DANNCO, INC Athletic Outfitters

One of the rumblings around the Coaches’ Clinic in KC this past weekend was a discussion about the new Amateur Softball Association (ASA) rules in regards to composite bats. Dan wanted me to go over how the rules have changed and why you don’t have to worry about the changes.

Essentially, as I understand it, ASA has rules that govern the speed in which a ball can be hit on from a bat. Every bat with the ASA stamp on the bat out on the market meets or is below that standard. Some composite bats have been found to progressively get better the longer they are used, so that they initially pass the test and then come off the bat with more velocity after a few months of use. The ASA has decided that they will add bats that are broken in to their testing so that some bats will not be made again.

However, if you’re looking for a new bat and enjoy composites on the market right now, you still can buy them. The rules won’t change for manufacturers until June, and all the bats that they send out through June will be “grandfathered”, which means that any bat that they ship out before July 1 will be within the governing rules of ASA and you will be free to use them as long as you own them. As Gary from Fastpitch.us said – “At this time, there is no “cease use” date for players and no “cease sell” date for dealers on these models.”

We sell several of these bats on Dannco.com, the Synergy and Stealth are both bats that will give you plenty of power. We have a limited supply of both bats now, and will be receiving a shipment in March to make the bats widely available.

Two days later and we’re still talking about the spectacular finish to the Super Bowl this weekend. New England losing the Super Bowl they seemed destined to win was one more curveball in what was the perfect season for people that love chaos. With a never ending streak of top ten college football teams losing and some unexpected teams really doing really well, the only consistant was that there was nothing consistant in the college ranks. The NFL had at least one measure you could count on, a New England victory every Sunday but even that streak was victimized by the unpredictable with the come from behind Giants win.

Players weren’t the only ones making their Super Bowl debut over the weekend. Among the first time competitors at the Super Bowl was a helmet called the Schutt Ion 4D. Five Super Bowl Champion New York Giants were field testing the helmet during the Super Bowl. The ION 4D is the top of Schutt’s line and features a creative new design which comes with more protection and a more comfortable fit. The first thing most notice is the new look facemask. Instead of one you bolt on the outside of the helmet, the Ion4D has the facemask installed in the helmet to help absorb shock throughout the helmet, and gives a wider, panoramic view of the field.

The Ion4D was really liked by Darren Heitner of the SportsAgentBlog. He calls it “a new football helmet that totally changes the look and feel of any helmet you have ever seen”.

We put the helmet as a featured item along with the Schutt AirXP, another new helmet with Skydex2 padding like the Ion4D to provide a more comfortable, more protective helmet. If you’re interested in the helmet they should be ready in April or May, and if you order now you can be at the top of our waiting list for the first batch.