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Online now: 1 member: AJC; 60 anonymousDiscussion: Hot Bats and Hrs
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| April 20, 2015 garyheifner 649 posts | Hot Bats and Hrs Guys have posted for years about the soaring Hrs hit at will anytime a batter wants one. When you post about the excessive Hrs caused by hot bats please indicate your age group and classification just for clarification. In my last two years at the 65 AAA level and now in my 2nd year at the 70 AAA level, plus a number of games against major teams, no team has ever used all their alloted # of Hrs. This covers about 15 tournaments in various associations per year. I can hit maybe one Hr, in batting pratice, with a grooved flat pitches and wind blowing out at about 30 MPH. In games, the pitchers try not to groove the ball. It is a different animal thus very few Hrs. I have seen over the years, less and less batters buying into the Hr every swing myth as they are tired of hitting 280' fly outs. Playing all over the USA, I am seeing an endless number of absolutely terrific singles hitters who are almost sutomatic. I really enjoy the flurry of new hot bats that hit the market each year. After the initial buying freenzy, at each passing tournament more and more of those new ones disappear and the Ultras start showing up again in great #s. Yes, all composites will break. I just developed a crack in my 29 black ultra. Very disappointing-only got 4-1/2 years out of it. Will now wrap it in duct tape and use it for batting practicing until it goes. My new one has 20 hits on it and will go in the bag for games only. I get a kick out of guys who complain about a bat breaking and then admitt they use it in games, batting practice, rain, cold etc. I find it amuzing when someone will complain about having to buy two bats in a season and yet not blink when spending $100 or more at a dinner or bar, or paying several hundred for one round of golf or go to Vegas for the Masters and drop a thousand or two at the gambling tables. The above was long, but I am retired and have time on my hands. Staff, my complete hate for the 0-0 count will never end. However, the rest of the game you guys have put together is awesome. Keep it going. |
| April 21, 2015 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | I agree 100% with Gary's analysis. I've been playing 65 Major Plus the last 4 years and I cannot recall one time that we have hit our allotted home runs in a game. More accurately, we often don't hit that number for the entire tournament. Even when I played in the 50s and 55s, we did not hit home runs "at will" but we did hit quite a few back then! Of course, when I started Senior ball the Demarini was all the rage! |
| April 21, 2015 17Black Men's 60 414 posts | Good Points Gary: I will say that in 50 Major/Major Plus, more often than not, a lot of home runs are hit, maybe not the limit every game, but often. Certainly playing on 4/5 field complexes, some games the wind is blowing out and the others its blowing in, so that is a factor. I cannot speak for every division/age group or other parts of the country. But one thing that does come into play with the hot bats and balls is size of the fields. My team for example, on 300 foot fences will likely push the home run limit most games, unless a strong wind is blowing in. However, most (not all) tournaments we seem to get entered in have fences ranging from 310/330 with around 318/325 being pretty normal. The longer fences definitely cause fewer home runs. What longer fences also causes ---- balls hit in the gaps wear out our outfielders running to chase them-----------a lot of miles on older legs on big fields in all divisions. |
| April 21, 2015 17Black Men's 60 414 posts | Adding to what I just stated above, I also sponsor a 60 AA team, with some really good hitters, but nobody on that team is going to hit home runs on 325 fences, unless they are allowed to play with golf balls or "wham-o's: LOL Those guys, are a beat up bunch on weekends, especially the outfielders chasing balls in the gaps to the fences. Gary above got 4 1/2 years out of a U-II which is incredible!!!! Bat speed comes into play though too-------------the guys on my 50's team, go through bats fast!!! The guys on the 60AA team I sponsor have been using the same bats for years, and won't break them unless they use them when its cold out. |
| April 21, 2015 ju25 Men's 60 235 posts | Good post Gary, IMO, guys between 50-60 that play in the upper levels can still put them out at will, but at 60 and above it starts to drop off. We have a 65+ league that plays before us and uses ASA bats and I doubt they could hit any out if the fence was 250'. We use a Dudley Thunder SY Classic M(40/325) in our 55+ Can-Am league which is loaded with hall of fame players and our HR's our down. Mishits are now staying in tha park . When you go to Vegas for worlds, with the thin air and the Rock ball almost anybody can go yard. I still have my Original Combat DaBomb purchased in 2005, but I only use it in tournament play. Can't understand why guys use their good bat for bp and in crappy weather conditions and complain when it breaks. |
