Softball’s Dirty Little…Not So Secret

I don’t know exactly when it happened or if it always has been and I just didn’t know it. Did someone just have an epiphany? Was there research involved, or did someone stumble onto it like the legend of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup?  When did sportsmanship and fair play disappear only to be replaced by a mutual understanding that both parties will cheat?

I’m always for finding a competitive edge in the games that we play. On some levels this is the very existence of sports, to find something in your opponent to exploit as a weakness. Unfortunately, over the years this has been pushed farther and farther until, in many sports, the very nature of the game itself has been altered.

This is exactly what is taking place in Slow Pitch Softball. Those who seek to find the competitive edge have turned a sport into a black market. With the age of composite softball bats, balls are coming off the bat at much higher rate of speed than compared to their metal forefathers.

Since a composite bat breaks in over the course of its life, it could take several years of hitting for that bat to reach its full potential. There are some options for breaking in a bat that aren’t exactly what the manufactures or the sanctioning bodies had in mind, but this is where the line gets fuzzy.  Rolled bats break in more quickly and evenly providing the hitter with a “woke up” bat right out of the wrapper, and although these methods are technically not allowed, there are a large number of softballers who would see nothing wrong with these methods saying, “You aren’t altering the bats make up. You are just reaching the bats peak performance.”  I have an opinion on this, but that can wait for another article.

Then there is an intentional altering of the bats make up.  Shaving is a good example of this. There isn’t much argument among softball players that this is out right cheating and is wrong. That, of course, doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem.

With an abundance of local and national web based bat doctors, anyone can get their bats altered and back into their batbags within a week. In fact, there are a great number of bats in our local leagues that are shaved and rolled, and this has lead to a greater problem.

As manufactures create an arms race of sorts to create the best bats, and players alter those bats beyond what the manufacturers intended, the softball sanctioning bodies feel they need to do something to increase safety. There are two common approaches to this. 1. Lower the MPH that the ball can come of the bat at, basically deadening the bat more. 2. Alter the balls Cor. and Compression so that the ball doesn’t rebound or fly as well. This is where the honest softball player suffers.

The altering of bats and the everyone-can-hit-a-homerun play has become increasingly apparent over the years. This has caused a reaction, and possibly and overreaction from the leagues. In the past couple of years there have been several rule changes to make the game safer.  Whether it’s a ball change from USSSA or a bat change from ASA, there have been and will be more changes to try and cope not only with the new technology of the bats, but also the alterations of that technology.

With bats and balls both getting dampened more and more each year, it is making it difficult for an honest softball player to compete at a high level. The ball/bat combination that some leagues have instilled makes it nearly impossible for a hitter to hit a homerun. Yes, some of the most powerful hitters can still put a ball out of the yard, but long gone is the “I just got a hold of it” homerun.

So I ask you this:

What should the sanctioning bodies do to prevent alterations to equipment and the game?

Are altered bats a problem in your area?

Have the associations gone too far in restricting the balls and bats?