When a bat is too hot.

[CoachBroker]

We were at my youngest DD's 8U tournament the last 2 days. My wife had pointed out one of the girls on a different team was able to send a ball to the fence at every at bat and she was barely swinging the bat. It was a CF7 by the way. My 11 yo plays on a A class 10u team and we have both DeMarinis and Xenos. She is the best batter on the team and hits for power. I have never seen her nor any other girls in tournaments we have played in have such an easy swing that sent a ball flying so far. After watching this girl bat (on the other team) my first thought was that her bat had either been rolled or shaved. (although I will admit I know very little about either) I then started wondering, how does someone question something like this? This was not a big tournament and I doubt they carry anything that allows them to test on the spot. What can be done if you suspect a bat might be illegal? Is there a way to tell without a compression test? Has anyone ever seen someone protest a bat during a tournament?

 

[JAD]

Rolling a recently manufactured composite bat will not significantly improve it's performance, Shaving on the other hand will.

 

[CoachBroker]

Is there any way to tell if a bat has been shaved without a compression test or taking it apart?

 

[JAD]

I would suggest checking to see if the end cap has been replaced, but a compression test is the only way to know for sure without taking the bat apart.

 

[grcsftbll]

We had a team stop a game (when we were on a hitting roll, of course) to protest one of our players' bats. Same bat she's been using forever, never had it come up before. There's nothing off with her bat but they sure did manage to kill our momentum. Some girls just seem to have that magic swing. I suppose there are 10U parents willing to cheat for good hits but I like to think they're few and far between.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

I would suggest checking to see if the end cap has been replaced, but a compression test is the only way to know for sure without taking the bat apart.

End cap will show absolutely nothing.

Testing is the only real way and that wont even catch all of them.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

I will say though, most of the time a complaint about a bat goes side by side with how the games are going for the dd's team...haha. We arent hitting well, but "look at that one girl hit, has to be the bat". Most of the time, has nothing to do with the bat and more to do with wanting an excuse or something to divert attention away from the real issue...your team not doing well. Complaints seem to run rampant when teams lose and nothing but compliments when winning.

This was not meant directly at the OP, just a broad statement about what I have seen a lot.

 

[barlowjames]

I will say though, most of the time a complaint about a bat goes side by side with how the games are going for the dd's team...haha. We arent hitting well, but "look at that one girl hit, has to be the bat". Most of the time, has nothing to do with the bat and more to do with wanting an excuse or something to divert attention away from the real issue...your team not doing well. Complaints seem to run rampant when teams lose and nothing but compliments when winning.

This was not meant directly at the OP, just a broad statement about what I have seen a lot.

Agree 100%. If I see someone younger or smaller hit better than my daughter my first question will be why she isn't playing better or harder. The last thing I would ever do is suggest that players who are better than my daughter are cheating.

On a side note shaving a composite isn't going to take an infield singles player and have her hitting the fence. Modifying the bat may give a player 5-10% more distance but it doesn't make the bat a home running hitting device of legend built by the elves of Rivendell. If the girl you saw was hitting a 220 foot fence with a shaved bat she could still be hitting 200 feet with a stock bat. I'm more inclined to believe she was just a really good player with excellent coaching.

 

[3bmama]

My DD is 11 plays for a B level 10u team. She has hit 3 homeruns this year 2 with a CF7, 1 with a CF6. Her homers have come on swings that are smooth like butter, easy strokes where she was just able to get the timing of the pitcher down perfectly. If she's swinging easy, she's hitting well. When she starts trying to swing for power she stops hitting the ball as well as she can.

 

[NVfishing]

The best hitters make it look easy. I've only seen one girl in the past 12-13 years that was a threat to put it out every at bat. She was clearing the 40' lights that were at 220ft. The last year I watched her she had 36 dingers.