Fireflex 3?

[lakeyale13]

One team we played against didn't sign up for Spring season because they would start testing bats if 1)they lit up the opposing pitcher 2)we call the bat out. This team would hit 400'-450' moon shots up and down the line up. I play with one of the guys on that team and he admitted they're cheaters. I also think it's stupid AF to cheat on league night when most guys are out there just to have fun.

I think it is a product of the fragile male ego. Who hasn't wanted to be the big stud that just drops bombs!? So if you can't be that guy...or you're not willing to put the work in the gym or on the tee / bp...you can "buy" being that guy with a shaved stick.

Now, how you sleep at night knowing you're nothing but a counterfeit is something else. And it is pretty disgusting when you hear thing funky weird "dunk" sound from a shaved bat. I play almost exclusively in a church league. Competitive, but by no means the strictness that other leagues have. For instance, you could swing a pre 2016 USSSA stick as long as nobody protested and most wouldn't. But every now and then you get a 5'6" 140lb dude dropping lasers to the opposite field with the worst sound at contact. People will shout out things like "Shaved Bat!"...but there is nothing to check compression.

 

[lakeyale13]

I actually play with some guys that use nothing but shaved sticks. To them it's just a way of life. I don't like it and it makes me sick. There's also some guys we play against on league night where we can tell they're using shavers just by the sound. I'm not being ageist but when a 5'5" 60 year who can't even run is going oppo 300' then something is off. I don't know maybe you guys see this all the time but oppo HRs are pretty rare on our fields even from the young guys.

Don't cave in to the peer pressure my man. Especially if you are playing USSSA, the bats are as sick as they come. The performance is essentially no different than pre 2016 USSSA bats, in my opinion. If you need a shaved bat to hit bombs in USSSA, NSA or ISA you are simply pathetic. Sorry to say that, but its true.

 

[lakeyale13]

i personally think the performance of these newer composite bats has plateaued unless there is a change in either rule changing concerning compression or material technology where compression can be maintained without breaking down. Bring back the IMX lol.

Coming back to the sport after a 6 year layoff, I can't tell any significant difference in performance between the bats of today and the bats of yesterday. They certainly feel different, but the performance is not significantly different.

 

[mvfjet]

Don't cave in to the peer pressure my man. Especially if you are playing USSSA, the bats are as sick as they come. The performance is essentially no different than pre 2016 USSSA bats, in my opinion. If you need a shaved bat to hit bombs in USSSA, NSA or ISA you are simply pathetic. Sorry to say that, but its true.

It's never even crossed my mind to cheat. I'm lucky enough to have a league near me that is USSSA. I only have 5 HRS in my life but they were legit with no shavers. I wouldn't mind these bats getting nerfed a bit since I'm not a power guy anyway.

 

[4xtra]

I think it is a product of the fragile male ego. Who hasn't wanted to be the big stud that just drops bombs!? So if you can't be that guy...or you're not willing to put the work in the gym or on the tee / bp...you can "buy" being that guy with a shaved stick.

Now, how you sleep at night knowing you're nothing but a counterfeit is something else. And it is pretty disgusting when you hear thing funky weird "dunk" sound from a shaved bat. I play almost exclusively in a church league. Competitive, but by no means the strictness that other leagues have. For instance, you could swing a pre 2016 USSSA stick as long as nobody protested and most wouldn't. But every now and then you get a 5'6" 140lb dude dropping lasers to the opposite field with the worst sound at contact. People will shout out things like "Shaved Bat!"...but there is nothing to check compression.

Its actually deeper than that....
Many guys who play softball did NOT play sports at all in High School.
A buddy at their work asked him to play and after several years of playing they got better and upgraded their gloves, bats and other gear.
This guy now wants to be the star and he can now play catch up and make up for the years he missed out in H.S.
and then all of a sudden, they happen to play in a upper level tournament and they seen experienced guys smash the ball. This guy wants to know what bat is he swinging?, is it shaved? is he on steriods?

This guy now is doing testosterone shots, shaving his bats and even using rethreaded balls to "compete".
This guy gets mad when he sees another guy hit a HR with no effort and hates on him.
I have seen this countless times and another guy I know got a 5 year ban for throwing in rethreads in a league game.
(He was rethreading classic M's with a 52/650 core)
There are some guys out here who are 1000X more obsessed with softball than anyone on this site.
Even their wives and kids are tired of the "softball guy" with his softball obsession.
The guy probably even keeps his bat bag and gear next to his bed at night so he can stare at it..

