CF Bats

A buddy of mine has a CF3 32/22 that his DD used during her last summer season of softball before going to college. Very good condition. Only used in 6-7 tournaments. I started looking at new CF8 bats but was thinking about buying the bat from him. Any thoughts on performance between CF3 vs CF8?

The CF3 is an old school bat. By that I mean that it will be one of those that will take a while to completely break in but will continue to get hotter and hotter throughout it's life all the way up to the point of failure. Because of this, it is no longer an approved bat since it will exceed the ball exit speed standards and fail the compression tests. Therefore, your DD using this bat will be an advantage over the long-haul yet the use itself will be non-existent if playing in any sanctioned tournament.

On the other hand, the CF8 will be hot right our of the wrapper and it will get slightly hotter after break-in but it will pretty much stay the same after that throughout the rest of it's life. It also has the advantage of being an approved bat that can be used in any alphabet soup organization sanctioned tournament.

So in what model/year was the CF design/material changed to allow it to be used at all levels of play?
Did LS make xenos the same way in any of the older model bats?
Thanks

YOCOACH said:

The CF3 is an old school bat. By that I mean that it will be one of those that will take a while to completely break in but will continue to get hotter and hotter throughout it's life all the way up to the point of failure. Because of this, it is no longer an approved bat since it will exceed the ball exit speed standards and fail the compression tests. Therefore, your DD using this bat will be an advantage over the long-haul yet the use itself will be non-existent if playing in any sanctioned tournament.

On the other hand, the CF8 will be hot right our of the wrapper and it will get slightly hotter after break-in but it will pretty much stay the same after that throughout the rest of it's life. It also has the advantage of being an approved bat that can be used in any alphabet soup organization sanctioned tournament.

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Can you provide a link to show that the CF3 is on the unapproved bat list? Found some images online and looks like they have all the current stamps except USSSA. Anyway, I still see Cf3 and CF4 bats being used pretty much every sanctioned tournament / qualifier / showcases / camps.

Fastpitch86 said:

Can you provide a link to show that the CF3 is on the unapproved bat list? Found some images online and looks like they have all the current stamps except USSSA. Anyway, I still see Cf3 and CF4 bats being used pretty much every sanctioned tournament / qualifier / showcases / camps.

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Not always banned, but if they are checking bat compressions at check in almost every CF3 I have seen tested fails, then you loose your bat till you are eliminated. Not a fan of CF's at all, but I have heard a lot of kids like the CF8. Older Easton are now getting the same way, still legal, but fail compression testing.

Fastpitch86 said:

Can you provide a link to show that the CF3 is on the unapproved bat list? Found some images online and looks like they have all the current stamps except USSSA. Anyway, I still see Cf3 and CF4 bats being used pretty much every sanctioned tournament / qualifier / showcases / camps.

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I used the NCAA Approved bat list which was updated, I believe, June 13, 2015 although I could be wrong. It is not listed as an approved bat and usually, most, if not all of the ABC organizations adopt that list sooner rather than later. Here's the link Search NCAA.org | NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA

I bought a beat up cleat chiped CF4 on the cheap. DD uses it in the cages. Its has a lot of hits on it and is still going strong.

I'm pretty sure that CF5 is the earliest that has the new USSSA stamp and not all CF5's have it. I'm 80% positive on this but I was looking last spring so I could be wrong

Fastpitch86 said:

Anyway, I still see Cf3 and CF4 bats being used pretty much every sanctioned tournament / qualifier / showcases / camps.

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It's not as simple as that. There were compression standards started round 2008 I think. The way they were worded it allowed the bat manufacturers to meet these standards and still give the public users what they wanted i.e. a really hot bat. They manufactured bats that were built like tanks, thus passing their initial compression but continued to break-in and get hotter up to the point of failure. In 2013, the wording of the compression standards was changed once again to something along the lines of 'not to exceed x throughout the life of the bat.' That's when the USSSA required their new "thumbprint" to be included on the bat for the bats manufactured under the new standards. As of 2014 no bat without that thumbprint is allowed to be used in USSSA play. That doesn't mean that they always check or test so obviously there can be some cheating going on. As for the other ABC organizations, most follow the NCAA approved bat list and just because the bats have the 2004 ASA approval or other ABC stamps does not mean that the bat is still approved for play today. It just means that they were approved for play under the standards set when they were manufactured.

The CF5 manufactured in 2013 is the first Demarini model that is listed for approved use in the NCAA and most, but not all, have the USSSA thumbprint depending upon the date of manufacturing. This is also their first bat that was manufactured under the new standards. The older CF series have failed the compression testing standards enough times under the new guidelines (3 strikes) that they are no longer approved. The same with the Xenos. The models pre-2013 are just like the older CF3's and 4's...built like tanks and just keep getting hotter until the point of failure. That said, you will still see these bats being used in sanctioned tournaments simply because no one checks them. Then all of a sudden, they go to Nationals, compression tests are done, they fail and now the kids without the only bat she has confidence in and is comfortable with for the biggest tournament of her life.

slugger3 said:

So in what model/year was the CF design/material changed to allow it to be used at all levels of play?
Did LS make xenos the same way in any of the older model bats?
Thanks

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^^^^^^^^^^^^