Bats Breaking

[Hink1927]

I see bats breaking a lot. Has anyone seen any data on which bats break the most or least? Also interested in information that would suggest maybe a drop 9 would hold up better than drop 11 or drop 10 due to the weight differential.

thoughts.....

 

[Rerun]

My DD swung the same bat for over 7 years of travel ball and was still hitting home runs with it at the end of her final high school game and final travel season game.

Her daughter even used it for three seasons. Just a plan Jane Aluminum bat.

 

[IRdad09]

I see bats breaking a lot. Has anyone seen any data on which bats break the most or least? Also interested in information that would suggest maybe a drop 9 would hold up better than drop 11 or drop 10 due to the weight differential.

thoughts.....

 

[IRdad09]

Certainly nothing scientific, but I feel the Ghost Advanced breaks more than any other bat. We have girls on my DD's team on their 4-5th one. Some of them as been some pretty big breaks.
My DD has a Mizuno Power Carbon. I purchased the 1st one at the beginning of July. The 1st one broke within a week. Drop 11. The replacement broke during the 1st use of it. Mizuno sent a drop 10 and knock on wood no issues since then.

 

[bmi11er]

My daughter followed the same path with the Mizunos. Broke two drop 11s, and then played the entire summer season with the drop 10. It just broke the first weekend in Sept with an X shaped crack mid barrel. Those bats have a ton of pop, but durability is an issue especially with the drop 11.

She has also broken a drop 11 LXT, the thing sounded like a rainmaker when you rolled it over.

We bought a blue stamp ghost from Dicks sporting goods on their black friday sale last year and used it as her backup and tee work bat. It got a weird wobble and flexed a bunch at the connection point and we just sent that one back as well.

Throughout this season, we saw a few bats break from each of the makers. Dual stamp ghosts at the connection point, a Demarini that split in half and almost hit the pitcher, a Demarini Prism with an internal break, a lxt with a rattle, etc.

My kid is swinging a Ghost advanced now. In comparison to the Mizuno, the blue stamp ghost, and others.. that bat outperforms them all. But it is also more expensive than the others. With durability a question across the brands we decided to buy the bat from Dicks and pony up for the in store warranty on it. That way we can just walk it in and get another when the time comes that it breaks.

 

[ALISA WEAVER]

The bit breaks if negligence occurs during production and the wood fibers are not strictly along the length of the bit, but at an angle. And the larger this angle, the faster the bit will become unusable. The same problem if cheap soft woods are used.

 

[Stedman00]

The bit breaks if negligence occurs during production and the wood fibers are not strictly along the length of the bit, but at an angle. And the larger this angle, the faster the bit will become unusable. The same problem if cheap soft woods are used.

Wood fibers?

 

[yocoach]

I'm sure everyone's heard this before but ALL composite bats only have so many "hits" in them. The carbon fibers and epoxy resin only last so long. Remember the old Easton Stealths and Synergys? The more they were used, the hotter they got because these carbon fibers loosened up and were able to flex more until finally...crack. The difference is those old bats were built like tanks with a thick outer shell. The new ones, not so much. Everyone is looking for the "next best thing out there," or the "hottest bat," they can find. Do they want to have to put 750-1000 swings on it to break it in for DD? Nope. They want it hot right out of the wrapper. In order to get the maximum performance brand new from the wrapper, the outer shell is now much thinner. Thus, the new bats break much more easily than the ones in the past.

Another reason the new bats break more often is the fact that most composite barrels are made in China and then shipped overseas. Let's be honest, their quality control isn't the best. Plus there's inherent defects due to the process itself and the materials used. The problem is that many defects are not caught during the inspection process because they can't be seen.

Although I don't know which manufacturer has the most defects/breakage per model, I can tell you that I would agree that I hear of the Ghost breaking more than any other bat. Of course, that may be because there are more of those in use than any other current model...at least going by my teams' choices. Out of 13 players, there are a Xeno, 2 LXTs, 2 Prisms, a PXT, a Rocketech, and 6 Ghosts or Ghost Advances.

As for breakage by drop weight, I have seen and heard more drop 11's failing than any other bat weight no matter the manufacturer. The swing speed is just too great for these lighter bats and overstresses the composite material. This is also why the heavier bats don't fail nearly as often. DD swings a 34 drop 8 Ghost. She was still swinging the 2018 model until mid August when I bought her a 2021 Ghost Advance. This 2018 has gone through 3 years of college practices, Fall games and 2 college seasons plus hitting between 600-750 balls per week when she was home from college. The 2018 is now in the hands of one of my hitters and still going strong.

 

[daboss]

I'm sure everyone's heard this before but ALL composite bats only have so many "hits" in them. The fibers and epoxy resin only last so long. Remember the old Easton Stealths and Synergys? The more they were used, the hotter they got because these carbon fibers loosened up and were able to flex more until finally...crack. The difference is those old bats were built like tanks with a thick outer shell. The new ones, not so much. Everyone is looking for the "next best thing out there," or the "hottest bat," they can find. Do they want to have to put 750-1000 swings on it to break it in for DD? Nope. They want it hot right out of the wrapper. In order to get the maximum performance brand new from the wrapper, the outer shell is now much thinner. Thus, the new bats break much more easily than the ones in the past.

Another reason the new bats break more often is the fact that most composite barrels are made in China and then shipped overseas. Let's be honest, their quality control isn't the best. Plus there's inherent defects due to the process itself and the materials used and many defects are not caught during the inspection process because they can't be seen.

Although I don't know which manufacturer has the most defects/breakage per model, I can tell you that I would agree that I hear of the Ghost breaking more than any other bat. Of course, that may be because there are more of those in use than any other current model...at least going by my teams' choices. Out of 13 players, there are 2 LXTs, 3 Prisms, a PXT, a Rocketech, and 6 Ghosts or Ghost Advances.

As for breakage by drop weight, I have seen and heard more drop 11's failing than any other bat weight no matter the manufacturer. The swing speed is just too great for these lighter bats and overstresses the composite material. This is also why the heavier bats don't fail nearly as often. DD swings a 34 drop 8 Ghost. She was still swinging the 2018 model until mid August when I bought her a 2021 Ghost Advance. This 2018 has gone through 3 years of college practices, Fall games and 2 college seasons plus hitting between 600-750 balls per week when she was home from college. The 2018 is now in the hands of one of my hitters and still going strong.

Very good and informative post.