As a reminder to anyone considering buying a new bat in the near future please be aware that Baseball Australia have indicated any resultant USA Bat regulation compliance implementation would commence in Australia as of 1 September 2019. So if you are thinking of buying a new bat this is the time frame for the introduction of new USA Bat regulations you need to consider.
While the current bat rules remain in place through to 1 September 2019, bats that meet the current standards (BBCOR) will continue to be approved for use as will any bat that meets the new USABat standard. Bats that meet the new USABat standard will feature one of the logos listed below.
USABat is set to replace the BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) and BPF (Bat Performance Factor) as the standard required for bats approved for play in Little League.
Little League and USA Baseball have announced they intend to comply with the new USABat standard from 2018, making all current bats (BBCOR, BPF etc) potentially void in league play in the USA after December 31, 2017.
Early indications here in Australia are that suppliers will need until at least the 2018-19 Summer season to get the new bats to our marketplace, limiting our ability to comply with Little League and other International bodies until the 2018-19 summer season at the earliest.
So while the USA will roll out the new USABat standard in the U.S. from 1 January 2018 it will take some time before Australian bat rules can be changed to comply.
While the teams that win through to the respective 2018 Little League, Junior League and Senior League World Series will need to comply with the new USABat Rules during 2018 World Series Tournament play, they can rest a little easier knowing they will be supplied with equipment on arrival at their respective World Series events.
So the standards to be applied from 1 September 2019 will be:
Senior League (U16) and above – BBCOR remains the standard (No change).
Intermediate League and Junior League – Can use either USA Bats or BBCOR bats.
Little League and below – USA Bats.
For more information from BA please follow this link: