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Online now: 0 members ; 8 anonymousDiscussion: Composite Bats
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| Aug. 3 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | Composite Bats We're all playing senior softball & composite bats have taken over. When did most of you start playing with composite bats? How many have taken up softball after more than 5, 10, 15 or more years off? How many went from wood to composite after years of not playing? What is it about that bats that make them so addicting or what is so wrong with the bats that the majority of the players used during the softball hey days? |
| Aug. 3 crusher Men's 75 524 posts | r Actually the bats of today ,2011, are not as hot as the bats of yesteryear, as in the TITANIUM BAT. Now there was a bat, it cost $400. If you could hit a ball out with the other bats you could hit a ball with this bat 450 feet without trying. The bats lasted to mid-summer befor they were banned all across the nation. |
| Aug. 3 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | r Crusher, no doubt that was one bat that should have never been played with. But it had a life time warranty that came with it. If I remember correctly, if a dozen or were used in the metro detroit area, I'd be suprised. I think everyone knew it wouldn't be long before they were banned. |
| Aug. 3 frampton Men's 55 55 posts | r I only took a few years off before I started playing as a senior at 50, so wood bats were a distant memory. Probably hadn't used a wood bat since about 1976. We always used the best bats we could find, magnesium, aluminum, whatever. I used an Ultra II when I started playing senior ball. I'd be lying if I said I don't prefer the composite bats, but even with the composite bat I'm a line-drive hitter, have maybe six or seven home runs in as many years. (Maybe I'm getting better, four of those were in the last two years.) I always wonder on this board why my experience seems so different from what others post. In NCSSA tournaments (I play 55-AAA), more than half of our innings are less than five runs, we rarely hit more than three or four homers a game (and often one or none), and defense is a big factor in most of our games (wins and losses). The games are competitive and fun, more so (to me) than when we use lesser balls. (Side note, I just had my shoulder replaced, so I'm just hoping I'll be able to play at all once my rehab is over.) I don't use persimmon-wood drivers when I golf, either. |
| Aug. 3 thebull Men's 50 59 posts | r A few years ago I found one of the Original Worth Titanium Bats they only made a few thousand of before it was banned, new and still in the plastic wrapper. Everyone who sees it begs me to break it out for some BP. I’ve been tempted and would love to try it but have resisted. I wonder if the warranty is still good. I never played with wood, started with a 38 oz. Howard, went to a 32 oz. TPS when the alloys came out, quit softball and returned to Softball as a Senior with the Composites. I wouldn’t want to go back to Aluminum unless they have developed a better alloy that lasted longer, the old CU31 and 405s only lasted a few weeks before dinting into a triangle. Only go through about 4 USSSA bats a year, the Ultra ll is a different story and gets expensive. theBull |
| Aug. 3 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | r I am looking at the Anderson Nanotek aluminum as we speak. I beleive I'll buy one before the Worlds. |
| Aug. 3 surf88 Men's 65 1000 posts | r I am still totally impressed with the Reebok Melee senior bats. I Used all the aluminum bats in the 80's/90's, went to Mikens in mid 90's. Nothing compares to the Melee so far, in my opinion. I have 26-29's, same day shipping. (970) 729-3144/729-3145. Ed |
| Aug. 3 Tim Millette 615 posts | r The titaniums were not better then the senior bats or shaved kids composites of today. Norcal had a homerun contest two years ago, I brought out my TPS titanium and let the youngsters use it in bp before the contest. NOT ONE OF THEM WANTED TO USE THE TITANIUM DURING THE CONTEST BECAUSE THEY SAID IT HAD A LOUSY-SMALL SWEET SPOT AND VERY LITTLE, IF ANY, MORE DISTANCE THEN THEIR KIDS (probably altered) BATS. |
| Aug. 3 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | r About 10 years ago guys from the Mohr board would meet several times a year for bp or GT's (get togethers). That year we met at Maryville, Tn during the Smokey Mtn Classic. Someone brought a ti bat, I'm thinking it was an Easton. The balls may have been 44cor, I'm not sure. Anyway, just as Tim said, very, very small sweet spot. Even when hit on the ss the distance still wasn't there. If Pops44 reads this he might be able to expound on this. As for when I began to swing composits, I went from a Demarini DDW to a Miken Velocite Maxload. It was a great bat when hitting 47cor balls! |
