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Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
Most on this board have not had the opportunities Steve and I have on this point.
We have been through sessions conducted by a bat manufacture's rep who formerly worked in the dept at Washington State that developed the standards and testing.
Rolling or vicing a bat are referred to as Accelerated Break In (ABI) methods that do alter the characteristics of the bat. A bat is manufactured to meet specific standard and restrictions that should not be exceeded at the bat's peak performance period.
Bats are meant to wear and break down in a certain fashion. Using an ABI weakens the integrity of the bat and causes the bat to peak in 1/4 of the time it was manufactured to last. Remember, we are talking about composites which will break down and literally fall apart in some cases.
More often we are beginning to hear a rattle in some bats. We are being told that this is part of the shell starting to bread down or evidence that someone has tampered with the inside of the bat's shell. I have also seen a bat which has been rolled have it's paint/seal break down and create a crack in the barrel.
Additional thoughts on rolling a bat, and vicing in certain areas, also causes parts of the barrel not often used to contact the ball, thus not manufactured to wear the same as the "sweet spot" of the barrel which also weakens the integrity of the bat.
While not the sole reason some of these bats shatter, it certainly can be factor in the cause. Now you have a safety issue possibly aided by the ABI method.
Probably not the response you wanted, but that is pretty much how ASA and the bat manufacturer's see it. Also, whether you agree or not, ASA's testing and standards efforts are the most comprehensive of any sanctioning body, so I would pretty much give Dr. Lloyd Smith's lab work and findings the benefit of any doubt there may be.
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I agree that the ASA has the most extensive testing procedures when compared with the other major associations out there. I don't think there's much to dispute that.
But
...how about the the legal and natural usage of the composite bat in ASA play? It will continually get "hotter", for lack of a better term, over the course of it's life. Are these factors truly part of the consideration when a bat goes through the ASA testing standards? Or are they just using an average/median formulation? To what point do they test the comosite bats like the Combat AntiVirus and Miken Freak98? If they literally take each and every bat to the end of it's useful life, they're going to find out the 98mph barrier will be exceeded by some of these bats.