Bats; tell me what you think

[daboss]

Recently while giving pitching lessons I some times get to chat with the kids about their past summer and find out how things went. This week my older girls spent a lot of time telling stories about all the bats they broke or saw others break while hitting. We've had a wave the past few years of bats coming apart or breaking altogether and with the problem apparently getting more frequent it made me think this would be a good topic to discuss.

Is the sport still having quality control issues with bat manufacturers? Are bats sloppy in design? Are they pushing the envelop to a critical mass edge for performance reasons and cutting too close for comfort? Cheap materials? Maybe bat manufacturers are doing this on purpose to create the need for more new bats? Lots of questions here.

There is one more reason that personally I believe could be a contributing factor. Could it be the girls level of skill have surpassed a standard used by the bat industry and they are swinging harder, making better contact, forcing bats to fail more often. When you think of it, maybe the girls are simply better hitters now. I know the hitting has improved dramatically over the years. Take time to pat yourselves on the back for helping this game evolve to this level. Good instruction and dedication by passionate parents and instructors has raised this game to a higher level. Perhaps the bat industry is lagging behind.

Just food for thought. What do you say?

 

[MD 20/20]

Boss..... YES. To all

Manufacturers want the hottest bat on the market, thus selling more. They do not operate as a non-profit so I'm sure the materials are as cheap as they can find. There will always be better and lesser players, but I think the biggest contributor is TIMES SWINGING. We talk about the "watering down" all the time here. There are more players swinging a lot more throughout the year than in years past.