There are a lot of ways softball players can improve their batting performance. The first thing to consider is the equipment they use. Choosing right softball bats to make a lot of difference. Once chosen, the bat is entitled to be taken care of its owner. If a player wishes to have a good and long history with her bat, she should know how to take care of it.
Juice Your Softball Bat: Here’s How
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There are several ways of taking care of a bat. These include:
- Keeping the bat in an area with mild temperature
- Limiting the use of the bat to only one person
- Cleaning at separately with the metal cleats
- Using the regular baseballs or softballs
- Checking the bat for any damage regularly, and
- Constantly rotating the bat each time you swing it in order to ensure that one side will not be more worn down than the others
Aside from knowing how to take care of one’s bat, there is another method to improve a bat’s performance. It is called juicing the bat. It refers to the process in which the bat is shaved and rolled; now proven to improve the performance of the bat. Juicing the bat can be useful in practice games. It is great in grooving a player’s swing as it is lighter and livelier; thus, lesser exertion is needed by the player in swinging the bat. If you are just starting as a batter, you can choose to practice with a juiced bat. It can help you build your confidence and avoid the chances of over swinging.
Although it is not legal to juice you bat in every game, more and more tournaments allow it and many players opt to join those games. Even if a player is not interested in joining such tournaments, there’s no doubt that juiced bats can help in practicing the batter’s swing.
There are several ways of juicing a bat. Each of them can help improve its performance by increasing the distance of every hit. The best thing about it is that you don’t need to change the technique of your swing.
Bat Shaving
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For bat shaving, you must first remove the softball bat’s end. After which, you need a lathe in order to shave the inside wall of the bat. This will make it thinner; thus, it becomes lighter. Lastly, replace the bat’s end to its original position with the end cap. You will need some stronghold glue, like epoxy, to tightly secure it. Shaving your bat will help you move it faster with longer hit distance.
Bat Rolling
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In order to do this, you must first place the bat into a rolling machine. Once in it, the machine will apply the pressure needed to stretch the softball bat’s fibers, increasing the flexibility of the bat. This increase in flexibility helps a lot in gaining speed and distance when hitting the ball.
Enloading The Bat
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The last way in juicing the bat is enloading it. To start off, you need to remove the end cap. Then, put some polyurethane compound into the cap. Allow it to dry for 1 day. After which, you will notice that the cap becomes harder and heavier. Inside the open end of the bat, put 1 or 2 tennis balls. The tennis balls will also add weight to the bat. Lastly, glue the end cap to its original location.Bat shaving and rolling both makes the softball bat lighter. If both are done all together, you will get optimum potential of the bat. On another hand, enloading the bat does the exact opposite. It makes the bat heavier; thus, great for practicing a new style of hitting.
A juiced bat may improve a player’s hitting performance; however, it should never be used to violate any of the rules of the games. Only if a tournament allows such thing will a juiced bat be utilized. You should also be reminded that once a bat is juiced, its life span decreases and it becomes easier to break, especially if rolled and shaved. Finally, remember that best softball bats are not only measured by its weight and flexibility. Its performance will always depend on the player holding it.