Lowest compression bat you've seen.....

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
all of this crap is Y I never cared for utrip ball
I forgot this post.

The reason I never cared for utrip is because they only want to be different, but but original. It's annoying, and stupid most if the time.

Pitching is asinine and constantly changing, and I don't mean the pump faking. Instead of just saying 6-10, they say the from release. When it starts getting too flat, they put it a video saying it's basically 6 because you can't really release it that low. Then they say arc means up and down, so they start calling everything that crosses in their strike zone above where you released it a ball saying it hasn't come back down enough. They also changed it from back shoulder to highest shoulder, wtf does that even mean? Not only is most of this gibberish, but it leads to a lot of confused umps. At a time when it's hard to find people willing to ump, utrip wants to make sure they're miserable I guess.

Btw utrip, it only takes one bad ump per event to run it for everyone. I know most are good, but you can't guess which is which in the moment.

Instead of starting 1-1 you walk on three balls and strike out on two strikes. This is some **** my youngest would come up with to claim he's created a completely different game than his brother. How did this make it out of committee?

They finally allowed you to tag up on a third strike foul out if it was caught, and when they put it in the cliffs notes of the rulebook they left out the caught part and said you could advance on a third foul strike(sorry, second since you strike out on two strikes lol), and it came up in the first tournament game that year.

They change just to change without thinking of the consequences and they do things differently just to be different without thinking if it's stupid or not.
 

hitless45

Addicted to Softballfans
I forgot this post.

The reason I never cared for utrip is because they only want to be different, but but original. It's annoying, and stupid most if the time.

Pitching is asinine and constantly changing, and I don't mean the pump faking. Instead of just saying 6-10, they say the from release. When it starts getting too flat, they put it a video saying it's basically 6 because you can't really release it that low. Then they say arc means up and down, so they start calling everything that crosses in their strike zone above where you released it a ball saying it hasn't come back down enough. They also changed it from back shoulder to highest shoulder, wtf does that even mean? Not only is most of this gibberish, but it leads to a lot of confused umps. At a time when it's hard to find people willing to ump, utrip wants to make sure they're miserable I guess.

Btw utrip, it only takes one bad ump per event to run it for everyone. I know most are good, but you can't guess which is which in the moment.

Instead of starting 1-1 you walk on three balls and strike out on two strikes. This is some **** my youngest would come up with to claim he's created a completely different game than his brother. How did this make it out of committee?

They finally allowed you to tag up on a third strike foul out if it was caught, and when they put it in the cliffs notes of the rulebook they left out the caught part and said you could advance on a third foul strike(sorry, second since you strike out on two strikes lol), and it came up in the first tournament game that year.

They change just to change without thinking of the consequences and they do things differently just to be different without thinking if it's stupid or not.
Agreed.. very well said!
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
someone needs to make a sanction that uses ASA bats and balls but has one nation/gsl rules. So you still get your 5-10 arc, juking, you get a DHH and the balls fly good and far but aren’t ridiculous speeds where the infielders don’t have a chance to move.

I'd be fine with this. Everyone always dogs on ASA bats/balls, but they're fine.
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
I forgot this post.

The reason I never cared for utrip is because they only want to be different, but but original. It's annoying, and stupid most if the time.

Pitching is asinine and constantly changing, and I don't mean the pump faking. Instead of just saying 6-10, they say the from release. When it starts getting too flat, they put it a video saying it's basically 6 because you can't really release it that low. Then they say arc means up and down, so they start calling everything that crosses in their strike zone above where you released it a ball saying it hasn't come back down enough. They also changed it from back shoulder to highest shoulder, wtf does that even mean? Not only is most of this gibberish, but it leads to a lot of confused umps. At a time when it's hard to find people willing to ump, utrip wants to make sure they're miserable I guess.

Btw utrip, it only takes one bad ump per event to run it for everyone. I know most are good, but you can't guess which is which in the moment.

Instead of starting 1-1 you walk on three balls and strike out on two strikes. This is some **** my youngest would come up with to claim he's created a completely different game than his brother. How did this make it out of committee?

They finally allowed you to tag up on a third strike foul out if it was caught, and when they put it in the cliffs notes of the rulebook they left out the caught part and said you could advance on a third foul strike(sorry, second since you strike out on two strikes lol), and it came up in the first tournament game that year.

They change just to change without thinking of the consequences and they do things differently just to be different without thinking if it's stupid or not.

USSSA around here has a hard time finding umps, for all the reasons you mention here. It isn't fun or easy to ump USSSA. The strike zone can be a pain in the ass, and as soon as you call a pitch someone disagrees with, everyone seems to hate you.

Most of what USSSA does is needlessly complicated.
 

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
USSSA around here has a hard time finding umps, for all the reasons you mention here. It isn't fun or easy to ump USSSA. The strike zone can be a pain in the ass, and as soon as you call a pitch someone disagrees with, everyone seems to hate you.

