If I hear one more person talk about how new bat technology has made the game unsafe I am going to lose my mind!
Please remember, I have been around this game for a very long time. I have had the opportunity to talk with people at several different bat companies that are on the cutting edge of the bat business.
Composite bats are different than the old aluminum bats or even the first go-round of composite materials. Are they hot, of course they are hot. No one goes on line or to the sporting goods store and asks for the safest bat they have! Everyone asks for the hottest bat, always.
But the idea that the game is now more unsafe or that hitters are less capable because of the new bat technology, that they were 10 or 15 years ago, is crazy.
Why do you think they started testing bats?
Simple, during the Wild Wild West days the bats were way hotter than they are today. Anyone remember RocketTech or the Worth Quad or the Easton Synergy or the Schutt Lisa Fernandez models? There was even a short flirtation with titanium bats that were real rocket launchers!
These bats were way hotter than anything our modern players are swinging. So, please stop talking about how bat technology is ruining the game or making it unsafe or allowing average hitters to excel.
Hitters are better! Hitters are stronger! Hitters are working harder!
Don’t tell a great carpenter that he is only good at his job because his hammer technology is better!!
About the Author: Tory Acheson brings a wealth of knowledge to the Fastpitch Prep staff. He has coached at all levels of the game, including the last 25 years at the college level at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside, Tennessee Tech and Kennesaw State. He began his coaching career at the high school level spending 9 years Whitnall High School in Greenfield, Wis. and is now working as a professional softball instructor.
