The Truth About Composite Bats as I See It....

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Oct 3, 2011
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I'm sure many of you expected to see this post by coresoftabll20. I'm sorry to disappoint you. For those that would like to continue to read, just know that this is from the perspective of a member whose daughter grew up a "metalhead." By this I mean, my DD, Emily, loved her Rocketechs and Rocketflexes; so much so, that past offerings of composite bats couldn't compete with how well, hard and far she hit the ball with those aforementioned bats as well as the confidence she had in them.

The composite bats are superior IMO. That said, there are many problems with them. Most importantly IMO is the durablility. In order to give the performance which most of us expect, the manufacturers have to give up durability. In order to get the ball to "jump" off the bat, the composite walls of the bats are made thinner so that they give more "trampoline" effect to the ball. What does that mean to the durability? As I'm sure many of you can surmise, this means that the durability is decreased. It's no different then cutting plate steel with a torch. One can burn through 1/8" plate much faster than a 1/2" plate. This also means that there are so many hits on a composite bat before it is absolutely going to fail; not due to the manufacturing process, inferior materials, etc. other than the usage and longevity of the materials used to give us what we demand as far as performance goes. Just like steel, if you flex it often enough, any material will eventually weaken through stress and eventually tear or break.

Unlike past offerings by Easton, Demarini, Mizuno, Louisville Sluggers, Worth, Miken, etc.etc. where the bat walls were thicker, giving longevity as well as performance, the performance came at the price of hitting hundreds, if not thousands, of balls in order to "open it up" and we could continue to see improved performance until it failed. This is no longer the case. Those very same bats that did that, often exceeded the ball exit speeds that were mandated by ASA/USA and other various organizations such as USSSA. Now, with the newer bats, you might need a total of 150-250 balls at most in order to open them up or break them in.

So what does this mean for bat consumers such as ourselves?

It means that we're going to break more bats within the warranty period and even afterwards. It also means we will be paying higher prices for them since the manufacturers have accounted for the broken bats and are now charging you for them with the price higher at initial purchase price points.

How many times have we seen a new bat with improved or completely new and innovative technology come out such as the CF7 series and later models, the LXT, the Worth Legit2 and others, only to hear about their failures. The latest is the Easton Ghost. It's all new technology specifically designed to give us the most power for our hitters to fit within a certain set of standards (ASA/USA) right out of the wrapper. It doesn't matter which bat manufacturer it is, they will have failures at all points and times.

To blame the bat or the manufacturer is ludicrous. We, as a people and a society, are demanding performance, " RIGHT NOW!" They are only giving us what we demand. To blame them for giving us performance over durability, which we are demanding, should make you think a little about where our priorities lie.

Another thing. In order to make it the hottest bat, they had the innovative idea to make it the hottest per sanctioning body that had consistent bat testing. This only means that each model will be the hottest right out of the wrapper for each sanctioning body. It also means, If you want this bat and play different sanctioning body's tournaments, you may be purchasing more than one bat. Just be aware, should the bat fail, Easton is offering 2 replacements instead of 1 within the warranty period.

This also means, that the bats designed to fit ALL sanctioning bodies under the same model, such as the CF9, etc, will probably last a little longer due to the design being slightly more durable by having to adhere to multiple, more stringent bat exit speeds of differing sanctions but probably will not maximize the hitters potential in each one.

One last thing, a composite bat has only so many hits on it. If you plan on hitting 2000 balls a week or use it in another fashion to hit anything other than softballs will decrease the life (duration/time wise) and cause damage.

As a side note, my DD turned many more than a few RT's and RF's into boat oars over the years so the longevity isn't exactly there either with a hitter that has swing speeds in the high 70's to mid 80's.
 
Last edited:
Feb 26, 2016
283
28
Murfreesboro, TN
I agree with everything you said. Price of the bats have gone up and the durability has gone down. Good thing there is a warranty with a new purchase these days. At least with Fastpitch you need some (well.. a lot) of skill to take full advantage of these bats.

I'm an old slowpitch player after my college baseball career was over having played in the 90's thru early 2000's. Right in the smack of all that came the introduction of the composite bat. In the 90's we would think the old doublewall Worth PST's were the rage (insert your favorite aluminum type bat here). HR's were reserved for the big guys. Along came a little startup company named Miken with the Miken Ultra I and it changed the entire bat community and turned the old school bat companies on their heads. Talking about trampoline affect... Goodness I could hit a ball 400 feet with that gray bat. One time i hit 5 straight out in a league with it, and just shook my head because that was not ME hitting those missiles, it was the bat.

Anyway, sorry for the reminiscing... and getting back to your point. This debate has been going on for almost 20 years now. As long as the customer buys them, they will build them. :)
 

CoreSoftball20

Wilson = Evil Empire
DFP Vendor
Dec 27, 2012
6,215
113
Kunkletown, PA
Actually...Miken's first few attempts were pretty terrible with composite bats. they just didnt walk on the scene and revolutionize the game. But they did beat the big boys to the punch
by a very wide margin with performance and sent the game into a complete ruckus with the Ultra.

Miken HHD- trash
Miken Viper 12 and 14 - trash
Miken Velosit-E - the og was average at best but the V2 was trash
Miken Ultra 1 - best bat made and made ASA change bat standards and balls

Im a big slowpitch guy myself :)

But that proves what composites will do...that Ultra put all bats to shame...even the best metal bat made...the OG Ray Demarini Double Wall (not the
crap Wilson put Ray's name on after they bought him out). That bat couldn't even come close.
 
Last edited:
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
Their are several points I tried to make with this post. 1) With the advent of all technology today, such as cell phones and immediate access to information, society has become accustomed to immediate gratification in every aspect of their lives. A gross generalization but fair to make by today's standards. 2) By those same standards, a majority are wanting or demanding performance right out of the wrapper. 3) In order to give them this, bat manufacturers have to sacrifice durability over performance. 4) No matter what material the bat is made of, whether steel, an alloy or a carbon fiber, the material will fail over time since it's being flexed often and some materials have less "flexes" over others. ,Also, the thinner the material, which bat manufacturers are using in order to give the masses what they want, i.e. performance, the less durable they are. 5) All we hear about are the failures of the latest tech and not the successes or durability of those same bats. 6) Last but not least, to blame bat manufacturers or the bats themselves is completely wrong since they are only giving us, as a society, what we are demanding which is instant gratification.
 

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