3 Benefits of Rolled and Shaved Baseball Bats | Gorilla Bats

Baseball involves throwing a ball, hitting it with a baseball bat, and (sometimes) catching the ball. Of course, the sport is not as easy as it sounds, and that's why it’s such an interesting game. Baseball fans love the sport for its careful strategy as much as for the exciting home runs and gravity-defying catches.

Baseball players at all levels continue to improve their playing techniques both for the love of the game and to increase their chances of winning. Rolling and shaving baseball bats is just one technique for improving your game.

While bat rolling and shaving services are readily available, you have to be careful when selecting a service provider. Shaving a bat requires an expert who has mastered the technique of creating hot bats.

So, what is bat shaving?

It involves removing the cap at the front of the bat and extracting some materials from the inner barrel of the bat to increase the trampoline effect. Extraction is done on a CNC lathe before the cap is fixed back to its position with a strong flexible epoxy adhesive.

Some of the perfectly modified bats include the famous shaved DeMarini bats which are widely used to enhance performance in the field. You can either purchase a shaved bat or rolled and shaved baseball bats. However you want your bat to look, you’ll readily find it in the market.

Here are the benefits of shaved DeMarini bats.

1. Better Performance

Have you ever wondered why your friends’ baseball moves at a higher Mph as compared to when you hit it, yet you use the same model of baseball? The answer is in shaving the inside of the baseball. Shaved bats have thinner walls which makes them flexible.

When the baseball or softball comes into contact with a shaved bat, coupled with the players’ speed and energy of hitting the ball, it travels farther as compared to what a non-shaved bat would do. However, if the bat is not properly shaved, it might end up breaking after swinging several times instead of enabling you to perform better.

2. Durability

Shaved DeMarini bats will last for long and at the same time perform efficiently throughout. But, if you buy a non-shaved bat and take it to a shaving services provider who is not experienced or good at the job, you end up with a weak bat that will not last long.

An ideal shaved bat shouldn’t have composites on the inside that will cause sounds when moving the bat. So, to ensure that the durability of your baseball shaved bat remains optimal, purchase it from a reliable source.

3. It Creates a Sweet Spot

Sweet spot is commonly identified as the part on the bat that you aim to hit the baseball with and get the highest speed from the batted ball as well as minimal sensation in your hands. Nonetheless, a properly rolled and shaved bat provides a larger surface area with which you can hit a baseball. Shaving increases the sweet spot area by about 40%. You can hit the ball from whichever position since the inside has been uniformly shaved.

Shaving Knowledge and Tooling

When choosing bat shaving services, ensure the provider has the right tools for the job. A shoddy job done with inferior tools such as sandpaper will leave you with a non-uniformly shaved bat and inconsistent results will follow. Poor machining could also create scars that will ruin your expensive bat.

Modern bats require special skills in removing the end cap. Nowadays it is more securely fitted and a wrong removal procedure will see it get damaged. Once damaged, the cap might never fit properly again, a result that will lead to poor bat performance.

Does Shaving Work?

Research by Penn State University has shown that bat shaving works. The study proved that a baseball can travel 62 feet farther when kicked with a shaved bat as compared to when using a stock bat. Note, a baseball bat can hit a top speed of 80 mph during a swing. On average, players using shaved bats get an additional 30-60ft.

As much as the shaved and rolled baseball bats have benefits, ensure you are using it in the right game and under the right rules. Alternatively, use the shaved DeMarini bats when practicing with your friends or when playing debris.