Sport Science Hardest Kick

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major league sluggers used wooden bats

to send baseballs into

every once in a while these bats can

break

but it takes some serious force

our scientists measure that it takes 740

pounds of force to break one of the most

commonly used pieces of lumber in the

majors a vet made out of ash wood

but there are other ways to splinter a

bat besides sawing off a 95

mile-per-hour heater like kicking it so

we wondered is there a sport that

generates enough kicking power to break

a bat

to find out we brought in three of the

strongest legs on the planet NFL punter

Mike ciphers MLS star striker etson

bottle and muy Thai champion mell main

or breaking of that with a kick can be

extremely dangerous

so before we tried the real thing we

need to see if our athletes have the 740

pounds of kicking force needed to

splinter a bat

mic ciphers can pummel the pigskin but

our sensors reveal that he kicks with

200 pounds of force and MLS striker

Edson bottle has de leg to sin Rockets

past the goalie but he produces 250

pounds of force

both these athletes have some strong

boots

now powerful enough to break up that

we're on our last leg but this guy is

known for pummeling opponents with his

devastating kicks to time muy Thai

kickboxing world champion

Mel Maynard

Mel uses a deadly blows to take down his

opponents his two hands elbows knees his

powerful legs I believe that a powerful

kick is more devastating than a powerful

punch

so now we have an angular accelerometer

on your legs and then we have a linear

accelerometer back here so between the

two of them we'll really be able to get

a big picture of how much power you

generate with your kit

Mel's kik registered with a stunning 770

pounds of force

it's the highest kick we've ever

recorded in the sport science lab and

should be enough force to break through

a bat made of ash wood

with his assistants holding the bat Mel

will be aiming for the perfect spot 14

inches from the knob if he hits it just

2 inches further down he'll be kicking

through the thicker one and the force of

the kick will rebound back into his leg

possibly fracturing his shin I'm very

nervous about what Mel's trying to do

here because if he doesn't do it right

he could really hurt himself he easily

could cut himself with not actually

break his own bones can Mel destroy this

bat with a kick

or will he shatter his shin trying

find out when sports science continues

in the sports science lab boy time

Master Melman or is attempting to kick

his way through a major league baseball

bat made of ash wood we calculated that

it takes 740 pounds of force to break a

bat

and mouths baseline kid came in at 770

pounds that leaves little room for error

and if Mel doesn't get through the bat

he could easily fracture bones in his

leg

ready

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our sensors reveal that Mel's kick

landed with over seven hundred and

ninety pounds of force more than his

baseline kick

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and he snapped a bat like a twig look at

this you like you didn't you I mean you

splintered it yeah honestly I didn't

feel nothing really

how is Mel able to break through the bat

like an axe

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boy time masters like mouth spend years

building up their shin bones by kicking

hard objects these kicks create micro

fractures on their shins

and through a process called cortical

remodeling the fractures heal to form a

harder bone on the surface by

continuously creating these micro

fractures mel has actually turned his

phone into a substance as hard as stone

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mel handled the aspect with no trouble

but we have one more big challenge for

him

the majority of big leaguers use maple

bats which have a surface area four

percent harder than the ash bat this

tougher wood takes 15 thousand 800 psi

to break or a kick of almost 800 pounds

of force

Mel's last kick wouldn't have been able

to break a maple bat but can he kick it

up a notch and shatter this lumber too

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Mel generated his most powerful kick yet

breaking the bat with 1000 pounds of

force but the bet didn't go quietly look

at that that's your blood there right

that's not the red paint that's your

blood yeah that's my glad you're okay

that didn't hurt because it sounded like

it hurt initially I feel it but then the

pain is gone and that's up here that's

that's maybe able to hit 95

mile-per-hour fastball but they can't

handle a shin of stone this muy Thai

master can make mincemeat of maple and

he can really kick some serious ash