You have probably heard the word “juicing” when people talk about sports. It is a huge thing in bodybuilding or athletics and probably every other sport, even though we might not hear about it often.
As you might have guessed, “juicing” is slang for taking illegal substances to increase an athlete’s performance. There are millions of ways and different drugs that promise a huge increase in performance. This goes hand in hand with a lot more fame, more money and prestige, better sponsoring deals etc. A better performance equals a better life in this industry. And given that the human body is a biological phenomenon, it seems logical that taking pills or other substances can increase performance.
BUT did you know that you can also juice your bat? You read that right. There are ways to increase the performance of your bat quite drastically.
Of course this does not work by rubbing some secret liquid on your beloved baseball bat. Bat juicing works differently.
How exactly I will tell you in this post, so keep on reading.
What does bat juicing do?
I have already told you that bat juicing increases the performance of your bat massively. But what exactly happens when you juice your bat?
No matter which way of bat juicing you choose to do, bat juicing on average increases the distance of your hits by 10 to 40 feet. This means that bat juicing can give you those few extra feet you need to hit more home runs. This can be the difference between winning championships and losing them.
Bat juicing moreover increases the sweet spot of your bat, which is where you have the trampoline effect takes place. It is the part of the bat, where it has the most power when you hit the ball. A bigger sweet spot makes it easier to hit the ball perfectly and transfer the maximum amount of power into the ball. This of course also results in greater distance etc. You know the drill.
How do you juice your bat?
Now that you know what bat juicing does, let’s talk about how you can juice your bat.
There are three ways to improve the performance of your bat. These are shaving, rolling and end-loading.
Let’s take a closer look at these different ways.
Shaving
The idea behind shaving a baseball bat is to decrease the thickness of the barrel.
Why would you want to do that?
A thinner wall of the barrel increases the sweet spot substantially. It moreover increases the trampoline effect the bat has. This means that the bat will transfer more power into the ball than normally, which in turn means that you are going to hit further.
Thin walls are super effective, which is why high-quality bats often have super thin walls that are sometimes even strengthened with carbon fibres. Manufacturers know that thin walls give you a big advantage, but they only use carbon in their flagship bats. If you are not willing to spend a few hundred bucks for a bat, shaving could be the way to go.
Just understand, that shaving your bat decreases the durability.
If you want to shave your bat, make sure to find a professional who knows his job. Shaving a bat is only possible with a lathe where the bat is mounted on, so that the inside of the bat is being shaved.
Of course you have to remove the end cap before the shaving process. After the shaving you need to put a new end cap onto the bat. I would recommend to glue the end cap onto the barrel using epoxy. Make sure to give it enough time to harden properly.
Rolling
Rolling your bat is another option to juice your bat. This process also increases the pop of the bat. Rolling is used to compress the fibres and break-in the bat, which increases the performance.
In order to roll a bat you should also consult an expert. The bat will be rolled in a vise to compress the fibres.
One thing to notice is that alloy or metal bats are not suitable for the rolling process. You need to have a composite bat in order to profit from rolling your bat. If you used an alloy or metal bat, it would just be dented afterwards.
End-loading
End-loading is probably one of the most effective ways to juice your bat. End-loading your bat increases the swing weight drastically and by this also increases the power of the bat. More power equals greater distance which equals more homeruns which equals more wins. Pretty simple right?
The swing weight increases drastically, as you put more weight to the end of the bat. Physics handle the rest. The static weight might not increase much, but the bat feels much heavier to swing. So watch out. You might want to add 20g to the end of the bat, as it does not feel heavy at all statically. But the effect on the swing weight can be enormous and you might get injured much faster.
End-loading mostly works by putting Polyurethane into the end of the bat. For this to work you need to remove the end cap of course, before you insert the Polyurethane.
As a general rule, always start small. Even a small increase in weight is noticeable. And it is always easier to add more weight than to take weight away.
After applying the Polyurethane, make sure to give it at least one day to fully dry before you put a new end cap back on.
Is bat juicing legal?
Bat juicing per se is not illegal in contrast to juicing your own body. So get started and juice your bat in any possible way!
Jokes aside, even though bat juicing is not illegal, you should absolutely consult your league or association before you use a juiced bat during an official league game.
Generally you need to make sure that your bat does not perform above the maximum allowable performance threshold. At least this is the rule for bat rolling.
Bat shaving is generally not allowed. That means if you want to take advantage of thin walls, you need to get a high end bat that has been strengthened with carbon.
Furthermore you should consider that bat juicing does void the manufacturer’s warranty and most likely also decreases the lifespan of your beloved baseball bat.
I hope that you liked my post and that it was of help for you. Feel free to leave a comment to tell me about your experiences with bat juicing.
Get home safe,
Jan