ASA bat standards

What is true about the new bat standards and what is rumor? This info is below is straight from ASA. I see no mention of the red and black Rocket Tech or some of the older Miken fastpitch bats that were thought to be over ASA Standards. I have read many places that ASA was making any bat without an 2004 stamp illegal. That is not the way I read this info.

Someone within ASA has told me that ALL bats will be tested different in the future. Bats that become hotter after break in will still have to meet standards. Most of the bats used by softball players today improve after use. This includes all composites and the RT.

Anyone else hearing anything different from ASA?

Grandfathered Bats No Longer Authorized Beginning in 2008
Under a resolution adopted by the ASA Board of Directors, bats submitted by manufacturers that were previously allowed a 2 mph variance in the ASA’s test standards are no longer authorized for use in ASA Championship Play effective January 1, 2008.

Commonly referred to by players and coaches as “grandfathered” bats, these bats were allowed a 2 mph testing variance under the terms of an agreement the bat manufacturers and ASA negotiated in the fall of 2003. These terms will no longer be in effect on January 1, 2008 thus making these bats illegal for use in ASA Championship Play.

According to the list provided to ASA under the terms of the agreement with each manufacturer, the following bats will be placed on the non approved list on January 1, 2008.

Easton
Synergy2

Miken
Freak

Louisville Slugger
SB304
SB404

Worth
XGOLD-Fastpitch
XRED-Fastpitch
XPST4
WWSCA
SBWKA

 

I was just at the NFCA Convention last week and received an update from Dee Abramson, who is the rules guru for the NCAA. She is also employed by the ASA in some capacity for their bat testing program.

At the NCAA World Series for Div I, II and III, bats were taken from the teams for testing. Previously, bats were tested out of the wrapper from the manufacturer. Unless there was serious concern raised, usually by a competitor, that was the only time bats were tested. This post-season test was supposedly a first of its kind.

At our national committee meeting in July, we heard that the results were alarming and that the ASA and the NCAA were holding emergency meetings with the bat manufacturers. The manufacturers were ordered to bring answers as to why their bats tested higher than the 98 MPH. This process has been on going and we finally started to get some answers last week.

While they would not reveal which bats tested hot, but they indicated that several had and they had tested in the triple digits. They said that several bats would be added to the banned list shortly. Of course they would not give a date or even hint at which bats.

In addition, you are correct, they have a new way to test bats. Now, in addition to testing the bats out of the wrapper, the ASA now also has a process called rolling, in which the bat is rolled between two metal rollers simulating a high number of hits. Each composite bat essentially has a thin shell inside that makes it legal. Over time, this shell breaks down and the walls begin to flex and the bat gets hotter...just like we all know they do. When a bat is tested out of the wrapper, it meets the standard because that shell prevents a lot of the wall flexing that occurs over time. Now, with the rolling process, they can see how hot a bat can get.

What we heard from manufacturers was that essentially any new composite bat is going to come out of the wrapper "dead" at around 94 MPH. As those shells break down and the bat starts to flex, it will get hotter up to around 98 MPH. A lot of people thought that the true composite bat might be dead.

Interestingly, Rip-It has a new aluminum bat that starts out at the 98 MPH and doesn't break in like the composites. Worth also has a new Quad coming out in the spring that looks, feels and sounds a lot like aluminum. This may be the new path bat makers take, kinda like going old school.

None of this is definate other than Dee saying that several bats will be showing up on the banned list shortly. So if you are thinking about shelling out $300 for a new bat for Christmas, it might be wise to just put a picture of a bat in a box and buy a new one after the new banned bat list comes out.

 

Thanks for the info!

I have wondered for some time if what we called advanced player bats were still being used. Years ago bat sponsored teams always got those hotter versions. It wouldn't surprise me if the colleges were getting better bats than you can buy. I had heard that most if not all of the bats were over the standards in Oklahoma City. I have also seen claims from people that are rolling bats that manufacturers are having this done before sending them out to their teams.

 

1 July is a crazy date to be changing bat regulations. It's right in the middle of the qualfication season, weeks before the world series. It would make more sense to handle it in the winter while no one is playing, or at least wait until 1 Sep when the WS's are over.

Which just confirms that it will probably happen right when Cheeze said.

 

you have to be kidding

Boys will be boys, and American ingenuity will always try to build a better mousetrap, but...

Don't HS girls use these bats? And pitch from real close with a really hard ball?

If your teenaged daughter got her face re-arranged off an ASA cert. composite bat last spring or summer--as a pitcher or an infielder-- what do you think about bat-makers putting a deadening layer in their bats to fool the test?

One reason there's no general outrage over this is that HS softball teams use only one pitcher. Every other player on the team is a hitter. The hitters' parents outnumber the pitcher's parents 14-1.

Is this worth a wink-and-a-smile, or a negligence suit? I'm as macho as the next guy, but to me this is over-the-line. It make a good story for 60 Minutes.

 

Black Rocket Tech

Cheeze,
I just spoke to Tony Laws, our ASA State commissioner. He sits on the committe that oversees the bat testing. As far as he knows, there has been no mention of banning the black RT. It will still be legal. It was not ever put on the "grandfathered list" accoding to him.
They are in the process of some type of "roll" testing the composites to simulate extended usage and its effect on performance.