| April 21, 2015 bogie Men's 65 448 posts | Gary, Great points and as far as taking bp with senior bats, I can't agree more. Why not get an ASA or Utrip for bp with a return, or buy last years model cheap on ebay and use it for bp? It is addicting and perhaps good for the confidence to use the gamer in bp or pregame, but once the bats get hot, the swings seem limited. I think there are some premiem performance senior bats that do not have the longevity of other models..and to use the short breakin on these and then keep as gamers is a good strategy. Those who feel that can't resist do have some alternatives in the longer lasting Dudleys and Nightmares, which is nice, but ultimately once a bat gets red hot, it seems like they all have limited swings left. Do you think the homerun rules have more seniors swinging more for basehits first, and then the long power is harder to turn on.... or do you think the ball/bat combo outside of vegas and old age just shuts down the 60s power? |
| April 21, 2015 Foothills Men's 55 95 posts | I have found , that during my senior ball playing time , it is usually the guys , that cannot hit a home run even with a senior bat , that complain about hot bats making it to easy to hit home runs . Also , I agree , that the younger the bracket and the higher the level , there are more home runs . That is obvious . But I disagree , that they hit them at will . The pitching at that level somewhat compensates for the higher hitting ability . Most pitchers also realize , that a lot of guys will swing at a marginal pitch before walking . Which, also somewhat holds this down . Also , the drop off after 60 is just common sense . It happens gradually . So it goes somewhat unnoticed by the player . Swing speed , overall strength and stamina all tend to lower the power numbers . A good player will still have his moments . But he will have trouble doing it on a consistent basis on the second and third days of a tournament . IMHO |
| April 21, 2015 donbatman Men's 80 12 posts | some teams over have a couple guy who can go yrd, but for the most part most players 65 70 at any level have fence power which lead to doubles and triples. the team that can run and field the best is usually in every game. The five run rule really does level the playing field. once the hrs are gone can the team hit and field that is the bottom line. |
| April 21, 2015 Mario Men's 50 451 posts | Our 50 Major plus team the last 4 years almost always hit our limit in games. I can remember only a handfull of times we did not hit our limit. But I will say that is the way our team was built. We had a 61 yr old who hit his share when needed. As far as the bats in BP, up until this year I always used a USSSA bat in BP. Now with the Dudley Lighting I swing it in BP as well as games because of its superior durability. |
| April 21, 2015 Reggie44 Men's 50 43 posts | Mario do you swing the 13 inch Barrell or the 12 inch? |
| April 21, 2015 DCPete 409 posts | The sub-par Trump Stote ball SSUSA now uses has drastically reduced HRs. (which explains why SSUSA had to put in a new penalty for teams throwing in non-Stote balls) In Ft. Myers last November our 60 AAA team hit "0" HRS, all of the teams we played hit "0" HRs & our buddies playing 55 Major hit "0" HRs. The concern over the bat/ball combo being too hot has been out of line for the last couple years. |
| April 21, 2015 Mario Men's 50 451 posts | Reggie44 I swing the 12". I had a 13 in and traded a guy who like the 13 in better than the 12 so i now have 2 12 in. I have over 6 hundred swings on both of them, one I have about 800 swings and man is it Hot!! I love being able to swing them in batting practice. |
| April 22, 2015 Reggie44 Men's 50 43 posts | Thanks Mario. I have a brand new 13" but I was wondering if I should have bought the 12". I'm thinking I will sell it and get the 12" |
| April 24, 2015 Gary33 149 posts | The Dudley Lightnings are durable and get really hot and if Mario recommends them you know they're good. For more information contact me at zeppelin33@sbcglobal.net. |
| April 24, 2015 stick8 1991 posts | As a teammate of Marios for the last four years I can say that if he points out his Dudley bats have hundreds of swings on them and have not cracked then they have to be amongst the most durable bats out there. He hits the ball about as hard as any senior player out there. |
| April 26, 2015 DieselDan Men's 75 600 posts | Wish I had Mario's luck. My 27oz 12"EL (first 27 & EL ever) has the good old lightning bolt with <400 contact swings and I'm not a HR guy. If I can't buy a durable/flexible adhesive, JB Weld will have to do. Should be a good BP bat. |
| April 27, 2015 DieselDan Men's 75 600 posts | Forgot to mention above that with my Dudley cracking, I envy the players who had their DL replaced for an end cap failure, but a bat that cracked way too early cannot. |
| April 27, 2015 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | Dan, you should have mail. |
| April 27, 2015 Webbie25 Men's 70 2413 posts | I have always felt the term 'Hit a bomb AT WILL' is extremely flippant and, for the most part, not true. My goodness-every player out there is human. Every player has his good days and bad days-good games and bad games. If you could really hit it out at will, every home run would be at least a 3 run job, unless you are selfish enough to try for it every time no matter what the situation.If you really look at the HR output-it does go down a lot after 60. That's just a fact of life-no matter what we do Mother Nature is going to win. If you look at it another way, the percentage of guys that do hit near one a game in ALL of senior ball is very small. 7 runs an inning and you are done. 9 home runs a game and you are done. How much more do you want to limit it? Mark Weber 60 M+ |
