A typical baseball bat fresh off the store shelf requires you to break it in before you can start seeing its true potential.
This break-in period can take some time, and it will have you hitting hundreds of balls hundreds of times before the process is considered finished. You can circumvent this process with a shaved bat, which emulates the performance of a broken-in bat without the hassle. By understanding the benefits of a shaved bat, you can increase your skill and utilize the best equipment.
Enhanced Performance
The flexibility of a bat is a major factor in sending balls further and faster; typically, the greater the flexibility, the greater the power. With shaved bats, manufacturers cut material away from the inner wall of the barrel, leading to more flexibility. When this is properly done, the bat will bend more upon hitting a ball without the risk of breaking.
Increased Sweet Spot
Along with improving overall performance, a shaved bat will increase the surface area of the “sweet spot.” This is the term for the area of a bat where the ball must make contact in order to produce a good hit; the ball hitting any other part of the bat can result in a less-than-ideal outcome. But this relatively small area grows with a shaved bat, decreasing the likelihood of bad hits.
Durability
Many people believe that shaved bats are far weaker than their unshaved counterparts. There is some truth to that; if you purchase a normal bat and take it for someone to shave, the shaving process will weaken it. However, purchasing a bat that’s shaved by design will offer the previously mentioned results without sacrificing durability.
Understanding the advantages of a shaved bat means knowing where to purchase a shaved bat. It’s all too easy for sellers to shave down the inner wall of a bat—only for the purchaser to see it fail after a short period of use.
Do research into the seller and ensure they provide quality products. Otherwise, you’ll spend your money on a faulty piece of equipment designed to fail.