Many sports around the world today are distinct due to the equipment that player use during gameplay, from American football helmets to tennis racquets to hockey sticks. This certainly includes baseball bats and softball bats, and amateur and professional athletes alike will want the finest bats and catcher’s mitts for a good game. Traditionally, baseball bats are made of ash wood, and that continues today. Other popular brands offer metal baseball bats, and these are less likely to break than wooden ones. These bats will perform fine in a game, but some players also like to use rolled fastpitch softball bats or other rolled bats, not to mention shaved baseball bats or shaved softball bats. Why might a player turn to baseball bat shaving services or bat rolling services nearby? What are the benefits of using rolled fastpitch softball bats? Not every player needs rolled fastpitch softball bats, but there are good reasons to buy or make a rolled bat. The same is true of shaved metal bats.
Rolled Fastpitch Softball Bats
Wooden baseball bats can be rolled to enhance their performance. Being made of wood, baseball bats have natural fibers in them, and as a baseball is used in gameplay, the impact of baseballs will bend and break the bat’s fibers. After enough distress, the bat will be fully broken in, and thus be more flexible. As a result, this bat will send balls flying further, and that is much to be desired. But it takes time to break in a bat, so rolled fastpitch softball bats may be bought, which are modified to perform just like a natural bat. Not only can rolled fastpitch softball bats be purchased, but an interested player can make them.
A customer may bring a wooden baseball bat or softball bat to a rolling and shaving service, and the workers there will pass the wooden bat through a series of rollers that will pressurize the bat. Care should be taken so that the bat is not distressed too much and end up breaking instead. When the process is done correctly, the bat’s fibers are bent and broken to resemble those of a fully broken-in bat, and thus perform like one, too.
Why find or make rolled fastpitch softball bats? For one thing, a casual player may simply like the enhanced performance, and use it during non sanctioned games to strike the ball further. Meanwhile, a more serious player might use these rolled bats as stand-ins for their real, broken-in bats during practice. This way, the player avoids risking damage to their game-worthy bats during practice, and they use a bat with the same performance profile. It may be noted that rolled bats are not allowed for use in sanctioned games, and an expert on the field might spot a rolled bat. But these rolled fastpitch softball bats are a fine idea for casual games and practice sessions.
Shaved Bats
Meanwhile, metal baseball bats have a hollow metal body with padding on the inside. They do not have wooden fibers, so they will not be rolled. But they can still be modified, by shaving the interior padding. As with rolled bats, shaved bats are not allowed at sanctioned games, but they are a fine choice for casual games. Such shaved bats can be bought online, or a player may buy a regular metal bat and take it to a shaving service for work.
The metal bat’s end cap is removed to expose the hollow interior, and the bat is placed on a lathe table and fed to a rotating grinder. This grinder will scrape away a few ounces of padding inside the bat, and then the bat is removed and its cap is put back. Shaving services will be careful to not shave away too much material, or the bat becomes fragile and may shatter during use. No material should be shaved from the handle, either. A shaved bat is very flexible and will strike baseballs further than non-doctored bats, and that is the appeal. Take note that shaved bats should not be used in temperatures below 65 degrees Fahrenheit, however.
