Bat rolling is a process that can add incredible pop and distance to any softball or baseball bat. Everyone knows that bats get hotter after about 500-800 hits. The trouble is, by the time you have put that many hits on the bat it is well on it's way to being worn out. By rolling your bat you can enjoy the bat's maximum potential from the very first swing without putting all the wear and tear on it.

The bat is placed between two rollers and then pressure is applied so that as the bat passes through the rollers the bat's fibers are stretched out. This causes the fibers to become more flexible which greatly improves the bat's trampoline effect when the ball hits it resulting in increased batted ball speed and distance. It will make the sweet spot bigger and much more consistent as well.

Bat shaving is a process that involves thinning out the inner walls of the bat to increase the trampoline effect that happens when a ball hits the bat. This will greatly increase the pop and distance of the bat. When a bat is shaved it should always be rolled first to eliminate any need for break in time with the bat.

Shaving does shorten the bat's life due to the thinner walls. On average you might lose about 15 to 25% of the life of the bat. A lot of people selling bat shaving services merely roll the bat and send it back making you think you are getting something you are really not.

Others do a home shaving job with a drum sander attached to a drill which involves guessing how much material is being removed. This produces a very inconsistent wall thickness which results in less performance and highly increases the chance that the bat will break prematurely. When you see someone charging $85 for bat shaving services you are getting what you pay for. When you get your bat back from one of these guys and you can't tell any difference or the bat breaks within the first 20 swings you'll wish you had paid a little more to have it professionally done.

To properly shave a bat you remove the end cap and place the bat on a lathe. The bat is placed on the spinning part of the lathe and a boring bar is placed inside the bat which removes a fine and very precise amount of material from the inner walls. Shaving does not remove as much weight as most people would think. It usually results in about 3/4's of an ounce of weight being removed.