I have been reading a lot of posts about the new bats and just want to clear a few things up. We got our bats in a little over a week ago and have been using them every day. We are a Louisville Slugger school, and thats all we use, so I can't speak for other bats, or other bat companies. I only speak about the Louisville Sluggers!
The new bats are NOT that much different than the bats that were used last year. If you square a ball up on the sweet spot, it will go just as far as it would in the past. The difference is that the sweet spot is a little smaller. No more balls jammed off the handle will be leaving the yard this year.
It frustrates me when I hear people say that they're "worse than wood bats". This is just ridiculous...I don't know how else to put it.
Our guys that have always hit homeruns in bp are still hitting homeruns in bp. Guys who never hit for power still aren't hitting for power!
We are lucky enough that we get to test the prototype bats and I will say that the new bats that will be used this season are much better than the prototypes that we tested last year.
The biggest difference is the sound. They definitely do not ping like they used to. It doesn't "sound" like the ball is hit like it used to.
Are the new bats different? Yes. Will it completely revolutionize the game? No. I think the biggest difference will show up at the lower levels of baseball where more players are less likely to consistently hit the ball on the "sweet spot". I'm sure the power numbers will be down some this year, but it isn't impossible to hit a ball out of the yard with the new bats. It just takes bat speed and squaring the ball up!
Just wanted to say again that I don't have any experience with any other bat companies.
These are just the things that I've noticed. I hope some of you find this useful and don't stress out from now until the season starts because you think the bats are going to be "worse than wood."
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