Stupid question... bat maintenance
- Thread starter SamG
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
OK, so I got my DD (11) a new bat for Christmas... an Easton SSR1B. She had her first hitting with it during lessons last night. Now, how do we take care of the bat? Wipe it down with a rag? Wet/dry? Alcohol?
Our kids use a liquid soap for dish washing and a Teflon scrubbing pad and it makes the bat look brand new and does not harm the graphics. I would not use alcohol or solvents unless you are changing grips to remove the excess residue. If it is a composite bat in my opinion the solvents would attack the polymerizes and carbon fibers in the bat.
We use tennis rackets grips as they offer a variety of colors, thickness and cushion and non cushion and tackiness as to feel. Some of the girls use gloves and some do not so it is a personal preference for them. The tennis pro shops have more of a selection than lets say Dick's and they usually have ones you can feel the difference and that is important.
Many of the girls who are wearing metal cleats for the first time are finding out also that hitting their cleats out of habit with the bat are nicking their 300 to $400 bats. Something worth discussing that could make the bat last longer.
Howard
Coach-n-Dad
Crazy Daddy
- Oct 31, 2008
- 1,007
- 0
Like Hitters DD, mine uses liquid dish soap and a teflon scrub pad. She thought that the scrubbie would scratch the paint but it doesn't and the bat looks great!!! She has tried other cleaners like alcohol and soap with no scrubbie and it either took forever to clean or didn't clean at all.
Dont get too carried away. its just a tool, albeit a fairly expensive, overpriced, fragile, cant-be-used-in-cold-weather one.
It will spend its life getting tossed around, rolling in the dirt and crushed brick field surface, hit against things, then shoved in a dirty pocket in a batbag.
I promise you a clean shiny bat wont hit any better than a dirty one.
But the best thing you could do for it if you want to take care of it is get a cushy bat sleeve to protect it from nicks, dings, etc, and keep it in it 100% of the time its not being used, even while in rack in dugout. Most damage occurs on concrete in dugout, or while in batbags that get tossed around, draggged over concrete, etc and there is usually no padding at all to protect the bats. Often the bat pocket is on the bottom of the bag too, so when carrying it or dropping it by the handle the bat is what hits the ground,etc. More often than not, holes wear thru the batbag where the ends of the bat frequently rub concrete,etc. Usually end up full of minor nicks, cuts, scratches etc just from normal wear and tear in a single year. Of course, many girls get a new bat every year, so it just becomes a practice bat very soon anyway.
It will spend its life getting tossed around, rolling in the dirt and crushed brick field surface, hit against things, then shoved in a dirty pocket in a batbag.
I promise you a clean shiny bat wont hit any better than a dirty one.
But the best thing you could do for it if you want to take care of it is get a cushy bat sleeve to protect it from nicks, dings, etc, and keep it in it 100% of the time its not being used, even while in rack in dugout. Most damage occurs on concrete in dugout, or while in batbags that get tossed around, draggged over concrete, etc and there is usually no padding at all to protect the bats. Often the bat pocket is on the bottom of the bag too, so when carrying it or dropping it by the handle the bat is what hits the ground,etc. More often than not, holes wear thru the batbag where the ends of the bat frequently rub concrete,etc. Usually end up full of minor nicks, cuts, scratches etc just from normal wear and tear in a single year. Of course, many girls get a new bat every year, so it just becomes a practice bat very soon anyway.
Last edited:
A Magic Eraser.
They are fragile if hit in temperatures too cold but considering they can take multiple 100 mph collisions with the ball, they are amazing tools. When I was attending a Bustos / Carrier clinic, Crystl was talking about breaking in bats, she took her personal bat and another composite bat and hitthem together so hard it sounded like a gun shot. Everyone jumped at the sound. I swore she would have broken one of those bats but there were undamaged, it was freaky.
Similar threads
