RESOURCES

APPENDIX 2: BAT SPECIFICATIONS

A. OFFICIAL BAT

SC: All bats must be listed on the current USA Softball (formerly ASA) or WBSC (formerly ISF) Approved Bat lists and must also comply with all of the standards in 1 - 15 below.

1. The bat must be of one-piece construction, multi-piece permanently assembled or two-piece interchangeable constructions.

2. When the bat is designed with interchangeable components, it must meet the following criteria:

i. the mating components must have a unique locking key to prevent uncertified equipment combinations in the field; and

ii. all component combinations must meet the same standards as when it was a one-piece bat when combined or a portion of a one-piece bat when separated.

3. A bat may be made of one piece of hardwood or formed from a block of wood consisting of two or more pieces of wood bonded together with an adhesive in such a way that the grain direction of all pieces is parallel to the length of the bat.

4. A bat may be metal, bamboo, plastic, graphite, carbon, magnesium, fiberglass, ceramic or any other composite material approved by the WBSC Equipment Standards Commission or USA Softball.

5. A bat may be laminated, but must contain only wood or adhesive and have a clear finish (when finished).

6. The barrel portion of the bat (from the start of the taper to the end cap) must be round and smooth with slight texturing allowed.

7. No bat must be more than 86.4cm (34 in) long or greater than 1077.0 g (38 ounces) in weight.

8. No bat must be more than 5.7cm (2 ¼ in) in diameter at its largest part. A tolerance of 0.80mm (1/32 in) is permitted to allow for expansion.

9. A bat must not have exposed rivets, pins, rough or sharp edges or any exterior fastener that would be or present a hazard. A metal bat must be free of burrs and cracks.

10. A metal bat must not have a wooden handle.

11. A bat must have a safety grip of cork, tape (no smooth, plastic tape) or composition material. The safety grip must not be less than 25.4cm (10 in) long and must not extend more than 38.1cm (15 in) from the small end of the bat. Resin, pine tar or spray substances placed to enhance the grip are permissible only on the grip. Tape applied to any bat must be a continuous spiral. It does not have to be a solid layer of tape. It must not exceed two layers.

12. When metal and not made of one-piece construction with the barrel end closed, a bat must have a rubber or vinyl plastic or other material insert approved by the WBSC Equipment Standards Commission or USA Softball, firmly secured at the large end of the bat.

i. The insert of the bat end cap must be firmly and permanently sealed so that it cannot be removed by anyone other than the manufacturer without damaging or destroying the end cap or barrel.

ii. The bat must be free of rattles. A bat that is not free of rattles will be considered an illegal bat.

iii.   The bat must not have signs of tampering. A bat that shows signs of tampering will be considered an altered bat.

        SC: The bat barrel shall not have signs of excessive wear.

13. A bat must have a safety knob of a minimum diameter of 0.6 cm (1/4 inches) protruding at a ninety-degree angle from the handle and no sharp edges. The safety knob may be molded, lathed, welded and permanently fastened. The knob may be covered with grip tape or a grip enhancer.

14. When the bat approval notice cannot be read due to wear on the bat, the bat remains an official bat and may be used if it remains in compliance with these Rules in all other respects as determined by an umpire with reasonable certainty.

15. The weight, distribution of weight or length of the bat must be permanently fixed at the time of manufacture and may not be altered in any way thereafter, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Rule or a specification approved by the WBSC Equipment Standards Commission or USA Softball.

B. THE WARM-UP BAT

A bat other than an official bat that must be of one-piece construction and comply with the safety grip and safety knob requirements of an official bat. It must be marked “warm-up” in 3.2cm (1¼ in) letters on the barrel end. The barrel end must be in excess of 5.7cm (2¼ in).