everyone is doing it
Have you ever been to a tournament and been beaten by a team you shouldn’t? Well this is the norm these days. Almost all competitive road teams use a rolled or shaved bat. Since shortly after the release of the composite bats, it has been determined that they improve and perform at a higher level as they get used. A typical bat requires 300 to 500 hits to start to loosen up and perform at its highest level. Once this was determined, some people started using vises to break the bat faster. This was a bad way to compress a bat and people found themselves breaking bats by compressing them too much. That’s when the bat roller was designed. It’s a much better way to compress your bat and break it faster. After a typical throw, you’ll be hitting like someone who has 300-500 hits and you don’t have to spend hours of batting practice.
Perform magnifications are amazing
Typical performance increases range from 20 to 40 feet of additional distance after the bat has been reeled or shaved. Bat speed will increase to over 110 mph vs. the designed performance level of 98 mph or 100 mph (depending on bat type). If you’ve ever seen a 5’6″ guy hit 350-foot bombs, you know how squeezing your bat can help you.
Benefits and disadvantages of bat juices
When you roll your bat or juice it, you’ll find performance increases immediately after the job is done. The increases are 10-15% better performance. The one thing you can’t immediately see is how this process can affect the durability of your bat. When you roll your bat, you won’t have a problem with durability decreasing. This is why batting is the preferred method of juicing. Shaving is another process that can be done to your bat to improve performance. A small amount of inner wall material is removed and this allows the barrel to flex more. You will get slightly better performance vs. get it rolling, but when you have the bat shaved down, you will drastically shorten the life of the bat. A typical bat can last 2-3 years before breaking, but if you shave it down it will only last about 1 season if you’re lucky. Another problem with the shave is that you won’t be able to return the bat for warranty replacement once it breaks. All manufacturers check bats when they are returned to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. It is very easy to identify a shaved bat but there is no way to identify a coiled bat.
Bat Rolling Companies
There are several lamination companies out there and it is recommended that you look for a company that only offers the lamination process. They most likely have an established reputation and the experience you need to do your job properly. Ask them questions about their process and make sure they are using the perpendicular roll process. That is currently the best lamination process.