| Aug. 3 Mario Men's 50 451 posts | r I quit playing in 1991. I started again in 2010. I played during that time but just enough to say that I still played. I can remember the first composite I swung. It was the first Miken....wow what a bat. The first time I swung it I hit one over the trees in left center field and it landed in the darkness. I told everybody there that that bat would not be around long. And it wasn't. |
| Aug. 3 crusher Men's 75 524 posts | r Wish I could remember the year when the TI was out, just know home runs were easy and automatic. Maybe these guys were good at batting compared to others as they hit the sweet spot all the time. Wish they knew the sweet spot was small. Surf88, I have compared the reebok to the Miken several times, and so far the Miken is a 20%+ better bat. You must make a very good profit to hit it and sell it.? If it was the bottom of the 7th with a runner on 1st or 2nd and 2 outs, if I really wanted to win the game a Miken would be the bat of choice. Hey, yes this is just my analysis, however it works for me. |
| Aug. 3 Mario Men's 50 451 posts | r Me personally, I can hit the ball farther with the Melee. Plus it holds up better for me. I couldn't get the Mikens to go more than about 50-60-swings. I've got over 200 on my second Melee. I got 410 on my first one. |
| Aug. 3 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | r Crusher, I believe the reason for the superior performance of the Ti's was that the balls at that time were 50 or 52cor. They just don't hit the 44's as well. As for the Reebok Legends, I've changed from a 28el to a 29el and am happy with results. |
| Aug. 3 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r Ti came out in 92-93 time frame.i watch herb's dynasty destroy a field of super major teams(steeles,pacific blue ,labtech and others) in Kent, Washington in 93.they had the easton version(red in color) of the TI,no one else had anything close to it.they had won A or AA the year before and had to play some major tourney's. |
| Aug. 4 thebull Men's 50 59 posts | r Back in about 1990 I was about 2 weeks from a Regional Tournament and dented my blue Aluminum TPS badly enough so I couldn’t use. I looked everywhere for a new one and found nothing, no internet back then. I knew the Head of Louisville Aluminum Division so I called him and asked for help. He told me that they were completely out of the Blue TPS 32oz, but he would send me a very special TPS 32 oz. (Identical looking to what I was using) that was made only for the Major Level Team that TPS Sponsored. He told me that it would hit like no Bat I had ever swung and he was right. With a Blue Dot Ball it was easy to shots over 400’ with some mosh farther, can’t imagine what a Big Hitter could have done with it. Needless to say it didn’t last very long, especially when everyone wanted to use it. I had always suspected the big Teams like Steele had different equipment but didn’t realize how hot it was. Hot Bats have been around for a long time, just not available to the Public. theBull |
| Aug. 4 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r bull yes the major players were always able to get bats that were hotter than the general public could get,diff endloads also.to me that is a form of cheating if the general public weren't allow to get those bats also. |
| Aug. 4 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | r We were in the top 3 ranked teams in the country for a couple years in our division. We were sponsored by one of the bat companies and when we stepped up and played in a major or AA tourney and played against one of the other temas using the same bat, big difference. We got the stock for sale to everybody bat. They got the new & improved only for us bats. |
| Aug. 4 stick8 1992 posts | r I remember when the Mizuno Techfire bats came out and a friend of mine talked me into helping promote them on a part time basis. For every 15 bats I sold I got one for free. They were pretty decent bats but didn't last real long. I met a guy at the major world series that year named Billy Messina. Pretty strong player who was swinging Mizunos at the time. I asked him what he thought of the bats and how they can be improved. He gave me pretty positive feedback but then went on to say he was going to play with Dan Smith the next year who's a Worth team and had no use for his Mizuno bats. I talked him into giving me one. When I used it I couldn't believe how the ball jumped off of it. It was as hot or hotter than any senior bat. Definitely a special made bat for him. |
| Aug. 4 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r i like the the rage and fury of that line stick. |
| Aug. 4 stick8 1992 posts | r I believe the Fury was the red one which was the one Messina gave me. The Crush wasn't bad either. The problem with those bats was after they broke in they didn't last but a mere few swings. When someone like me dents bats you know they aren't built for durability!! lol |
| Aug. 4 Steinbrenner Men's 60 75 posts | r Tim is so right. A few years back, we hit batting practice in Fairfield, I brought 2 Easton Tiphoon, 28 & 30oz, to compare to the Ultra II, Miken Freak, Worth Wicked & a Worth PST. All of the bats out performed the Easton Titanium. But, we were hitting 44/375 balls. When the Titanium bats first came out, we were hitting Red Dots. At the time, the Titanium bat & Red Dots were King. I have never hit the ball further than I did with that combination. Not even with the Original Gray Miken Ultra. |
