OT: Softball Bats
 

Hey guys I need a recommendation on a good slow pitch softball bat. It has been years since I bought one and the one I have now is just about dead. I see some numbers on a few of these bats. Things like them being rated at 98 MPH by the ASA. And 100+ MPH etc. What does that mean?

I have also seen some -6 and -10 etc numbers next to the listing. I also have no idea what that means. Any suggestions on a good (hopefully reasonably priced) bat?

Important question - find out if the league you're playing in has restrictions on the bat types. An awful lot of leagues do, and it would suck to drop $200 on a bat that you can't use.

Draft Dodger has a few bats he could sell you.

for slow pitch i don't see the big difference between most bats, i usually just got for the one that feels the smoothest and that i can generate the most bat speed with.

i think the MPH numbers are velocity of ball coming off the bat during tests. no clue on the -6 stuff.

slowpitch is all batspeed, you should be able to hit it on the sweet spot everytime anyways.

Di Marini's are great bats for Softball, but most of them have been Blacklisted...other than that, I just keep churning through my 20$ bats from target, they do what I need them to do.

Actually, there is a huge difference in bats, and as Celeval mentioned, many bats have restrictions on what bats are allowed, particularly in slow pitch. (and I agree with him that checking on any restrictions is a good first step)

Isnt the negative number the drop between inches and ounces? For instance a 33 inch 27 ounce bat would be -6

I'm not sure about the ratings...but I highly recommend the Mizuno Techfire Fury (the red one). I would like to buy one myself, but dont want to drop 200 bucks on it. One of the guys on our men's team has one, and i hit about 30 feet further with it than any othe bat i have used...even non-banned Dimarinis..

I need to try a play it again sports and see if i can find one used..

Heh, nice timing as I was just looking through some bats yesterday as I'd like to pick up a good one that'll actually make a difference.

That said, seems like the consensus points towards the Miken Freak (this year's model is the 2004 Freak, with the 98 being released sometime soon as the next model). It would be wise to check out what bats are restricted, as there I believe the 2004 Freak wasn't approved by one body, but fine with the rest.

Other one's I ran across a lot were the Mizuno TechFire Crush and the Easton Synergy 2 SCX-22. The biggest slow pitch tourney in Canada just happened in Edson, and the bat of choice there was definitely the Synergy.

As far as the 98 mph test, that is supposed to be the fastest that a bat can propel a ball and be legal. If it goes above that, then it'll be blacklisted and illegal to use in most leagues. That said, most of the bats I've listed probably retail for somewhere between $200 and $300 american.

Also, rule of thumb for bat weight is to hold the bat in one hand (should be your bottom hand in your natural batting stance) and hold the bat out at shoulder height with your arm fully extended to your side (as if you were making half of a safe call as an umpire). If your arm begins to shake holding the bat out like that, it's too heavy, so drop down an ounce or two and try again. Don't drop down too light, as your bat speed won't necessarily increase with the bat being lighter, everybody has a maximum bat speed they can reach, so if you can hit that with a 28 ounce bat, no sense using a 26 ouncer as your swing speed stays the same, yet the mass you're hitting the ball with has decreased.

So very, very true and yet so rarely understood.

I used a 32 inch, 26 oz. bat my 12 year old season in Little League. They don't even make those anymore. All the kids want at least a -9 on their bat and it pisses me off. Some of the kids used a -12. 12! Refused to use anything heavier. And then they don't believe me when I told them that my team had 3 players that hit at least 5 home runs in the 20 game season. The last team I helped coach (the season before this one) hit one home run. TOTAL. Goodness.

Heh, try shopping for a bat when you want at least a 32 ounce, 34 inch slowpitch bat. Nearly impossible to find, and looks like if I want to drop some coin on a nice bat, I'll be forced to go to a 30 ounce as that appears to be the heaviest they tend to make them in.

Then again, I used to be the only guy using a wooden bat (had to love the Grifffey Jr. Louisville) and would have opposing coaches accuse me of making my own bats.

This is quite a gem :D

I sell bats at my store, and the most popular this season have been the Techfire crush (orange) and the Demarini F2. I'm out of stock in the crush model, I do have some fury models left though, as well as the Demarini F2 (ASA and USSSA approved) and older techfire models, the two year old model with a 12" barrel.

I'll get you the FOFC discount (100-150 bucks per bat depending on the model) if you want, PM me if interested.

Thanks everyone for the information.

Scholes,

A buddy of mine locally says he can get me a similar deal as one of his friend's dad is a GM at a sporting goods store. So I will look into that, but I will let you know if that doesn't work out.

Thanks again.

Hmmmmm, playoff tournament in a week and a half, how fast can Scholes ship ;)

Heh very old thread bump. I have come quite a ways from when I first posted this thread:

nice collection! is that a wood slow pitch bat? so cool!

a buddy of mine got me a Mike Freak '11 took a more than a few trips to the cage to get it warmed up but this thing is HOT almost $300 but worth every penny

I hate how some of these bats have changed the game so much. When the Miken Ultra first came out in 02-03 it was no longer fun to play the infield. Thank god that bat was banned but the newer editions arent a lot different. Plus with all cheating that goes on with bats it is no longer an even playing field.