Tape definitely helps protect ASH bats from splintering away. The reason it helps is because it holds the grains together. When you hit with an ash bat, the grains begin to seperate because of the intense impact and vibrations that are caused by a ball hitting the bat. That is why ash bats get weaker the more you hit with them. A Maple bat, on the other hand, gets stronger the more it is hit. Taping a maple bat will help keep the paint on, but really doesn't have any other positive effects to the bat. If anything, it can make the bat weaker by slowing down the natural strengthening of the wood. If you look at a maple bat that you have been hitting with for a while, and see an indention of the balls laces in it... that means it's a good piece of wood, and that the bat is getting stronger b/c the wood becomes even more dense than it was when the bat was purchased. So, my suggestion is to wrap an ash bat w/ tape, but not maple. I really suggest to switch to maple all together. They are usually more expensive than ash bats, but will last longer, and hit harder.
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