Bat Rolling Machines 101

What type of bat rolling machines are there?
The preferred rolling machine is a perpendicular type Bat Rolling Machine. During our 8+ years of rolling we've found this method to provide the best results. A Parallel Bat Rolling Machine can roll your bat Perpendicular or Parallel. Parallel rolling allows you to roll your bat faster but if done incorrectly could put too much stress on the barrel of the bat if not properly done. One of the biggest issues with Parallel rolling by inexperienced bat rolling companies are that softball and baseball bats are designed to be compressed in small areas similar to hitting a ball. Our ULTIMATE Bat Rolling Service is GUARANTEED to give you the best results.

Update -  There are some inexperienced companies claiming they will ONLY roll your bat Perpendicular AND Parallel. They are claiming this will give you Optimal results. I challenge any of those companies to provide hard proof that this does in fact help the rolling process. You will hear them say the 9-10 companies now use this method. This is TOTALLY untrue. Contact us and I can give you a list of what type of rolling each company uses. Most experienced bat rolling companies will primarily roll your bat Perpendicularly. The only time I would recommend Parallel rolling would be on some Big Barrel and newer aluminum baseball bats. The tapper of these bats makes perpendicular rolling more challenging. Our ULTIMATE Bat Rolling service uses the Perpendicular method and in a few select cases we will roll via the Parallel method (but this is not the norm). These other companies may have many videos and articles telling you Perpendicular followed by Parallel is best. Perpendicular rolling most closely resembles the impact of a softball and that what composite bats are designed to accept. They are not designed to accept a 6 inch impact on the barrel. It  may put too much stress on the barrel and could cause it to crack much sooner than if it was ONLY rolled with a Perpendicular Rolling Machine.

Can you briefly explain your bat rolling process?
Most companies determine the maximum rolling pressure and start at that pressure. This is not the way to compress the bat and usually causes durability problems and also potentially causes your paint to spider web prematurely. We roll all bats in 3-4 progressive compression points (depending on the type of bat). After we've rolled your bat it will have 250+ passes through the machines. Our Ultimate Bat Rolling process takes longer than those charging less but we want you to be happy so we don't cut corners. We DO NOT heat your bat before rolling since it does not provide any additional benefits. In fact it actually hurts the rolling process.

Why should I roll my bat?
When rolling a bat, it's placed between two rollers of a bat rolling machine and then pressure is applied so that as the bat passes through the Bat Roller the bats fibers are stretched out and the resin holding the layers together is broken down. On aluminum bats the aluminum barrel material becomes a little more flexible after rolling. The is the same thing that happens as you take hours of batting practice. This causes the fibers to become more flexible which greatly improves the bat's trampoline effect. This trampoline effect is what produces the batted ball speed and distance. It will also widen the sweet spot of the bat which will make you a more consistent hitter.

Will rolling my bat shorten it's life?
No, when we finish rolling your bat it will have the same durability it did before rolling. It will however be performing at its highest level of performance.

How will rolling effect a bat that already been rolled?
Even bats the have been used will benefit from our rolling process. We get bats in every week that have 300-400 hits on them and after we get the bats back to the owner they are very surprised with the results. In most cases you haven't properly broken your bat in and after a good rolling your bat will performance at it's highest potential.

Is bat rolling legal?
We recommend you consult the rules for your particular association or league. Our thought is yes it is legal since most associations are now testing bats after they roll the bat.

What type of bats can be rolled?
Any aluminum or composite bat can be rolled to increase the performance. This includes Softball bats (Fastpitch or Slowpitch) and Baseball bats (2 1/4", 2 5/8" and 2 3/4' barrels). Aluminum bats in general do not benefit as much as Composite bats but will benefit somewhat. Independent tests have shown Aluminum bats will gain between 10-20 feet distance by rolling. Double wall aluminum bats are better than single wall aluminum.

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