Doctored bats offer a quicker and more satisfying way to improve your softball skills.
Achieving that perfect swing can be frustrating, especially for beginners. While some have the propensity to train for long hours without losing motivation, others require a little push. When you practice with doctored bats, you get that push and ride the momentum to improve your play.
The anatomy of making your swing perfect includes:
- Hitting opposed to your firm front side
- Keeping your eye on the ball
- Maintaining your head position in the middle of your feet
- Keeping the top arm bent
With a doctored bat, you get to focus on developing your form while the rolled bat takes care of the power of your swing.
Before we get into the actual advantages, itand#39;s essential to understand what a doctored bat is.
What is Doctored Bats?
While new wooden or alloy softball bats are usually ready to use immediately, composite ones need to be broken-in first.
When you break in a new composite bat, you achieve two things:
- It makes the bat reactive when hitting the ball, resulting in farther hits
- It prevents dead spots from developing
However, it usually takes about 500 hits for a composite bat to achieve better performance. The tedious way of breaking in a bat is where bat rolling got its inspiration.
Doctored bats, also known as shaved or rolled bats, have thinned-out inner walls with the end cap removed. Bat shaving is the process of creating doctored bats. Instead of hitting the ball 500 times before experiencing a better bat performance, bat shaving does it all for you.
A rolled bat produces a trampoline-like effect, shooting the ball farther with less effort.
Thereand#39;s a limitation with using doctored bats, though. You can only use it in temperatures higher than 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything lower will negatively affect its performance, and thus, your training.
A doctored bat is not permitted in most leagues, though, because it gives other players an unfair edge. Thatand#39;s why this type of bat is recommended for training sessions only.
A bat that went through rolling and shaving has a shorter life span. This is natural since your bat would have gone through the same wear and tear as using it 500 times.
Here are four advantages of using shaved bats for training:
1. Increased Power with Less Effort
A doctored bat has better flexibility. Having undergone the process of shaving, the bat no longer has a rigid wall. The result is a malleable bat wall that amplifies the returning after hitting the ball.
You exert less effort to propel the ball farther since the doctored bat takes care of it for you with its trampoline effect. Your ball can reach greater distances, up to 40 feet most of the time, without tiring yourself out. A doctored bat makes your training sessions more productive.
2. Better Endurance
Every time you receive the incoming force with a regular bat, your body needs to endure every impact as well. Some of the energy travels past your bat to the arms and through your body before reaching the ground.
Doing this over and over again is what wears your body down. However, using a doctored bat can relieve you from some of this force. Its flexibility will return most of the energy coming from the fastball. Your body will not have to take the brunt of the impact. As a result, your body can endure longer training sessions.
3. Less Downtime after Training
Fatigue from training can affect your performance on game day. Without ample time to recover, your reflex will be slower. The worst-case scenario is you might not be able to attend the game itself.
Using a doctored bat, especially during stretched-out training sessions, can help prevent fatigue. Since your body will not have to endure the incoming force every time you hit the ball, your muscles are not as worn down as a regular bat.
Furthermore, the less effort you make, every hit will not take too much toll on your body as well.
Start Using Shaved Bats for Your Training
Buying a brand new composite bat for training is the first step to improving your game. Breaking-in takes it even further, but you donand#39;t have to go through doing it yourself. Ask your nearest softball bat shaving and rolling service to help you with the break-in.
