Homerun Derby Bats offers two forms of bat rolling: traditional and heated. The major difference between traditional rolling and heat rolling bats is the level of break in achieved through the rolling process. If you’re not sure which way to go, the question to ask is, “how far broken in would you like the bat?” Traditional or heated rolling by itself will not fully break in any bat. Speaking in general terms, most bats traditionally rolled will be ~ 75% broken in. Heated rolling will be around ~ 90-95% broken in. If you do not have the time to take some BP or do some light tee work to finish off the process, heated bat rolling is the route to go.
Heated rolling is a rolling process where heat is applied to your bat to further facilitate break in. To be clear, heat rolling or rolling in general does not add distance, performance or open up the sweet spot anymore over a stock bat that was not rolled and is broken in. Anyone contradicting these claims as being true has no idea what they are talking about, which should be a clear indicator it is probably best to look for another bat doctor to use. When done properly, heat rolling baseball bats can vastly decrease the amount of break in needed. Our Stadium service comes with the heat rolling application and is one of the driving forces behind why these products are on fire right out the gate. Read any of the reviews and you will see this is a common theme.
Heated rolling is a time consuming process and is more an art vs. a science. Most bats require heat to be applied at different intervals in the rolling process and requires a much longer run through the bat rolling machine. If you think about it, applying heat to anything makes it more pliable. Same with softball / baseball bats. The heat in essence loosens up the resin in the fibers allowing the wall to flex a little more. With this additional flex, the bat must be heated and cooled (yes cooled) in different stages to ensure the fibers are breaking down vs. just flexing. This process is repeated multiple times until the desired effect is achieved. The end result is a more evenly broken in bat vs. traditional bat rolling that will start producing sooner rather than later. There are misconceptions out there claiming heated rolling is a gimmick with no additional benefit. Any bat doctor making this claim has absolutely no idea how to roll a bat or knows the science behind how bats are constructed. We would not offer a service that does not serve any benefit to the consumer. We understand some take a lot of BP and some do not have the time. Knowing the differences between rolling styles is key to understanding what you are purchasing as well as setting the expectation of what to expect.
For more information on bat rolling, click the links below. These will take you to our blog posts on bat rolling and some popular topics on the subject
https://homerunderbybatsonly.com/blog/bat-rolling-and-durabilitydoes-it-really-diminish/
https://homerunderbybatsonly.com/blog/rolling-shaving-alloyaluminum-bats/
https://homerunderbybatsonly.com/blog/bat-compression-scores-and-the-bamboozaling/