Knob cuffs and bat tape
- Thread starter caustin
- Start date
thats the way i read it too, in the past ive had issues with umpires not liking bat tape over synthetic grip.
rmeeks8137
Addicted to Softballfans
Where the eff do you guys play that you cant use knob cuffs or bat tape?!?!?!
ASA changed the rules for 2011, i play in Texas, utrip as far as i no has always allowed it
LightsoutLions
Active Member
do we have to tape over the knob cuff?
NCASAUmp
Un-Retired
They actually didn't really change anything, they just spelled it out what they meant in 2010 more clearly.
Safety tape has always been acceptable, and any attachment (including knob cuffs) must be securely taped to the bat.
Do you have any specific questions about the rule changes?
Safety tape has always been acceptable, and any attachment (including knob cuffs) must be securely taped to the bat.
Do you have any specific questions about the rule changes?
U
USMChris1984
Guest
i have never heard of NOT being able to use either of these items!
LightsoutLions
Active Member
the grip n rip magnums are awkward to tape all the way over. is it usually ok to just have tape around the bottom of it?
ive had umpires who have made us remove tape from the handle for excess tape and remove cuffs and ya the cuffs have to be secured with tape and no i actually just quit umpiring asa in 2009 so im pretty up to date for the most part, but i umpired fastpitch so its different.
cmo27
Local Celebrity
ASA D Nationals in 2009 Salem, VA.. I had to remove grip-n-rips from all of my bats.. This past year at Columbus they allowed them.. I had my bats ready figuring I needed to remove them anyway and noticed the team ahead of me getting their bats tested had them on several.. When I asked if they are allowed, I was told they changed the "interpretation of the rule" and they are now allowed.. Prior, adding a knobcuff or grip-n-rip was considered altering a bat because it did not come from the factory that way..
irishmafia
Addicted to Softballfans
Don't know where you people have been. To start, it depends on to what you are referring when you say "knob cuff".
A "grip-n-rip" or any other HANDLE attachment is not a "knob cuff" since it has nothing to do with the knob. What many refer to as a "knob cuff" is basically a "Powr Pad" which, as long as all the required bat dimensions were met, have been always legal.
The grip-n-rip type of attachment was never previously allowed until ASA abandoned the 90 degree knob-to-handle angle requirement. This happened in 2009 effective with the 2010 season. While the required method of attachment was loosely worded last year, it was cleaned up this year requiring it the be taped to the handle.
The previous tape layer restriction was in place to avoid building up a flair or handle thickness which effectively defeated the dimension specs required. This, too, was removed effective with the 2010 season.
How anybody who frequents this or any other softball board did not know this is beyond me as it was beat to death for two years.
A "grip-n-rip" or any other HANDLE attachment is not a "knob cuff" since it has nothing to do with the knob. What many refer to as a "knob cuff" is basically a "Powr Pad" which, as long as all the required bat dimensions were met, have been always legal.
The grip-n-rip type of attachment was never previously allowed until ASA abandoned the 90 degree knob-to-handle angle requirement. This happened in 2009 effective with the 2010 season. While the required method of attachment was loosely worded last year, it was cleaned up this year requiring it the be taped to the handle.
The previous tape layer restriction was in place to avoid building up a flair or handle thickness which effectively defeated the dimension specs required. This, too, was removed effective with the 2010 season.
How anybody who frequents this or any other softball board did not know this is beyond me as it was beat to death for two years.
NCASAUmp
Un-Retired
That's correct. In 2009, those flare and cone grips you had on your bat were not legal, so the umpires instructed you to take them off. Perfectly fine and completely correct by rule and procedure.
In 2010, they didn't change the "interpretation of the rule." The rule itself was changed, and bats with flare and cone grips were made legal.
As for the reason you were given, they were close, but not quite. In 2009, the rule read:
It wasn't an issue of whether it came from the factory that way. It was an issue of, well, being explicitly against the rules.
So it sounds like the umpires in both tournaments did what they were supposed to do at the time.
NCASAUmp
Un-Retired
i knew of the change last year but it was cloudy and i sitll had some umps in league who wouldnt allow us to do it i and one instance in a tournament, and by cuff um reffering to the flares not the pads. my intent with this thread was to assure that the new rewording was indeed intended to clear up confusion and make them allowed.
irishmafia
Addicted to Softballfans
U
USMChris1984
Guest
it was pretty simple. people just need to pay attention. WORDS HAVE MEANINGS!
NCASAUmp
Un-Retired
And it's not like this board didn't explode into thunderous celebration when the announcement was made that bat attachments like the knobcuff were made legal!
smarkley3
Certified Trap Hoe
Words have meanings!
OK maybe I am missing something? Do we have to tape over the knob cuffs?
NCASAUmp
Un-Retired
Here's something I posted last year regarding this very question:
http://forums.softballfans.com/showpost.php?p=10573593&postcount=42
ASA slightly reworded the rule this year to better clarify what they had intended in the rule change last year, and those changes are consistent with my statement in the link above.
DEJ13
Addicted to Softballfans
Ok, so I just bought 3 grip-n-rip magnums for my bats. I bought these because (1) it goes over the knob of bat and (2) it has grooves for your fingers. From what I am reading these have to be taped to the bat...is this correct??
DVS DEA
"IGNORANCE IS ANNOYING"
If it has grooves in the knob how do you rotate your bat when you hit? If you just keep hitting on one side of the bat it will get break in unevenly. Just a thought. I just have the plain ones and they work out very well. I also carry extra tape just incase I have to tape over the knobcuff
DEJ13
Addicted to Softballfans
I rotate the bat every time I take an at bat...common sense tells me not to hit the same side of the bat every time...just a thought
