Helmet being worn by pitcher—men's slow pitch

[MTR]

At C Level? Seems like you think that is somehow substandard. The difference in classification as you know is HR's allowed. Besides, if you look at current USSSA rankings there are 5 major teams listed, 32 A teams, 46 B teams, and 609 C teams. At the top levels of these classes the the difference in skill sets is power, Every one on the top A and all open teams is capable of putting the ball way out of the yard. Hit 700 at worlds in C class. Have seen A and open tournies where they only had to walk to 1st after a bomb. Guys would miss one and hit a seed one hop off the fence and walk to first and stop waiting for the next guy to hit a bomb. Exciting stuff. The HR limit in the USA vs USA Futures made it more interesting.

U-trip's SP classification is suspect, at best, and it is more the bats that are hitting the ball, not the player.

Yes I was cheating, personally I didn't like using the juiced bats but that was what were given by our sponsor. I also hated the One Cryo bat, it was a POS but again, playing for free comes with some sacrifice. When I started playing we used 33 oz Tennessee thumpers and Howards furniture bats which I would use as a swing bat now. LOL

I would use a 36 or 38 oz. A 32 was a toothpick. Most of the players today would have difficulty playing with those bats.

As far as bat testing by ASA goes, those portable compression testers are suspect at best. Have heard that they have passed Miken Ultra II's and failed out of the rapper ASA bats. I guess we will just have to disagree on exit speeds. I have had those big Magilla Gorilla guys hit balls back at me, I pitched and in 2008 at 47 years old the ball was coming so fast I was chucking and ducking when the 3 HRS were gone and they had to shoot the middle to try and keep the ball in the yard.

The portable compression instrument is not a bat tester. Nor does it determine whether exit speeds. It simple confirms the compression of the bat being tested is within the range of those which are approved.

And the "had to shoot the middle" just proves my belief that today's players are absolutely clueless as to how to play the game. Yes, they know and hone the mechanics of the swing, but when it comes down to controlling the bat, many cannot alter their swings. Quite a few have one swing and that is all they know as has been in evident in all the Border Battles. And just to show you how smart these guys are, many do not change bats when the HRs are gone. If I was out of HRs and had a hard time keeping the ball in the park, I might move to wood because these guys are big enough and have a swing which will still send the ball with a single wall.

 

[3sDad]

Rubbish. MOST do not use altered bats, MOST cannot place the ball, but MANY to rely on the speed of the ball to make up for lack of that skill.

Take one of any batted ball off of anywhere and you risk a visit to the emergency room

Most around here do use altered bats...most popular is a Miken Ultra II painted to be a Freak 98...Slow-pitch for men is big here...most here can take a down the middle pitch and split the pitching rubber...back in the HR derby days I have a friend who got $500 plus expenses to play for a large furniture company's team...he could catch a cold, but can hit a ball a country mile

 

[MTR]

Most around here do use altered bats...most popular is a Miken Ultra II painted to be a Freak 98...Slow-pitch for men is big here...most here can take a down the middle pitch and split the pitching rubber...back in the HR derby days I have a friend who got $500 plus expenses to play for a large furniture company's team...he could catch a cold, but can hit a ball a country mile

You may have that in U-trip ball, but I think you are talking about your back yard and not SP softball in general particularly ASA where they actually give a damn about the safety of the game.

BTW, I've got a couple world cups and 5 ASA Major level NCs under my belt, so I've dealt with these guys.

 

[bmwm316]

U-trip's SP classification is suspect, at best, and it is more the bats that are hitting the ball, not the player.



I would use a 36 or 38 oz. A 32 was a toothpick. Most of the players today would have difficulty playing with those bats.



The portable compression instrument is not a bat tester. Nor does it determine whether exit speeds. It simple confirms the compression of the bat being tested is within the range of those which are approved.

And the "had to shoot the middle" just proves my belief that today's players are absolutely clueless as to how to play the game. Yes, they know and hone the mechanics of the swing, but when it comes down to controlling the bat, many cannot alter their swings. Quite a few have one swing and that is all they know as has been in evident in all the Border Battles. And just to show you how smart these guys are, many do not change bats when the HRs are gone. If I was out of HRs and had a hard time keeping the ball in the park, I might move to wood because these guys are big enough and have a swing which will still send the ball with a single wall.

I too am suprised at the lack of bat control. Alot of these guys played college ball and some even minors so they are decent athletes. I was fortunate enough to play against Steele's in 1988 twice because I was selected to allstar teams to play in exhibition games against them. That was when Mike Macenko was in his prime, I believe he hit 844 bombs that year. One game was unlimited HRs and I think they hit like 70. They made out on purpose just to let us hit. Our guys tried to of course muscle up and hit with them LMAO. The second time we had a 10 HR limit and then it was one for one, and it was a strike if you hit one when none were available. We ran them to death once the HR's were gone, actually made it a game but they had enough guys that could just plain hit unlike I saw from this USA team. I also loved it when the big guys from USA hit solos or 2 run bombs and feigned anger. Played with and against this level player and they did not care as long as they git there's and if you hit one because you got a good swing on one and you were just suppose to set the table for them they would be pissed