Demarini Vendetta Bat
 

Rule 1-3-2: The bat which may be wood or non-wood product shall be a smooth cylinder implement....

Demarini's new bat has an 8-sided flat handle with four sides being wider than the other four sides. I know the bat has already passed NFHS's inspection process since it is BESR certified, but it seems like it contradicts their own rules.

On a side note, Reebok's new Vector-O bat has holes in the handle. It is supposed to reduce drag and increase bat speed by allowing air to pass through the handle.

If you've not seen either one, a google search will find them for you.

Now that is just silly. And if the wind was from behind the hitter, the holes would slow the bat down (equally silly).

All I care about regarding bats is the BESR certification screenprint and a quick look to see if it has any dents or modifications after manufacture which garner extra attention if warranted. I don't care what it is made of or whether or not it can walk to the batter's box by itself.

The ONLY thing BESR certifies is that the exit speed meets the standard. Has no bearing on any other aspect of bat.

I suspect we will need rulings from NFHS & NCAA as to legality of the bat for play.

Until such a time IMO the Demarini is NOT legal, as it is flat sided in areas that could strike the ball.

The Dimarini bas was specifically brought up in our state NFHS rules clinic last year and I believe they mentioned it was legal.

True.

All NFHS legal bats are required to be BESR certified, however, not all BESR certified bats are required to be NFHS legal.

Mattingly has this thing called the V-grip, which has also revolutionized the shape of the grip. http://www.mattinglybaseball.com/ima...nstration1.jpg

It only matters what shape the barrel is. If a batter hits it off the handle, it doesn't much matter what shape it is.

http://www.beapro.com/images/product...wi09-dxvtb.jpg

I'm not sure I see the problem with this thing. Look where the irregularity is>

I like any bat that gets swung often.

Ah - thanks for the clarification! I was thinking much more slab sided than the picture. I don't see this as a problem, though I would like to see NCAA / NFS send out a ruling to prevent issues at game time.

THAT is absolutely the problem. There will be an uninformed umpire and a coach will take advantage and the dispute will take place after a guy gets a key hit with it and ...

If it has the Fed stamp on it, you don't need a ruiling from the Fed as they have already ruled by placing their stamp on it.

FED doesn't stamp bats. FED requires a BESR mark, but the bat can be illegal in other respects.

Once again, I'm with Dash.

I'm a dumb arse, I was thinking like footballs and basketballs. They need Fed stamps...

Dash:

It is obvious that you are not learned in Fluid Mechanics. It really does not have anything to do with wind but with the movement of the bat through the air.

The bat has as given cross-section (for a given cross-section there is a drag coefficient; the larger the cross-section the high the drag coefficient, and the idea is to reduce the drag coeffecient) that creates drag as the bat moves through the air. As the bat moves through the air, the air is separated and flows over the bat as the air gets to the back of the bat it comes together. The faster the bat moves through the air, the greater the chance of turbulence being created behind the bat which causes as differential in air pressure between the front of the bat and the rear of the bat; the air pressure is less in the rear of the bat than in the front of the bat thereby decreasing bat speed through the air.

The idea is to make the flow over the bat as laminar (less turbulent) as possible. By making it possible for air to flow throw the cross-section of the bat decreases the turbulence behind the bat there by increasing bat speed through the air. The greater the velocity of the bat at the moment it contacts the ball the great the momentum of the ball as it leaves the bat (conservation of momentum is one of the factors how far a ball travels).

The mass of the bat is much greater that the mass of the ball and it only takes a small increase in a bat's velocity to greatly effect the amount of momentum transfered from the bat to the ball.

MTD, Sr.


P.S. Thanks to Google I found this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj4SUUn8kVs
The important part is 20 seconds into the video.