Anderson Bat Care, Tips, and Frequently Asked Questions

Anderson high-performance, all-metal bats are designed, engineered, and manufactured to improve a player’s performance by maximizing vibrational energy. To complement our design, high-quality raw materials are used throughout to deliver one of the largest effective hitting areas (sweet spot) in the sport. ​

An Anderson high-performance, high-quality bat requires special care. 

An Anderson high-performance bat is susceptible to damage in cold weather (under 60° Fahrenheit). Ball hardness and/or weight (waterlogged) significantly increase in cold/wet climates, and may damage your high-performance bat. ​

Limit your Anderson Bat use to your individual use only. Team use may reduce the life of your Anderson high-performance bat.

Do not hit your Anderson high-performance bat against your cleats. This will damage the finish, and may damage components of the bat.

Do not use your Anderson high-performance bat in batting cages with cage balls. Cage balls are not typically regulation balls, and their increased hardness/compression may damage your high-performance bat. In addition, the use of bat “sleeves” in cages with cage balls may not protect your high-performance bat. Cage balls will void your warranty. ​

Do not hit other than regulation balls with your high-performance Anderson bat. Do not hit softballs that exceed 525 lbs compression. ​

To improve the life and performance of your high-performance Anderson bat, rotate the bat a ¼ turn after each hit. A ball-bat collision results in exert extreme force at impact, and rotating your bat will reduce any flat spots that may occur.​ 

Unlike composite bats, Anderson Single-Wall high-performance bats do not require a break-in period.​ 

Anderson Multi-Wall, high-performance bats have a short break-in period. During this time, your Multi-Wall bat MAY develop Performance Waves in the barrel. These waves are GOOD for your bat, and will ensure maximum performance. ​

Cleaning: Only use a soft cloth, warm water, and mild dish soap to clean your high-performance bat. Do not use solvents or ammonia-based products. These may damage the finish of your Anderson bat. ​

Organization and Association Approval / Markings: Please check with your local organization/association to determine which standard your softball/baseball bat must be in order to be legal for play. Each specific Anderson bat model page on our website has information for each model’s approved certifications. Each Anderson bat displays the marking of its approved certification(s) on the barrel of the bat.​ 

BBCOR stands for Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution. The BBCOR standard applies to non-wood -3 adult baseball bats, and goes into effect for NCAA play on 1/1/2011. For NHFS play, the standard goes into effect 1/1/2012.​ 

BPF (Bat Performance Factor): BPF is the increase in liveliness of a ball hitting a bat … compared to throwing a ball against a solid wall. For example, 20% faster rebound is equivalent to a BPF of 1.20. Several major softball associations have adopted a 1.20 BPF standard for a bat to be legal for official play. Anderson softball bats have been certified by the ASA, ISA, NSA, and USSSA.​ 

ABI (Accelerated Break-In): This certification applies to composite bats. The test attempts to determine the maximum performance of a composite bat through a simulated break-in process. Our position is that this test does not accurately portray the potential for a composite bat to become illegal or dangerous in play throughout the life of the composite bat.

Hyperbole: Certain bat manufacturers use designs or terms to describe the value of their one-piece/two-piece bat philosophies, their aluminum alloy attributes, their composite material, handle and/or barrel flexibility, attempt to define and measure a trampoline effect, incorporate certain aerodynamic attributes in their bats to increase swing speed, incorporate certain handle designs to improve grip, etc. For the most part, these claims simply carry no weight in actual batting performance, or to improve the skill of the player.​ 

Anderson high-performance youth bats are approved for use in AABC, Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, Little League®, and Pony Baseball.​ 

For Warranty information on your specific Anderson product, please visit the Warranty Info area of our website.​​ 

Swing Weight Explained​ 

The debate is almost wholly focused on the overall weight of the bat. There are two schools of thought: swing the lightest bat possible to increase bat speed or swing a heavier bat that increases the available momentum. Both theories are designed to maximize the velocity and thereby the distance of a hit ball. Both theories are based in sound thought as far as they go but both are only part of the picture.​ 

The Drop Weight myth holds that lighter is always better. The problem is that in the guise of simple marketing the bat-buying public was sold this fable by the bat manufacturers with no regard to the disservice it would provide to the young player. The advent of stronger aluminum alloys and better manufacturing processes made lighter and lighter bats possible. As these lighter products were brought to market, the drop weight was a convenient way to differentiate the different new models as the bat weights dropped.​ 

For many years, “new and improved” in the bat industry simply meant that the bat was lighter. Selling the ever-lighter bats as the magic pill that cured every hitter’s ills was like shooting fish in a barrel. However, the cure is likely to kill the patient, especially later in their career where all roads lead to a heavier bat.The delusion that – in terms of overall weight – lighter is always better is simply not true. There is such a thing as a bat that is too light, and – part of that same reality – a heavier bat can be made to swing as though it were lighter.​ 

Considering the physics and physiology involved in the ball-bat collision, there is no real data to support the better performance of a lighter bat, and in fact the opposite is true. Simple application of Newtonian mechanics can supply correct approximations on the effect of weight at each level, but precise details demand the use of continuum mechanics. However, in the interest of keeping Newton out of the debate, it will suffice to say that if all else is equal a heavier bat will, without question, hit a ball further.​ 

A light bat is significantly more important to mid-swing adjustment and more consistent contact rather than more powerful contact. The human musculature has its own speed limit; meaning, just like foot speed, there is a limit to how fast your fast twitch muscle fiber will allow you to move. That means that a bat can be lighter without positively affecting the swing speed. This muscular speed limit allows for the possibility that a bat can be too light.​ 

The primary limitation in bat speed is musculature, and if willing to work anyone can overcome a two or three ounce difference with simple repetition. If you add resistance in those repetitions, not only can they overcome the weight but they can also improve the maximum speed that the musculature can achieve. In the space of just a few weeks a player can adjust to what is viewed as a significant difference in weight based on the myth. This is all assuming that the player has good mechanics. Success that is solely dependent on an ultra-light bat is usually a masking of poor hips-and-hands-to-contact mechanics. It is a Band-Aid, not a fix.​ 

Enhancing the more important mid-swing adjustment to achieve more consistent contact can, without question, be done substantially without lightening the bat.​​ 

Breaking in composite bats​ 

There’s one thing you need to know when buying a composite bat… it must be broken in before gameplay.​ 

Unlike alloy bats, which are ready for play out of the wrapper, composite bats needs to be massaged into game shape. Easiest way to do this is to simply take out a tee or soft-toss pitches and hit between 150-200 pitches. As you swing your new bat just swing about half as fast as you would in a game. Maybe 40 to 50% of your power for the first 100 pitches.​ 

As you get closer to the 200 pitch mark you can then amp up the swing speed. To ensure the bat gets broken in evenly rotate your grip ¼” after each swing. By rotating the bat you’ll get your barrel broken in thoroughly.​ 

DO NOT HIT those yellow dimple balls at the cages. Cage baseballs and softballs with dimples are denser than normal balls and increase the risk of you breaking your bat, not in… but just flat out breaking it.​ 

Finally, avoid using your composite bats under 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Using your composite bat in cold weather will cause it to flex less which can compromise its integrity and result in a crack.