Published by Grant Douglas, Senior Composites Engineer
Deciding to buy a composite bat comes with a lot of questions. For example, if bats are all certified to the same performance limit, then what benefits do composite bats provide?
Composite bats have larger sweet spots than aluminum because the composite materials allow the bat engineers more flexibility to increase performance away from the sweet spot. Composite material is also lighter than alloy and therefore typically allows for a larger barrel and lower swing weight. This is extremely important in the youth category where swing speeds are slower as players develop their swing mechanics.
Composite bats typically come with vibration damping technology that allows for a reduction in sting on the hands during mishits. Axe’s Shock Suspension technology is one of the best in the industry at reducing vibrations. This is because we separate the barrel from the handle with the damping material maximizing the ability to reduce the sting the player feels.
Composite bats can also have better durability than alloy in certain leagues. For instance, USSSA alloy baseball bats need to be very thin to achieve maximum performance and therefore will dent with elite players. Composite bats of the same drop weight will often perform better and be more durable. Axe composite bats are now using ShieldBoost Blastwall technology which reduces the number of seams and overlaps in the composite structure allowing for a stronger and lighter composite bat. This new technology has allowed us to increase the barrel length by 1.5” while also lowering the swing weight, which is incredibly difficult to do and extremely impactful for the hitter.