 

[lakeyale13]

Its actually deeper than that....
Many guys who play softball did NOT play sports at all in High School.
A buddy at their work asked him to play and after several years of playing they got better and upgraded their gloves, bats and other gear.
This guy now wants to be the star and he can now play catch up and make up for the years he missed out in H.S.
and then all of a sudden, they happen to play in a upper level tournament and they seen experienced guys smash the ball. This guy wants to know what bat is he swinging?, is it shaved? is he on steriods?

This guy now is doing testosterone shots, shaving his bats and even using rethreaded balls to "compete".
This guy gets mad when he sees another guy hit a HR with no effort and hates on him.
I have seen this countless times and another guy I know got a 5 year ban for throwing in rethreads in a league game.
(He was rethreading classic M's with a 52/650 core)
There are some guys out here who are 1000X more obsessed with softball than anyone on this site.
Even their wives and kids are tired of the "softball guy" with his softball obsession.
The guy probably even keeps his bat bag and gear next to his bed at night so he can stare at it..

Can't sum it up any better than that. Even more pathetic is the "Steroid Guy". If you have lifted weights at all you can spot them a mile away. Perfect example, the guy swinging the Bubba Club on the second BP Hero video is the poster boy. I would bet my life he is on Roids. He has the physique you only get by juicing.

 

[TWmccoy]

You play long enough, you'll run into those "softball nut" types who absolutely live and breathe the game. Sad thing is, (as mentioned) they do everything the wrong way. They cheat at every opportunity. These aren't even guys you'll hear about on the national scene. They thrive in low level leagues and backyard tournies. They know their crap will be tolerated there, plus they feel confident in their ability to dominate rec leagues. They play league almost every night of the week and probably have a whole room full of cheesy league champion plaques and T shirts.

I've never personally known anyone to restitch balls, but bat shaving is still a thing. That despite all the new bats being ridiculously hot out of the wrapper.

Steroids and testosterone are a thing too. Some upper level tourny players around here (CO) are on them. They don't really make a secret of it. You know something's up when you see a guy for the first tourny of the year and he suddenly has put on 30 solid pounds of muscle and is hitting the ball 100' further than he used to. These same "roiders" are also guys who swing shaved bats. Like I said, cheating at every opportunity.

I'll never understand why guys cheat at what's essentially a dumbed down version of baseball where the equipment is already geared highly in favor of the hitters.

 

[bigcam406]

the only way I sum up slow pitch- its just a game. its called slow pitch for a reason. and ive seen it for 26 years playing the game, you always have a few who take it waaaaay too seriously, especially in a rec league, where YOU pay to play. its not like the average Joe is making a living at it. we all go to work Monday mornings......

 

[mvfjet]

Steroiding for slow pitch is just sad. If you gotta juice to hit a HR then at that point you should hang your cleats up for good lol.

 

[milocoman]

About to change for USSSA boys. Our Wild FireFlex is smoking out of the wrapper too. Some rumbling that changes will happen in 2020 though. Time to start hoarding your good bats for the leagues that don't care what you swing as long as it has a stamp.

 

[Pops34]

All these posts and very little on the title of the thread - ugh.

 

[fowlball75]

All these posts and very little on the title of the thread - ugh.

I had one that was 26oz that scaled in at 25oz. Swung too light for my liking and I did the table test for the endload and it wasn't until i got to the taper of the bat before it started to fall off the table. Personally I did not like this bat. Every time I swung it felt like an older Easton with the new connection piece. I used a radar to compare to my other bats and it was about 7mph behind my Fab14 (OG Flex) after about 75 swings. So i got around to about the 130 swing mark and it caught up with my other bat but it just never felt as good IMO. Maybe it was just too light for my liking but it had that older Easton sound to it. It didn't have the cracking sound like last years Easton's

 

[MS23]

New video of the 2019 Vet looks to have the Fire Flex 3 technology

 

[nickham10]

My 27oz FF3 weighs in at 27.2oz and has a good amount of endload. More endload in the FF3 than my SBF Wildfire. Only got about 15 swings on it in pre-game bp but it felt very good and exit speed was right up with my Wildfire.

 

[mvfjet]

New video of the 2019 Vet looks to have the Fire Flex 3 technology

Link?

Nevermind, found it on YouTube. Looks like they went with Olive Drab for 2019.

 

[MS23]

Link?

Nevermind, found it on YouTube. Looks like they went with Olive Drab for 2019.

I really like the 2018 Vet. I hope the 2019 does not disappoint

 

[mvfjet]

I really like the 2018 Vet. I hope the 2019 does not disappoint

Yea mine is my gamer. Whole barrel seems like sweet spot so really don't know how they can make it better with ff3 tech. Hopefully the 26oz comes in at feeling like a very small endload like the 2018 version.

 

[Batalot]

Anyone know about the FF3 midload they have in Canada?

 

[bubz24]

Anyone know about the FF3 midload they have in Canada?

