Important Rules You Should Know About Fast Pitch Softball Bats

Fast pitch softball bat rules are less stringent than baseball, but just the same you need to be aware of them to avoid legal hassles. Here are some important regulations as well as prohibited practices that you should know about fast pitch softball bats:

Basic Rules. The diameter of at the largest part of a fast pitch bat should not be higher than 2 ¼ inches. The bat length for youth-level games ranges from 24 to 32 inches, and 30 to 34 inches for older-level tournaments. The weight should not exceed 31 ½ oz. These are standard for all organizations.

Certifications. Certification stamps are required before fast pitch softball bats can be allowed for use in many sanctioned tournaments. If a stamp is not clearly visible, the bat may have to be inspected and cleared first by the umpire or a tournament committee. Certification rules may vary among associations. USSSA-sanctioned tournaments, for example, will only allow 2013-stamped and approved bats for play. Other private or smaller organizations, like Big League Dreams, are expected to still allow old USSSA bats.

Please speak with your tournament director about your bat if you are not sure about the tournament rules.

Warm-Up Bats. Warm-up bats need to be stamped with "WB" and "Warm-up bat" under ASA rules.

Illegal Bat Modification.Illegal bat modification cases have been reported many times in baseball and men's soft pitch softball, but the same practices have already made their way to girls' fast pitch softball. Fast pitch tournament organizing bodies, such as the ASA and USSSA, are serious about cracking down on violators, and do not hesitate on slapping heavy penalties which can include fines and/or ban. In late 2000's two cases of illegal bat modification were filed by ASA in which the violators each received a $100,000 fine.

Illegal bat modification is defined as physically altering a bat from its original condition (some organizations actually consider putting stickers on bats as illegal modification). Also called "doctoring", this is done on all types of bats, although much less common on wood. Common illegal bat modification practices include:

Shaving. Shaving the inside of non-wood bats (which are hollow) makes the surface more flexible, and hence enhances the trampoline effect of the bat. This is done by removing the cap from the end of the barrel, and inserting a lathe into the barrel to thin its inner wall. The drawback, however, is that the bat gets more prone to denting and breaking because of the compromised durability.

Another shaving method involves thinning the handle to make the entire bat more flexible. The shaved handle can then be concealed with the reapplication of tape or grip.

End-Loading. A bat with a heavy barrel has a larger moment-of-inertia (MOI). This simply entails that the batter gets to hit the ball farther and faster. Illegal end-loading is done by adding weight to the barrel or moving weight from the knob to the barrel. Out-of-the-wrapper end-loaded bats are, of course, legal.

Painting. Painting is done to make a banned bat look like a legally accepted one. No "surgical" procedure done in this method-only an alteration of the visual appearance. This method requires sophisticated skill and technique to pull off, and many re-painted banned bats can only be detected by side-by-side comparison with an authentic model.

Breaking In. Some people regard Accelerated Break-In (ABI) as a form of bat doctoring. It is a legally accepted practice in which composite bats are submitted to induced break-in techniques so that they reach their maximum performance a lot quicker. This is based on the fact that composite bats get hotter over time.

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