Bat Rolling

[BretMan]

Originally Posted by MNBlue

I realize that the bat standards for baseball and softball are not the same, but here is the new terminology for the bat rule in softball:

That's actually old terminology that's been in rule book awhile. The "editorial change" is that it was moved from one section of the rule book to another.

Kyle, where are you getting your info on ABI? As I understand the ABI process, it involves rolling a bat only to a degree that simulates the stress that a bat typically sees with normal use. What is being measured is how "hot" a bat might get under normal circumstances, not how much stress it takes to make the bat fail. The intent is to determine if a bat's performance will exceed the BBCOR standard after a given period of normal game usage.

This is to prevent manufacturers from producing bats that perform at the cusp of the standard right out of the wrapper, with the knowledge that minimal use will make the bat hot enough to exceed the standard. To get BBCOR certification, the bat must perform below the standard after any break-in period.

All the ABI testing does is allow the broken-in bats to be tested after a few passes through the roller, as opposed to having to perform hundreds of bat/ball impacts to get to the same point.