| Aug. 4 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r yeah the fury was the red one.mine when it broke in was ridicules.even tho people thought it to be a composite,it really was an aluminum bat(called banzai al).that outside plastic cover was paper thin.the rage was composite and had a al shell inside of it,to me that was the most durable of the 4 techfires. |
| Aug. 4 stick8 1992 posts | r Yes, it was banzai aluminum, whatever that is. I believe your right about the durability of the Rage. I still have an Envy somewhere in my house. When that bat was introduced and came out it was supposed to be the bat to end all bats. Bigger sweet spot, longer durability, balls will go further--etc etc. It was total garbage, at least for me. |
| Aug. 4 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r the envy was garbage,it also wasn't that durable.my fury broke during a tee session after approx 750 swings,i miss that bat.my rage prolly is still going,i traded it away a few years back.i could live with going back to them for use. |
| Aug. 4 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | r A teammate bought a titanium back in the early 90s and we thought he was an idiot to spend that much money. Problem was, he was such a lousy hitter that it didn't do much for him. And he was ticked when it was banned before he had it a year. I hit my first composite in 2003. I had heard of the Miken, but it was pretty expensive compared to the single walls and double walls I was using. But before anyone I knew bought one, it was banned and the Ultra II was introduced. I remember my first swing. I was playing in a familiar park with short dimensions. I had played in that park off and on for 50 years. In all those leagues and games and tournaments I had never reached the fence on the fly. An add-on teammate showed up with his Ultra II, right out of the wrapper. He was very generous with sharing it. We could tell from the way he was hitting that it was getting more distance, so about half of us tried it. It felt nice and balanced, the way I like bats, was lighter by 2 ounces than what I was swinging, had a thin handle (which I didn't like as well), and swung like a lightning bolt! On my first swing in the fourth inning, the ball sailed out and bounced off the fence! I ordered my own Miken U2 the next day. |
| Aug. 8 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | r I have a friend of my son's who gave me a bat that that he bought brand new about a year ago. He indicates it is a stock bat and has never left his bat bag. It has failed bat testing the last 3 times it has been tested. I hit this bat during BP and it just stupid hot. I will not use it myself in tourneys but it won't keep me from making a buck. It is on the approved list for senior ball. Can it be used in SSUSA & other senior tourneys? |
| Aug. 8 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r pricer what bat is it.....some of those usssa bats can get past the limit in a hurry.maybe we should be testing at senior tourneys for past the limit bats...mmmmmmm....... |
| Aug. 9 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | r I remember when I first tried the original Ultra II-theBull-do you remember Mitch from the Rockets? He handed me his one night at sportsplex #1 with the wind blowing in from right field about 20 mph. I promptly hit one to dead center across the parking lot and into Louisiana St.-about 420 feet. I just stopped and stared in amazement. Of course I bought one immediately. But I knew right then why small guys (Bull, you remember Mark Baca and Scott Fuqua)-base hitters- that I knew that had never hit one out were hitting them over the lights. It was kind of reminiscent of when I first hit the T4000, TN-POLY, and Hot Dots of the 80's. "WOW, What the heck is this?" |
| Aug. 9 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | r webbie the first time i swung an ultra,it was to the 2,never had the pleasure of swinging the first one(july 02).i didn't like the feel of it at first.come phx that year(oct) at the worlds,i hit some balls i couldn't believe.hit one that short hopped the RCF,yes the RCF,and hit him in his knee and bounced/rolled all the way over to dead center.i couldn't believe how fast balls were coming off it,and like you said,as soon as i got back from the tourney i bought one. |