Most of what USSSA does is needlessly complicated.
This is the gist, but then they bow up if you question it, get all macho and start acting like you're the dumb one for not understanding it. I literally had one day, you know what they meant when I showed them they'd printed the foul rule wrong.

The only rule I liked they got rid of after a year or so because the precious hitters cried about it. They didn't automatically give you time for stepping out of the box. Now we have to dance all the freaking time as batters step out after every freaking called strike. It's so annoying.
 

hitless45

Addicted to Softballfans
Do they still allow stealing? I'm personally fine with stealing, but that's the only thing I could see being a catch.
Our league does not allow it, it's been a while since I've played asa tourney but I believe they do still allow it in championship tourney play
 

dunkky

Well-Known Member
why can't they just follow the damn simple universal rule. strike when it passes thru strike zone, everthing else is ball. don't matter how high, how low... just like baseball.. it's gotta come through strike zone. what's with all these clown rules which is being laughed at by many people who think they are former baseball studs. I don't totally blame them. it is joke in many ways.

i know many ump who call it based where the ball lands.. and that's stupid. also know they don't always care about how flat how high balls are.. makes game very inconsistent..
 

nam2212

Dr. Nick
Ours is if it hits the plate or the mat behind the plate it is a strike. I am cool with that. It isn’t perfect but no more judgement calls.
 

BigWhiffa

Underwear Researcher
no utrip here but I had a ASA Combat that tested 790 at C State like 6-7 years ago. the guys doing the testing were all laughing and showing each other. one guy said he'd never seen one that low. I said "so we are good right? sticker that baby up"
 

hitless45

Addicted to Softballfans
If it weren't for the fact that most umps will call a mat strike even if the ball is too high and no where's close to the strike zone.. I'd be good with or without a mat if ball hits plate and within strike zone it should be called strike, it's frickin slowpitch softball
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
This is the gist, but then they bow up if you question it, get all macho and start acting like you're the dumb one for not understanding it. I literally had one day, you know what they meant when I showed them they'd printed the foul rule wrong.

The only rule I liked they got rid of after a year or so because the precious hitters cried about it. They didn't automatically give you time for stepping out of the box. Now we have to dance all the freaking time as batters step out after every freaking called strike. It's so annoying.

If it were up to me no one would be able to leave the batter's box during an at bat for any reason. That crap is ridiculous, and it drags the game out infinitely.
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
Do they still allow stealing? I'm personally fine with stealing, but that's the only thing I could see being a catch.

One time like 15 years ago ASA started allowing stealing. One of the local leagues went with it, but had to end stealing quickly after there were several severe injuries of people sliding into bases.

Stealing in slowpitch is stupid.
 

bigwignj

Addicted to Softballfans
If it were up to me no one would be able to leave the batter's box during an at bat for any reason. That crap is ridiculous, and it drags the game out infinitely.
You get 1 timeout per at bat. That’s it. If you take it in your first strike or after a 3-0 count. Doesn’t matter. You get 1 per at bat and that it. I think that’s a reasonable middle ground.
 

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
I like all of these things. After all, as we've all said, it's slowpitch. One time out per ab, none, stealing or not, the plate is a strike, I can handle all of it. I'm not fast enough to steal so I couldn't care less about that one. I'm not a huge fan of it personally, and it does seem like it would increase the injuries a lot

I will say this, if there was ever a time for an ump to call that mockery of the game rule it's for the guys that lean out over the plate trying to draw a walk. Call those dudes out every time.
 

smslf#4

Part Time Player
couple years ago i had a 2019 fab4 i had bought from a teammate, i was reasonably sure wasn't cut. i used it for the rest of the summer and fall. Come March, was at a tournament, it tested at like 185. So i used it as a cage bat with those dimpled balls a few times, and occassionally in league after that. in the summer i brought it to a tournament, just to see what it was at, and it tested under 100! director kept the bat and was going to suspend me. I still don't think it was cut, just that the dimpled balls wrecked it.
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
couple years ago i had a 2019 fab4 i had bought from a teammate, i was reasonably sure wasn't cut. i used it for the rest of the summer and fall. Come March, was at a tournament, it tested at like 185. So i used it as a cage bat with those dimpled balls a few times, and occassionally in league after that. in the summer i brought it to a tournament, just to see what it was at, and it tested under 100! director kept the bat and was going to suspend me. I still don't think it was cut, just that the dimpled balls wrecked it.

Those 220 bats will test amazingly low without cracking. Kinda begs the question... at what compression does bat failure become noticeable? When bats get soft you start feeling the barrel wrap around the ball at contact. Everything knuckles off it and seems to have no velocity.
 

