Can you hit baseballs with a softball bat, or have you ever made this move? There are people out there asking this question, and some plan to try it out. Before you try to do so, please read our article and understand what might happen. You might make a wrong move and destroy your bat, so reading our article will help you.
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Hitting baseball with a softball bat
Many people have asked if you can hit baseballs with a softball bat. Our answer to this question is that no, you cannot.
The fact is that using the softball bat in playing baseball will have the softball bat breaking or having split ends. And the major reason for this is that your softball bat was never created to sustain the type of force or impact a baseball brings.
While you successfully hit the baseball and have the ball flying off your softball bat, your bat will be destroyed.
So, you can hit, but you will shatter your bat, thus; it is not advisable. A baseball bat should be used to hit the baseball as it is an inch shorter and has a bigger diameter than its softball counterpart.
You cannot use the softball bat for baseball as the baseball bat is capable of generating a higher exit velocity.
Due to the spike in certain offenses from the exit velocity of the initial aluminium and non-wooden baseball bats, the BBCOR created standards for baseball bats that must meet the BBCOR certification.
In other news, BBCOR aptly measures the trampoline effect of baseball bats. Now, these bats have the BBCOR Certified .50 mark on their tapers or barrels.
And for your bat to be certified, it will need to have a length-to-weight ratio that is not greater than -3. Additionally, its barrel diameter will be at most 2 5/8.
Difference between baseball and softball bats
Instead of mistakenly using your softball hat to hit the baseball, there are some differences you should know about. The differences between softball and baseball bats are:
Their barrel diameter
The fastpitch softball bats are enormously streamlined and barely have any barrels as we mentioned previously. So, the existing barrels have a smaller diameter than that of a baseball bat’s barrel.
The baseball bat barrel diameter is 2 5/8 inches, while its softball counterpart comes in 2 ¼ inches.
Their length and weight
A softball bat is longer than the usual baseball bat as they come in thirty-two to thirty-four inches. Meanwhile, baseball bats are available at roughly thirty-two inches though some can measure up to thirty-four inches.
However, an essential factor has to be their weight. For example, a baseball bat has more weight than a slow-pitch softball bat. Simply put, the difference in weight between the two bats is roughly two ounces.
Trampoline effect
You may not have come across it before as a scientific term. However, it is used in describing the barrel’s stiffness. So, the stiffer the barrel gets, the lesser the trampoline effect and the lesser the power of the bat will be.
On the flip side, a barrel that’s less stiff will have a greater amount of trampoline effect and, thus, more power. High performance baseball bats have barrels with greater stiffness compared to softball bats.
Conclusion
You no longer have to ask whether you can hit baseballs with a softball bat. It is not advisable; from this article, you will realize the difference between softball and baseball bats.