I have one, swings alot like the yellow Baker from last year. Softer barrel and performance is pretty much great right out of the wrapper. It has some weird webbing on it, looks like it's spaced about an inch apart going all around the barrel.

Feels like a Combat to me.

 

[EOD123]

One team we played against didn't sign up for Spring season because they would start testing bats if 1)they lit up the opposing pitcher 2)we call the bat out. This team would hit 400'-450' moon shots up and down the line up. I play with one of the guys on that team and he admitted they're cheaters. I also think it's stupid AF to cheat on league night when most guys are out there just to have fun.

Every league has a team like that. In our league its the team that puts up 35 runs on league nights but refuses to ever play a tournament.

 

[EOD123]

(He was rethreading classic M's with a 52/650 core)

[/QUOTE]

Holy dog ****

 

[4xtra]

(He was rethreading classic M's with a 52/650 core)

A rep from USSSA in this district here in Georgia gave him a 5 year ban and I havent seen that guy since.
His name was on that banned list online.
I dont like Classic M's at all but rethreading balls for a LEAGUE game?
WOW
you gots to be kidding me.
On top of that, they tested all of his bats and EVERY one them failed.
SMH
(I think someone tipped them off because the ball was coming off his bats like a comet)

When I played at the park where he got busted,
We use to game well broken in
Salvo 100's, L1's and L5's and they all hit classic M's very well.
I dont play at that particular park because 75% of them clowns swing glass and the
overall attitude with the players there is the worse I have EVER seen.

 

[Big Lebombski]

I hit a FF3 el recently and it made me a believer.
I honestly didn't like the og too much so I didn't even try the FF2. A buddy picked up the new one and it's a pretty wicked bat.
El is noticeable and crushes 52s. I put about 160 swings on it myself and it hits everything well.
This may be the first time I honestly feel the trampoline effect where the ball explodes off the bat
Love it

 

[BOLTMAN21]

I guess my real point was, new bats like the Fireflex take pretty much no batspeed to hit effectively with. I've swung them and they're idiotic ridiculous. They probably come out of the wrapper at 250 and get down around 220 in 50 swings or less.

Call me crazy, but I honestly feel like a bat is past its peak when it hits 220. I've swung bats at the pass/fail line and they have a really mushy feel, like the walls are flexing so much that they aren't propelling the ball properly. Again, that comes down to batspeed. Guys with slow bat speed are going to think that 220 compression bats are the hottest thing ever.

Its like swinging a senior bat really hard. I don't know what those test at, but they actually hit WORSE if you swing really hard. The ball knuckles off wildly and the bat feels like its folding in half around the ball at contact. Senior bats are made to go under 200 compression. They're made that way to accommodate.... you guessed it.... the lack of batspeed generated by most senior hitters. Couple those bats with a hard ball, and you get guys with piss poor slow swings still going 400'.

YOU ARE CRAZY!!! JK, you asked for it. haha.
I agree with lots of what you said on many bats I have tried. I feel that some bats are better out the gate and progressively lose a bit of pop. Like they broke in and now the barrel flexes too much, causing less rebound when swung too hard. To think, this whole time I thought I was crazy. I don't even swing as hard as many others do.

 

[mvfjet]

YOU ARE CRAZY!!! JK, you asked for it. haha.
I agree with lots of what you said on many bats I have tried. I feel that some bats are better out the gate and progressively lose a bit of pop. Like they broke in and now the barrel flexes too much, causing less rebound when swung too hard. To think, this whole time I thought I was crazy. I don't even swing as hard as many others do.

A lot of my teammates and I felt like this in this last weekend's tournament. 105 degree weather, mushy classic m and already flexy barrels made the ball go no where. I was playing outfield and on some shots that I thought were in the gap they just kinda floated and made for some easyish catches.

 

[crcunn]

I got a FF3 in on a return a few weeks ago and used it twice in BP for no more than 40 swings and it has already started webbing in some places. I would much rather go back to IMX and have to break in a bat and get a good feel for the weighting of it before it ran itself out of compression.

The barrel feels really hot and has that nice soft Easton feel like all the other FF's. Exit velo's were up there with a broken in (~100 swings) Freak Primo on the first swing. But the weighting of the bat felt really weird to me. Yes, I know it is an end-load and I usually swing end-loaded bats, but it feels like there is no counterweight towards the handle to make a nice transition of of the weight. I have a friend that has the FF2 in the same weight and the weighting of the bats feels completely different to me.

 

[Squatchzilla]

I found the FF3 to be pure endload. I can really feel it come around and we all love it.
We are in Canada and are a 52 league and this bat crushes them. If I wasn't swinging a Primo12 I would be using the FF3 no doubt.