Shaved bats in HS play ??

[sfgiant]

I found one on our own team and kicked the player off the team. Her dad got the bat for her and bragged that he shaved it.

[softballfan33]

LOL!!! 10U and up... try 8U here in Texas. Whole teams have been thrown out of 8U tournaments for using shaved bats. I really don't think you can punish the girls in this group as I guarantee you they were just handed a bat and told to swing hard, but there has to be some way to manage this.

Unfortunately, the posts are correct. It is VERY hard to catch a team or an individual doing this. More obvious in your situation where everyone is using the same bat. It becomes more difficult if they have multiple shaved bats and are switching out. I have watched parents of kids as young as 6 hand their little girl a shaved bat.

There is a guy here locally that shaves bats and has done SETS for teams. Most people who use them are smart enough to have several of them done so that it doesn't look like everyone is using the same bat. You can also look online and find companies that do this for a living. Send your bat in, sign a piece of paper that says you won't use it for anything but home run derbys and a shaved and rolled bat can be yours for $125. Ridiculous. I just hope no one is hurt because of this mess. Balls fly off those bats near 100mph as it is. Do we really need to add another 5+ to that figure.

Anyone have a better idea of how to catch it?

[sfgiant]

I found this posted on UCS and thought it was interesting.

As strange as it sounds this problem was created by ASA and there push to bring down performance of bats when it is clear the softball community did not want this big brother action. The new standards by ASA are not justified or needed. Look at Easton, they made new bats to comply with the ASA standard and lost their shirt. The bats did not sell, in fact last year at the WCWS not one player used the ‘new’ standard bats and even today the new standard is a bust.

[weekend4trvl]

Ummm what's a shaved bat? What does it accomplish and how are people doing it?

They remove the end cap and remove material from the inside of the bat, thinning the walls, and giving more of a trampoline effect leading to higher exit speeds.

I think if a bat is found to be "altered", the team should forfeit and the player banned for a significant amount of time.

The penalty is a 2 year suspension

I think that shaved bats are way more common than anyone wants to admit from 10u all the way up.

In most cases the player doesn't know that Dad had her bat shaved or rolled. If the entire team is using it than it belongs to no one...who do you suspend ?

[fasterpitch92701]

In most cases the player doesn't know that Dad had her bat shaved or rolled. If the entire team is using it than it belongs to no one...who do you suspend ?

The whole team. Adios...

[AlwaysImprove]

Ummm what's a shaved bat? What does it accomplish and how are people doing it?

They remove the end cap and remove material from the inside of the bat, thinning the walls, and giving more of a trampoline effect leading to higher exit speeds.

I think if a bat is found to be "altered", the team should forfeit and the player banned for a significant amount of time.

The penalty is a 2 year suspension

I think that shaved bats are way more common than anyone wants to admit from 10u all the way up.

They are actually scoring the inner wall. Some material will flake off, but not the entire inner wall.

The inner wall on a number of composite bats contains a deadening layer of composite, probably by more resin, or using a specific resin. When this is scored, it looses its ability to deaden the bat.

Few years back, some people beat their bat on a telephone pole until they started hearing shavings rattle inside the bat. Other people bought bat rolling machines. These all accomplished the same thing, causing that inner wall to break down some. These last two techniques are removed from an advantage as ASA is now rolling the bat and then testing to make sure the bat stays within the 98mph standard.

Composite bat manufacturers can put an end to all of this by moving the deadening layer to the middle of their composite stack.

[Sam]

I found this posted on UCS and thought it was interesting.

As strange as it sounds this problem was created by ASA and there push to bring down performance of bats when it is clear the softball community did not want this big brother action. The new standards by ASA are not justified or needed. Look at Easton, they made new bats to comply with the ASA standard and lost their shirt. The bats did not sell, in fact last year at the WCWS not one player used the ‘new’ standard bats and even today the new standard is a bust.

UCS is loaded with idiots. This guy's premise: ASA caused parents of batters to cheat in order to see their DD's hit HR's their DD's couldn't hit with a legal bat. I'm betting Easton didn't lose their shirt....all the bat companies had to meet the same standards.....pretty stupid comment, even for a UCS mensa.

[Tucson]

I agree that most girls don't know if the bat was shaved or rolled, but if everyone is using it, I would have to wonder.

I quit slowpitch, after I suspected the ladies on my team were cheating. They were 65 YO and about 5'4", with 1/2 swings and the ball would hit the wall.

If anyone is ever injured by a line drive, the bat should always be checked.

[Mindmural]

The easiest way to eliminate shaved bats would be to have the league or tournament director supply the bats. But we all know that this will never happen. To many coaches and parents would worry about the "W" . . . . . . . . . just my .02

[Sam]

The easiest way to eliminate shaved bats would be to have the league or tournament director supply the bats. But we all know that this will never happen. To many coaches and parents would worry about the "W" . . . . . . . . . just my .02

You could take care of the problem by mandating wood bats.