The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the governing body of High School Baseball, is changing their bat rules to match NCAA rules. So bats that are illegal in NCAA play will become illegal in High School starting on January 1, 2012 (some will enforce the rule beginning in 2011). The NCAA ban of 100% composite bats began last year. This will bring a plethora of changes that will turn the baseball bat industry upside down Here’s what’s going on (you can also visit here to check out my recommendations by category and cost):
The rule changed is NFHS 1.3.2, which requires (starting 1/1/12) all non-wood bats to meet the Batted Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR) standard. This is standard is much stricter than the old BESR standard.
Why the changes? According to the NFHS, “the new standard ensures that performances by non-wood bats are more comparable to those of wood bats. It’s also expected to minimize risk, improve play and increase teaching opportunities”. They say “After working with the NCAA and having access to its research, we’ve concluded it’s in our best interest to make this change”. “BBCOR includes the BESR standard, so we’re actually expanding upon our current standard, which will be more appropriate for our age and skill level”.
It is certain that many composite barrel bats will fail to meet the new standard making them illegal in 2012. Composite handles will still be fine, but most composite barrels will not meet the new standard. This link provides a list of the current bats that “appear” to be approved for now NFHS.
The rule change comes from research conducted by the NCAA which lead to them making the change now in place. The research concluded that composite barrel bats have a break in period that makes them exceed the BESR standard. BESR measures the ball exit speed. The research showed that the composite barrel bats increased ball exit speed of 10 to 15 mph faster than what is allowed when broken in.
Now, manufacturers may come up with composite barreled bats that meet the new BBCOR standard and the NCAA could lift its ban. However, the issue is that the bats change significantly (for the better if you are a hitter) over time. So, we don’t see the NCAA allowing these bats again. Since the NCAA has done the research, we would expect the NFHS to use it to ban the composite barrel bats, too.
As mentioned, this will certainly stand the baseball bat world on its head. The baseball bat manufacturers are hard at work to make the best quality bats that fit within these new standards available for the 2011 season. Youth baseball is fine for now but is sure to follow. See the NFHS’s press releases on this topic here.
View all the new standards.
Metal madness. Amateur baseball has a thousand rules and regulations, but allows one kid to use a $300 bat while a poor kid gets the WalMart $30 special. Giving one kid a spectacular advantage over another. Baseball needs some standards concerning Bats. Just go back to wood. Wood bats cost so little. Level the playing field. Lastly- Hank Aaron was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds. Not a large man. He hit 755 Big League Home Runs with $30 wood bats. College hitters tearing it up get to the Minors / Majors and harsh reality sets in on Day One. Lots of bad habits with these flyweight metal bats…
Our hole varsity team have just started using wood because bccor sucks we have a kid that’s hit 6 homeruns in 4 days 320ft+
using wood bats is ten times better than using metal because once u get to the big leagues thats all u get to use.so get use to wood and stop complaining.
Honestly it doesn’t matter on the type of bat that you use? They all are developed to have the same pop. Okay and a poor kid could use somebody else’s bat if he really wants too. I think that you or your kid must not be that good if your going to type that kind of comment. I think you should just quit complaining. You can barely tell the difference between the wood and the metal bats so just quit complaining..
Just bought a $300.BBcore bat for a grandson, so hope it’s allowed for a few years at least before they change the rules again!Who’s making the $$ from all this?
BBCOR bats are ok if you know how to use them.
Just spent 30 mins with Easton this is my 4th BBCOR bat under the same warrenty they pretty much told me tough luck. I don’t care if the players are swinging wiffle ball bats at $300.00 to $400.00 dollars a pop they should be better then a 6 month bat. Easton is not the only one having problems Demarini has broken handles what is the best BBCOR out there now not just pop durability also
I have an Easton also. I used to swing a 34 inch BESR Omaha. The Easton i bought is 33 in, and i cant see much difference in my hits. Yeh, i lose an inch of plate coverage, so what? The key to hitting a ball hard is bat speed. Obviously, you are going to get more bat speed with a shorter bat. See where i’m going with this? You can offset some of the lost power with the BBCOR bats by going down an inch on length.
At the end of the day can you hit or not. Are your batting skills for power hitting or for getting on base. I’m sorry for the kids that get hit by composite batted balls but if you close your eyes or weren’t paying attention you are gonna get hurt. BBCOR bats, Wood bats, Lets play the game the way it was meant to be. THERE IS NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO PLAY.
This change was long overdue. Pitchers safety must be a concern. If its more like a wood bat I’m all for it. It just
kills me that these bat companies don’t allow you to return the old bats. Cost on these bats are gettting out of hand and don’t last. Middle ground needs to be found and kept. Changing the rules yearly has to be considered by the rule makers.
Not everybody can afford $200-300 bats. Or does anybody wanna start a bat company with me?
The BBCOR change has highlighted who the truly good hitters are.
I THINK EASTON RULES OVER ANY OTHER BAT CO. EXCEPT LOUISVILLE SLUGGER