I thought I would begin a semi-regular series exploring the gear that we use. With bats, I am a compulsive experimenter, and I have spent way too much money trying to figure out what kind of bat suits me best.
I started with a 26-oz Easton Reflex, which was damaged in a very cold weather batting practice early in 2008. I then bought a 30-oz Miken Freak composite, which lasted for most of the 2008 season. I replaced it with a 28-oz DeMarini Doublewall Distance AND a 34-oz Easton Cyclone, and switched between them depending on whether I wanted to direct the ball, or hit with power. For the 2010 season, I used another 26-oz Easton Reflex, after trying a 27-oz DeMarini Creature two-piece composite that never really hit well despite being very expensive. This year, I have a 30-oz DeMarini Ultimate Weapon.
Every bat I've ever owned has been 34 inches. I don't know why you'd want less plate coverage, but if anyone can explain, please do.
I noticed that some great hitters use rather pedestrian bats, a case in point being Brian Hernandez swinging a low end 30-oz Easton singlewall, and consistently smacking the crap out of the ball.
There are a few different variables-- material, weight, balance. I also own a 34-oz Worth that is marketed as a "Clincher" bat. It's extremely end-loaded, and it feels like a sack of cement at the end of a broomstick, and the only success I've ever had with it is pitching to other people who are swinging it. I prefer a balanced bat, which feels lighter than it really is, to an end-loaded bat. And the more I hit, the more I think the hitter's reflexes and physical condition have far more impact on how well the ball travels than most bats do.
As far as weight goes, 28 to 30 ounce bats seem to combine the best of both worlds, at least for me. A hitter with very strong arms and wrists might need a 34-oz bat, whereas someone who struggles with bat speed might want a 26 or a 27.
There are three different kinds of bat construction-- singlewall, doublewall, and composite. Singlewall are the cheapest bats, and most of them still perform well. Several different grades of aluminum alloy are used, if that sort of thing matters to you. I've tried to avoid using the cheapest grade. Doublewalls and composites are more expensive, and generally don't last as long, either. I was happy with the one doublewall I owned, and I think one-piece composites are far superior to two-piece composites. And a good singlewall bat performs almost or just as well as its more expensive counterparts.
As far as bat manufacturers, I buy almost exclusively DeMarini and Easton, and I did a lot of research into the subject before buying anything. I didn't read too many good things about the lower-end Worth and Louisville Slugger bats. Some of the really high-end bats aren't ASA legal, which limits their utility. The one dud DeMarini I bought was ironically the most expensive one. Their midrange bats are pretty excellent, as are Eastons. I would only avoid the super-cheapo Easton Hammer.
My first two high-end bats had a lifespan of less than a season. They seemed to develop dead spots, and not drive the ball as well as they had before. I wonder if this was psychological-- maybe I was just in a slump and chose to blame the bat. With the doublewall, this may have been the case, as I gave it to Don Weiss, who still hits hard line drives with it.
I'd love to know what everyone else thinks about this. Please comment below!
Monday, March 21, 2011
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5 comments:
From Derek:
Nice and informative piece Ian. I for one struggle with light bats. I think my bat speed is too quick and I prefer the heavy bats. I have found a great deal of comfortable 30oz bats that are brought to our games on Sundays and I just switch between them. Your 34 oz bat which you took to a few games last year was a dream to use. I own one 30oz bat which I have everyweek but I rarely bring out and only use occasionally. I use this bat in my other leagues and I do well with it. I guess one of the reason I don't bring it out too much is the fear of leaving it behind since I am not use to using it for SFLOI.
Agreed, good piece. In my opinion bats and performance are linked by your own physical and mental state. If you are a good hitter, the bat may not mean much, to a mediocre hitter a good bat might spark them to have a winning attitude and change their approach. It's a weird line, one that people debate all over the place.
I, too, am a big fan of Demarini and have owned three as well as an Easton in the past three years. The first bat I bought was the Demarini Ultimate Weapon (28 oz). This is the red and black splattered version. I still use this bat the most, and see many people use it at SFLOI and it's the preferred bat of the DC Bullets. It's been a great bat, although it may be faltering a bit.
The following season, I picked up the Demarini Bruiser (30 oz) and Easton Hammer (28 oz). I went with the 30 oz (the white bat) because I felt my swing was getting a tad fast towards the end of '09. I never got used to it, and it despite a few scattered games, it mostly became my batting practice bat. I see some folks use it here and there, but recently sold it to Nel Yomtov who is a member of both my softball clubs. He swears by it now. The value priced Easton Hammer I didn't like at all, and after using it for a few weeks I gave it to Bill McLaughlin. He gets good use out of it, though.
I sold the Bruiser, though, mostly to make room for my latest bat, the Demarini Stadium (28 oz). It's my first foray into composite bats, and it's a two piece which asthethically (the two-piece part) I've never been that big of a fan of, but it's Demarini's top of the line softball bat and I thought I'd treat myself. Hopefully, I'll like it more than you liked your two-piece, Ian, it was freaking expensive!
That said, I understand how Derek feels, and while I'll easily take it to play with my DC Bullets, I may be a little bitch if it comes to SFLOI, and wouldn't want anyone to use it.
But that brings up the next point, if the bat is an extention of you, and lets say you're great and feel your bat is part of that, then in a league such as SFLOI, where stats is king, why would you give anyone else that advantage?
Havelock here:
I just use what feels good to me. I've been hitting well (though fielders are stealing hits from me) this year using a combination of Gil's new green bat, the black and red bats and, on Sunday, I felt very comfortable with Brian's brown and silver model.
I only owned a bat once. It was a very light women's bat which was on sale at Modell's back in the 1980's. I used it for a few years until the day I accidentally left it on a Metro North Hudson Line train.
It seems that we now have more of the 34-30 size bats, which I like. One thing which usually makes me reject a bat immediately is the handle size. I find at least half of the bats no matter the weight have a handle too slim to grip. A bat has to have a handle at least a broomstick thickness for me to use. Last season, Ian passed a 34-oz bat to me after I lost my own in a forgetful parking/trunk packing moment. That bat, sadly, met the same fate. Don't lend me a bat to take home, guys.
Jim O'Connor
Jim, that's pretty interesting. I never thought much about the size of the bat handle because I played a lot of stickball as a kid. I've also noticed that almost no one makes a bat over 30 ounces anymore. My guess is that the higher-grade aluminum alloys wouldn't be ASA-legal (in terms of how fast the ball would come back at the pitcher) over 30 ounces. If that's not the case, I have no idea why they don't make the heavier bats anymore.
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