Have they changed the rules on rolling bats?

[JAD]

While we all are concerned with the risks of injury from players using illegal bats, I would like to point out that poor lighting and poor field conditions probably cause more injuries to softball players than illegal bats.......

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Does anyone have access to the equipment used to performance test bats? I would LOVE for someone to get a couple of marquee name bats, test them right out of the wrapper, then have them rolled, and retested to see if there is any performance improvement. I would guess any improvement would be minimal, and you are probably (not sure how to test this) shortening the life of the bat.

Pretty good read.
Do Advanced Break-in Techniques Really Work?

 

[Cannonball]

Couple of things. First, dd was a freshman in HS then and is now a junior in college. So, this was a few years ago. The changes, as has already been asserted, have now been made to lessen the difference with composite bats. Also, I have not seen the equipment used to test bats but do know that in the NCAA Regional, ... they test bats every day. DD had her bat thrown out last year during the second day of regional but her backup bat was good. She did ok with back up bat. DD had back up bat thrown out 3rd day of Regional. ????????? Makes a person wonder how her first bat passed first day and not second and how her second day bat passed second day and not 3rd. In fact, 8 bats of her team didn't pass the 3rd day that had passed for 2 days.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Couple of things. First, dd was a freshman in HS then and is now a junior in college. So, this was a few years ago. The changes, as has already been asserted, have now been made to lessen the difference with composite bats. Also, I have not seen the equipment used to test bats but do know that in the NCAA Regional, ... they test bats every day. DD had her bat thrown out last year during the second day of regional but her backup bat was good. She did ok with back up bat. DD had back up bat thrown out 3rd day of Regional. ????????? Makes a person wonder how her first bat passed first day and not second and how her second day bat passed second day and not 3rd. In fact, 8 bats of her team didn't pass the 3rd day that had passed for 2 days.

I found a pretty good method a few years ago to get the bats to pass. We'd tape a $20 around the handle before inspection.

 

[ms244]

If the guy was bragging about it then takes off running with it I believe we are beyond assumption.

True, but that doesn't make the bat illegal. The parent admitting the bat was rolled makes it illegal.

We played a tournament where one of our players hit a pitcher on her lower leg. The ump confiscated her bat. Was the bat illegal? Nope. It was 1 week old Rocketech, totally stock. For the umpire to take the players only bat based on suspicion is wrong in my opinion. If we took away every bat that hit the ball hard then the umpires would have more bats then the teams playing...... It is only an illegal bat when a player gets hit?

 

[JAD]

Pretty good read.
Do Advanced Break-in Techniques Really Work?

This article was written in July 2009. Would love to see an article with similar testing on 2014 bats.

 

[PEPPERS]

Thanks for all the replys, what I’m getting is it is still illegal and stiff penalties will apply if a player is discovered with an altered bat.

The friend that had the bat is a local business owner a good guy and friend of mine. He had the bat still in the box and he advised his dad purchased the bat and paid the distributer to roll the bat; a common practice according to him. The box was from a well known distributer. I told him what I thought were the current rules on rolled bats and he assured me I was wrong. In all my years of going to games I never saw a vendor rolling bats in the open, but he advised it is a common practice. His daughter plays NSA, USSSA and middle school ball.

I wanted to give him the latest information on the legality of rolled bats hopefully he will make a good decision.

DD has had to be removed from games twice after being hit while pitching and she sent one pitcher to the hospital while she was hitting. This was years ago and the bats were not tested, but my understanding it is a more common practice to test a bat when an injury from a batted ball occurs.

I would never allow DD to use an altered bat IMO the little bit of gain is not worth the risk, we are looking to gain an edge the legal way with good hitting mechanics.

Thanks again for all the replys you have been most helpful.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

This article was written in July 2009. Would love to see an article with similar testing on 2014 bats.

Me too. I just thought it would provide some "basic" ideas on how bats improve.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

The friend that had the bat is a local business owner a good guy and friend of mine. He had the bat still in the box and he advised his dad purchased the bat and paid the distributer to roll the bat; a common practice according to him. The box was from a well known distributer. I told him what I thought were the current rules on rolled bats and he assured me I was wrong. In all my years of going to games I never saw a vendor rolling bats in the open, but he advised it is a common practice. His daughter plays NSA, USSSA and middle school ball.

I know one pretty big name dealer was selling his "rolling" or bat break in service for like 20 bucks if you bought the bat. He is complete trash and why people buy off him is beyond me.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

BTW, Unless the player completely admits he/she rolled a bat, you aren't proving anything. Also, 75% of the people rolling bats have no idea what they are doing and either do nothing to the bat, or mash it to much. Another gimmick that was going around was these guys would take your bat you sent them to roll, do nothing to the bat, take your money, and send the same bat back. Then players bragging they got their bat rolled...haha