or maybe cause he's taking a ton of big rips in a row with no break as opposed to three big swings tops followed by 30 minutes of no swinging.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

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6) At impact, Bonds has additional mass (the weight of his "assistant") not available to the average hitter. The combined weight of "assistant" and bat is probably equal to the weight of the lumber wielded by Babe Ruth but with more manageable weight distribution.

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Any additional weight at his ELBOW is not going to translate to increased momentum at the head of the bat.

Re: Bonds elbow armor - (even more) unfair advantages?
 

if any of those points were true we would see every slugger wearing one