Tag Archives: sweet spot

Worth 454 Titan: SB454U From a Softball Guys Perspective

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Hello everyone, my name is Michael, and my peers affectionately call me softball guy because I play in a tournament almost every weekend. Do to this teasing, I have been asked what bat I swing and why?  So today I’m going to talk about the Worth 454.  To be precise, I swing the Worth 454 Titan: SB454U, but have swung all the 454’s slow pitch bats and liked them all.

So what factors guide me in picking a bat?  Several factors come into consideration when I pick out a bat.  First, how hot out of the wrapper is it?  Second, where on the barrel and how big is the sweet spot?  Third, how long does it take to break-in the barrel to reach peak performance? These factors are the same for all my friends that play and probably the same for you.

So now you know what I consider before getting a bat, the answer to why I swing the Worth 454 Titan: SB454U is simple.  The main reason and the only one that any softball guy really cares about is performance.  The answers to the above questions, yes it comes out of the wrapper nice, the sweat spot is big and around the 4 and 5 on the barrel graphics.  Break-In takes about 150 to 200 cuts.   As far as peak performance goes, I’ll have to let you know as it keeps getting hotter every time I swing it.

Miken Ultra II USA Senior Softball

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The Miken Ultra II is a bat that will never have competition. Everyone tries, but it seems to be the standard everyone is still chasing. Not only is the performance 20 ft better than the competition, it has a feel that is even better. Great weight offerings and a huge sweet spot. You just don’t see anyone in Senior Softball swing anything else!

Geometric Perfection – The DeMarini CF5

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If you’ve had a conversation over the past 5 years about the hottest bats in baseball or softball, you’ve likely talked about the DeMarini “CF” bats.  Starting with the CF3 that was first released in 2007, these bats have left a permanent mark on the sport.  After players with a CF4 spent the past two seasons dominating their competition, it was time for DeMarini to up their standards even further.  This year, the release of the CF5 was met with acclaim and skepticism alike.  There were those that just knew that this bat would be even better than the last, and then there were those that were convinced that there was no way a bat could get hotter than the 2011 CF4.  The latter was in for a surprise.

Science.  That’s what makes the new CF5 great.  DeMarini’s new TR3 Strut Composite mimics the structure of crystals which are one of the strongest and most stable compounds on earth.  The triangular formations found inside the barrel create a fixed ratio of sides and angles to create unwavering stability.  This concept allows the CF5 to be one of the lightest and strongest bats DeMarini has ever created… with the biggest sweet spot known to man.  Because of the strength of these bats, there will be a break-in period of a few hundred swings before it reaches its full potential, so don’t get discouraged.  This is actually one of the best things about the CF5, it keeps getting hotter the longer you use it, yet it is still resilient enough to maintain its strength.  It doesn’t matter what level of baseball or fastpitch softball you play, there is a new DeMarini CF5 just waiting for you to experience its awesome power.

2012 Rawlings Plasma BBCOR

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In 2010 Rawlings introduced the 5150 BBCOR using a different technology than most manufacturers.  They use a variable wall thickness to allow their bats to meet BBCOR specifications.  Many other manufacturers simply bulked up the walls of their bat or inserted a ring to keep the barrel from flexing.  The variable wall thickness that Rawlings developed allows the bat to have the maximum barrel flex and to have better “pop” away from the sweet spot.

That technology was passed along to the 2012 Plasma BBCOR bat from Rawlings.  The Plasma is made with a lower grade metal, but it sports the same technology that made the BBCA one of the most popular BBCOR bats in 2011.  The BBCA was even used by the NCAA National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.  Because the Plasma is built with the lower grade alloy it allows Rawlings to offer it at a cheaper price.  But, because it’s built on the frame of the BBCA, it allows you to have the most advanced and best performing BBCOR bat in your hands.

I recently got a chance to swing the Plasma and I have nothing but good things to say about it.  First, for a relatively cheap BBCOR bat it has graphics that make it look like it could cost $300.  Second, I noticed that this bat is very balanced.  It has nearly the same exact feel as the 5150.  Lastly, this bat performs as well as any BBCOR I have hit.  It has a balanced feel and the ball really jumps off this bat.

All of that said, this bat still comes in at a great price point.  I don’t see any disadvantages to buying this bat to use in a world where all of the bats have to perform to the same standards.  I didn’t hit enough balls to tell you anything about the durability and I imagine you will get more years out of a bat with better alloy, but if you’re a customer that buys a bat a year this one will perform with the best of them and you could afford to buy 2 or 3 over the span of a few years.