Are bats too hot? Ringor article

Are bats really that much hotter than years ago, or has just the sweet spot gotten much larger?

There are some here that would argue that the bats made years ago are just as "hot" as the new bats made today. I personally think that the new bats are much better. Who doesn't stand up and cheer when their DD hits one over the fence, yet that is considered to be bad for the sport?

ms244 said:

There are some here that would argue that the bats made years ago are just as "hot" as the new bats made today. I personally think that the new bats are much better. Who doesn't stand up and cheer when their DD hits one over the fence, yet that is considered to be bad for the sport?

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I don't think that hitting homeruns is bad for the sport. I believe that the concern is for the safety of the infielders who are often within 30 or 40 feet of a hot bat hitting a hard ball.

I do think the bats are hotter to a degree but I do not think they are hotter now than when composites first started hitting the market. Once they were broken in some of them were unbelievably. I really think the manufacturers have enlarged the sweet spots and eliminated dead spots as tech has gotten better.

I also think this combined with the training athletes do now has gotten us to this point. Growing up and playing with some great baseball players I can pretty much guarantee none worked like a lot of these athletes today do. My DD puts more work in during the first two months of the spring than I did all season.

ms244 said:

There are some here that would argue that the bats made years ago are just as "hot" as the new bats made today. I personally think that the new bats are much better. Who doesn't stand up and cheer when their DD hits one over the fence, yet that is considered to be bad for the sport?

Click to expand...

Compliance with 2008 ABI testing requirements (i.e., physically testing bats until failure to ensure that they never exceeded a pre-defined performance limit) effectively put an end to the manufacture of the hottest composite bats ever made. Nowadays, NCAA tests approved models and removes previously approved bats from their master list after 3 strikes (i.e., confirmed incidences of non-compliances). QA/QC has gotten better over the years since, but there's a reason why Florida and Alabama are using the old purple Eastons instead of the latest models that are theirs for the asking. Get your hands on an old quad wall Phenix (which is no longer approved by NCAA (or USSSA), but stil legal for ASA, NFHS etc) and it will downright shame anything made since.

riseball said:

Are bats really that much hotter than years ago, or has just the sweet spot gotten much larger?

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No, IMO. ABI reigned the bats in, but FP swing mechanics are still improving. IMO, the BB results were pretty clear because the swing mechanics were universally pretty good to begin with.

The old bats are better, period. What has changed are the parents. FP parents are transitional. They come into the sport with their DD and move out of the sport with their DD for the most part. The majority of parents in 10U and 12U are just as new to the sport as their DDs are. They don't really know about the bats made in 2006-2008ish like the 1B, 4B, Phenix, etc. They see the new shiny models like the Xeno, LXT, CFwhatever and think that is the way to go. Not that there is anything wrong with that, or the new bats. Follow the NCAA banned list if you want to see what is being taken out of the hands of great hitters to keep the offenses in check.

Personally, I think it's a combination of things. Are bats too hot? No, IMO. Are they any hotter than the old ones? Depends on which older models you're comparing them to. I believe it's a combination of better athletes, hotter bats than traditional wood or aluminum, better swing mechanics, the pitching circle being moved back a few feet, a lack of truly dominant, stud pitchers and a seeming ever tightening strike zone being called by Blue (mandated by whatever org) in an effort to increase the offensive side of the game. Has it gone too far towards increasing the offensive side of the game? That's the real question IMO. Not if bats are too hot.

Most of the pre-2008 testing were much more durable than todays bats and took a good bit of breaking in. A truly broken in 1B or Phenix is a truly nasty bat. A lot of girls outgrew their bats before they got them broken in fully. Those bats are still around today because of this. Some are on their 4th or more owner. The newer hot out of the wrapper bats are great performers for younger players