Normy

Well-Known Member
Those 220 bats will test amazingly low without cracking. Kinda begs the question... at what compression does bat failure become noticeable? When bats get soft you start feeling the barrel wrap around the ball at contact. Everything knuckles off it and seems to have no velocity.
Would you say that a lower compression, softer barrel would still benefit a slower swing speed?
 

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
Would you say that a lower compression, softer barrel would still benefit a slower swing speed?
It will benefit slower swings for longer, but they eventually all reach a point of diminishing returns.
 

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
I wonder what those OG Ultras or a 2k hit Flex/Extended would have tested at?
I've never faced ultras legitimately, but there were a ton of shaved and rolled bats in ga/fl. Today's bats feel exactly like that all the time now. Instead of facing a couple a tournament it's almost every batter plus every team in leagues. League teams with an almost blank freak 30 that the whole team swings. It could partly be the cooler temps up here, but that's not all of it.
 

ilyk2win

Addicted to Softballfans
The bat testing procedure for the manufacturers to receive stamp approval is egregiously flawed. Improvement strides need to start there. BBS of 98mph was always what was deemed the fastest speed in which a P has a legit chance to attempt to defend himself. They moved the mounds back a few feet so maybe that's an antiquated number, but way too many players can surpass that with today's tech. Testing should be more realistic to actual players and not based on Sunday afternoon church league players who struggle with the highly feared backspin pitch from the Reverend.

The OG Ultras with Blue Dots (or worse Red Dots) probably were about the same ASA bats with 52's these days. I remember the Titanium, then followed by the Ultras where ****ty players all of a sudden became HR heroes........VERY similar to today's game.
 

blakcherry329

Well-Known Member
I've never faced ultras legitimately, but there were a ton of shaved and rolled bats in ga/fl. Today's bats feel exactly like that all the time now. Instead of facing a couple a tournament it's almost every batter plus every team in leagues. League teams with an almost blank freak 30 that the whole team swings. It could partly be the cooler temps up here, but that's not all of it.
I only faced the OG Ultra a couple times. It was SCARRRRRY. The Red Dots and the White Dudleys (SB12) flew off of those bats.
In 2003 in the Championship game in a modified league, this guy hit a ball that went over my head by, maybe, 3' and hit off of the CF fence about 300' away.
Luckily, composites were still fairly new so I didn't see a lot of them.:oops:
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
I've never faced ultras legitimately, but there were a ton of shaved and rolled bats in ga/fl. Today's bats feel exactly like that all the time now. Instead of facing a couple a tournament it's almost every batter plus every team in leagues. League teams with an almost blank freak 30 that the whole team swings. It could partly be the cooler temps up here, but that's not all of it.

You're right. Every team around here has multiple bats that you know test below 180. It isn't that the bats have been altered, just that they've been used a lot. All the big tournies here test bats now, and suddenly a lot of the "big" HR hitters haven't been hitting it out lately.
 

BigWhiffa

Underwear Researcher
C state IL like 8 or 9 years ago maybe. guy came up to the testing table with a bat bag and proceeded to pull out like 4 or 5 Extendeds. they were worn down pretty well and all failed miserably. I was right there but don't remember what they were testing at. he finally pulled a new one out of the wrapper and got it stamped. He was very obese. But I remember he just smoked seeds the entire weekend. like texas chopped balls just over the infields head and would hit the 8' fences on the fly or one hopped.
 

TWmccoy

3DX Connoisseur
C state IL like 8 or 9 years ago maybe. guy came up to the testing table with a bat bag and proceeded to pull out like 4 or 5 Extendeds. they were worn down pretty well and all failed miserably. I was right there but don't remember what they were testing at. he finally pulled a new one out of the wrapper and got it stamped. He was very obese. But I remember he just smoked seeds the entire weekend. like texas chopped balls just over the infields head and would hit the 8' fences on the fly or one hopped.

The OG Extended got very hot, very quickly. I had one, and it broke in about 700 swings. That was the first bat that ever really disappointed me with poor durability.
 

blakcherry329

Well-Known Member
The OG Extended got very hot, very quickly. I had one, and it broke in about 700 swings. That was the first bat that ever really disappointed me with poor durability.
Come to think of it, I really haven't seen an Extended in many years. However, I still see a Flex every now and then. Never knew they had less durability than the Flex.
I thought every bat made back then, with the exception of LS SB34s, were built to outlast the Apocalypse.
 

dttruax

Addicted to Softballfans
Come to think of it, I really haven't seen an Extended in many years. However, I still see a Flex every now and then. Never knew they had less durability than the Flex.
I thought every bat made back then, with the exception of LS SB34s, were built to outlast the Apocalypse.
Saw a guy in league a couple weeks ago swing an extended. He hit ok with it, but the new bats did way better against the 52's
 

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
When they came out the extended was 199 and the flex was 299, but the real funny part was people didn't like them because they took some time to break in so the extended were 99 bucks for a short time. Once they started becoming popular the stores marked them right back up!
 
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