News story

ASA says New Bat Standard Corrects Testing Problems

Sept. 1, 2003 – Senior Softball-USA

ASA says its new standard is designed to correct earlier bat-testing flaws.

"The whole test changed," said Kelly McKoewn, ASA director of marketing.

In the old test, the ball was hurled out of a cannon at 60 mph toward a stationery bat. The ball used was 45-47COR and 450-525 Compression.

In the new test, the 44-COR, 375-Compression ball is shot at 110 mph.

"We found last year that the composite bats perform differently at the higher speeds, which is much closer to the normal 85 mph swing speed and 25 mph pitch speed in real life," he said.

ASA is asking manufacturers to begin submitting bats for certification and approval using the new test. The new standard goes into effect Jan. 1, 2004.

"We already know that the Synergy and the Miken II will not pass because the manufacturers have publicly stated they would fail the test," said McKoewn. "But we expect most bats on the market to pass the test. There may be a few that don't pass and there may be none that fail."

The new standard, approved by the American Society of Testing and Materials will be presented at the SGMA equipment meeting in Dallas on October. 2-4.

McKoewn said that ASA would be inviting other national softball organizations to the meeting to see the new test and ask questions from the experts. He said that the High School Federation and NCAA have already adopted the standard.