What’s going on with Nike bats? College baseball teams contracted to use Nike bats can now choose to use other bats if they wish. Is this due to performance problems?
We can’t speak from first-hand experience: we haven’t used Nike bats yet, though we’ve been meaning to try them out. Have you used Nike bats? Get on the forum and tell us what you think.
At high schools and colleges across the nation, the debate about aluminum bat safety continues. Play Ball USA and Ron Cacini offer helpful words in this video. Cacini doesn’t try to convince you of an answer to the alumnium vs. wood question. Instead, he explains that it’s proper technique, bat weight, and bat length, that will help boost safety for those whose leagues use aluminum bats. He gives a general explanation of bat exit speed ratio. Cacini doesn’t talk much about wood bats, so it does have an air of advocating for aluminum.
For a casual video shoot in a batting cage, the former Houston farmhand really has a decent swing.
As the College World Series grows more popular each year, the NCAA will also need to be more vigilant each year. Sure, the college game shouldn’t be as scandal-prone as the majors have been, but it can still have its problems. One of the big potential concerns is bat rolling, stretching the metal fibers by applying pressure from two rollers. The stretched fibers are more flexible, giving the bat more pop. Of course rolling is illegal in NCAA play, and The Boston Herald reports that of 500 bats tested at the College World Series, 25 were illegal, five because of rolling.
According to the Herald, Easton bats is working on a softball bat that would visually expose the affects of rolling, but there’s no word about the same practice for baseball bats.
The NCAA will be watching, and improving its ability to watch. We’ll keep an eye on it too.
