The Uncertain Future Of Composite Metal And Aluminum Baseball Bats
After the California baseball tragedy, the future of metal bats is uncertain. The trampoline effect of the ball coming off the bat makes all pitchers vulnerable to 100 mph line drives. The ability to protect oneself as a pitcher is negligible. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has decided to do something about it. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee's recommendation to remove, at least temporarily, composite bats from NCAA competition.
NOTE: This ban in college baseball has found similar sentiment in some states at the high school level. The California Interscholastic Federation will follow guidelines regulating the safety of metal baseball bats. They will be tested to limit the speed of the batted ball. Tamper proof labels have been proposed that change color if the bat is modified in any way. North Dakota and New York City have banned metal bats. Montana, Pennsylvania, and Illinois have ban legislation that has not passed. Metal bats are still legal from T-ball to High School for the time being. Also, hybrid bats with composite handles and alloy barrels are still legal in College baseball.
The NCAA rules committee proposed the action in 2010. After hearing comments from the membership and manufacturers about their recommendation the committee met again via conference call later in theyear. After considerable discussion, they concluded that composite bats will not be allowed for the foreseeable future.
The committee's main concern about composite bats is that they are susceptible to performance improvement above standards set by the NCAA, either through normal use or alterations to the bats. Committee members are not convinced that simple compliance testing of specific bats will solve what they see to be a significant problem in the sport. The NCAA research panel met with baseball bat manufacturers in Indianapolis to explore whether composite bats could be used within NCAA guidelines and parameters.
During the 2009 Division I Baseball Championship, composite baseball bats were selected for ball exit speed ratio, or BESR, certification tests. Of the 25 bats tested, 20 failed the official BESR test for current NCAA performance levels. All bat designs must pass that test before mass production. The results indicated that the performance of such bats changed with either repeated use or intentional alteration.
The NCAA plans to conduct additional testing that will provide the baseball rules committee another opportunity for review. Additionally, the committee will provide an opportunity for companies to prove that their bats would meet current NCAA standards.
As for the future, the NCAA research panel is recommending that an Accelerated Break-In, or ABI, process be added to the certification process under the new Ball-Bat Coefficient of Restitution, or BBCOR, standard to help address the issue of improved performance with use and further the goal of having all bats used in NCAA play remain under the NCAA limit through the life of the bat.
The BBCOR is a method designed to measure the performance of the bat. The ABI is designed to replicate repeated use or intentional alteration of the bat. This process has been used with some success in the certification process for softball bats.
In 2011 the NCAA will replace its current BESR performance standard with the new standard, BBCOR. The BBCOR standard will require all non-wood bats to perform as close to wood bats as possible. The National HS Federation will adopt this standard as well as the teenage divisions of some Little League programs. This new standard currently applies only to 2 5/8 inch barrel bats. In some Little Leagues 2 ¼ inch barrel bats in 12 and under divisions are permitted. The NCAA would not share its data or testing results on composite bats with any of the 15 or so USA Baseball member organizations like Pony and Babe Ruth. This has prompted independent testing for the Little Leagues.
Manufacturers continue to improve the product, replacing aluminum with alloys that lighten the bat and give it more power. Batters love it, not certain about the pitchers. There seems a need for the NCAA, the state high school sport authorities, and Little League officials to begin working off the same page. This revisionism all began with the disability of a California 16-year old pitcher struck in the head by a batted ball from a metal bat. Let's get together and prevent this from happening again.
Check with your state officials to determine how quickly the BBCOR will replace the BESR in your area. Ty Cobb once said that the baseball bat was a wondrous weapon. He made that comment about wood bats.
What Do You Think Ty Cobb Would Say About The Composite Metal and Aluminum Bats Of Today?
Questions and Answers
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As a kid growing up in Indiana, I always strove to find the perfect fit in bats for me, one that had a sweet spot as big as Indianapolis. I never knew the exact location of that spot other than it was somewhere near the bat barrel's thickness, but I knew it when I hit the pitched ball there. In experiments conducted by Dr. Daniel A. Russell of Kettering University, he examined the sweet spot in terms of two separate criteria: * the location where the measured performance of the bat is maximized,
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