| March 11 bkb555 301 posts | r I used a tri-shell connexion (that I still have) and the age of recertification nightmare started......after sending in my 26 oz. Tri-Conn bat and getting it back at almost 31 ounces, i was Livid...easton at the time had a chat board that I rode for about 3 weeks solid complaining about $300 bats that were ruined because of all these "hot" bats and now I have a log...well, after about the 3rd week of ripping easton, one of the VP's who I won't mention sent me an email and told me to contact him...he told me if I stopped all the chatting, he would send me this new easton Synergy composite bat...I said, "yeah, ok"...not knowing what I possessed, I went out and started hitting major bombs.....otherwise called a 1st batch Synergy, it was the hit of the team.....until next season when it got banned...Easton was nice enough to replace it with Syn 2 which couldn't hold a candle to the 1st batch but THAT is where softball is today....I never owned an Ultra because to me, it was just plain ridiculous...Bruce in GA, YES!!!! I hit with POP44 in Tampa in the early 2000's with Hacker52 and a few of the Boys on the thursday AM hit club...Pops (dave) is a great man....still have the shirts he gave me from the 4-5 years they made for their hitting club...NoW I am a senior player (1st year) so I get to play with all these hot bats again...woohooo, i think...I can still run, so maybe that will be my saving grace...grew up on MOHR board and we were so FAR ahead of the times in softball equipment, we were just ahead of our time...met lots of great people on that board |
| March 11 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | r ED(surf88)-I am still slightly confused by my performance with the Melee-I use it when cold or wet to save my U2. Three weeks ago in BP I was hitting balls a long way with it and Steve Imlay looked at me and said 'You don't like that bat.....why???' I do know I am still swinging the same one I bought last year, and it must have 600 cuts on it. Maybe I just need to play a fun tournament and play the whole thing using it. The swing is a tad bit different for me than the U2.It feels like it lags in some situations. Problem is I don't need to be experimenting right now with GSF. I still will never forget when one of my teammates put an original single wall Ultimate Weapon Demarini CU31 in my hands and I hit some of the longest shots I had hit since the 'hot ball era'. That bat would have plenty of pop for our game now. Bull, I did hit with a titanium once on a baseball field and it sure did fly, but I think the U2 is hotter, and with the larger sweet spot, better. |
| March 11 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | r BKB555, thanks for bringing back the memories about Pops44, Jimmyjam, and the Mohr Board. Btw, I'll be seeing a couple from the Mohr Board next weekend, Rams and Brad50. |
| March 12 surf88 Men's 65 1000 posts | r Mark (web): I think you are swinging the balanced, is that right? Here's a thought. When I switched over to Melee, I started with the balanced. There was a different feel to the swing between the U-II and the Melee balanced bat. My friend Mike Massong pointed it out to me. At the end of the first season, I switched to the end load and went up one ounce. For me, that was the formula that worked. I realize it is different for everyone but you may consider exploring this option. As many of us know, your strong enough to put it out with a toothpick. LOL Surf |
| March 13 neck10 714 posts | r the titanium bats wont hit these balls I still have one & it isnt any good with these balls!!!!!!!!! |
| March 15 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | r ED-cmon, there are legitimately strong hitters out there. I just try to work hard to make an appearance. But I am a bit mystified by the Melee. It must be me, and that is rare that I would react that way. I think Mike Adair has a yellow melee-might try that this weekend. He is a man, though, and swings a 30. I swing a weenie 29. But I never have found an endloaded I liked. By the way-anyone who has not dealt with Ed-he is a straight shooter. But beware, he does build you up!!! lol |
| March 18 curty Men's 60 187 posts | r hey, I had the opportunity to play against the " undefeated Steele's "team around 1990 or so and those guys were all huge, in shape, porfessional players and they could have hit'em out with a broomstick!! Just sayin' |
| March 18 batter4u Men's 65 82 posts | r I got my frist grey ultra about a week before Reno in, I think 02. I hit off a tee with it and was surprised at how it hit. The first time to bat at the tourney, everyone on the team was kidding me about my new bat, then the first time up, I hit one halfway up the cliff to the parking lot and then everyone wanted to use it. I heard that Mike Kelly of Kelly sports had brough 100 new mikens to the tourney and that they were gone the first day,,,, my team helped as they bought 10 of them |
| March 24 surf88 Men's 65 1000 posts | r Webbie: Thanks for the kind words. I switched from the U-II two years ago to the Melee. The swing at first, was a different feel with the balanced model. I knew if I stuck with it, I could get through the adjustment. For me, I felt like the Reebok swing felt lighter than the Miken. I tried an end load and went up 1 ounce. This was the factor that smoothed out my swing. All my Mikens rest against the wall now. They are great bats but can't compare to my Melee's, in my opinion. I have a bat for you Webbie. Ed 970-729-3145 ed@ewandrews.com |
