Why Does A Softball Bat Rattle? (& How To Fix It)

If you have played softball a while, you probably are familiar with the rattling sound that can come from the inside of a bat. I remember when I first noticed this, and I was quite alarmed. So naturally, the first step in resolving it was to know why was the softball bat ratting?

A softball bat rattles because some of the glue from the endcap or a small connecting piece has fallen off to the inside of the bat. This causes the bat to rattle like a small piece of rock or a part of the barrels inside moving around.

In most cases, it’s part of the endcaps glue that has chipped off and can’t get out as it is trapped on the inside of the barrel. Also, composite bats need a breaking-in period that takes at least a couple hundred of hits.

Breaking in means that the composite bat’s inner walls are flexing, which can cause a small piece to come off and produce a rattling sound.

Now that you know why a softball bat can rattle, it’s important to know whether it is bad in any way?

Related: 11 Best Softball Brands: The Queens Of Softball

Is a Rattle In a Bat Bad?

When you hear the rattling noise from inside the bat and don’t know what it is, you immediately start to think whether it is a bad thing and if the bat is broken?

In general, the rattling noise in a bat isn’t bad, and it doesen’t mean that it’s broken. However, softball associations state that a rattling bat is illegal, which is bad. Most umpires don’t care about a rattling bat, but you can contact the seller for the warranty as it should be covered.

Most sellers and brands have a warranty that covers a rattling bat. However, there are always some conditions regarding whether it will still be within the warranty. Some of the most common ones are:

• You can’t alter the bat in any way
• Bats used as a team
• You can’t use them below the temperature of 60°F (15°C)
• You can’t hitterms of Warranty
• Bats are purchased from non-authorized dealers or individuals.

• That being said, if you notice the rattling sound quite early, you can appeal to the warranty. If the seller refuses, you can say that you aren’t allowed to play with the bat as it is illegal to use a rattling bat, even tho most umpires see it as a regular thing in bats which it is.

That being said, if you notice the rattling sound quite early, you can appeal to the warranty. If the seller refuses, you can say that you aren’t allowed to play with the bat as it is illegal to use a rattling bat, even tho most umpires see it as a regular thing in bats which it is.

Oh, and your league doesen’t matter, so you can appeal whether you play in USAS (ASA) OR USSSA leagues.

All things considered, rattling isn’t something you should usually worry about, as most softball and baseball bats start to rattle sooner or later. If you want further information about the warranties from brands such as Rawlings, Easton, Miken, and Worth, you can find it here.

How to Reduce the Rattling In a Bat?

The rattling noise inside of a bat can start to be irritating at some point. Thus, you might want it removed, but how can you do that?

You can reduce the rattling in a bat by removing it altogether. Bat rattle removal services often cost between $20 to $30, or you can remove it by yourself. You can remove the rattling from a bat by taking the endcap off and pouring the loose materials inside the barrel.

To give you a great example of service, Big Dawg bats offer a great bat rattle removal service. I like how this bat removal operates as you need to ship your bat to them, and they will remove it there. Therefore, you don’t need to travel far away to remove the rattle if you don’t know how to do it yourself.

To learn more about the shipping costs of a bat and different couriers, take a look at my helpful article about it.

If you prefer doing it yourself, there are many wrong ways and a couple of great ways to do it. In essence, you should do it without damaging your bat, especially when your softball bat is expensive.

To get a good idea of how to do this yourself, take a look at this video provided by Big Dawg.

How Do You Know If Your Softball Bat Is Broken?

As relieving as it’s to know that rattle in a bat doesn’t mean that it’s broken on its own. But what does?

You can determine whether a softball bat is broken by looking at whether it is bent or have any cracks or dents. Also, a broken or loose endcap can decrease the bat’s performance to be considered broken. If you find that your bat is broken, you should contact your seller about the warranty.

As many things can make a bat unusable, you should know why that is. Let’s start with a bent bat.

1. Bent bat

If the bat is bent, meaning it isn’t straight anymore, it will drastically affect your performance. Think about it: when you swing the bat, the trajectory from your hands to the end of the bat isn’t straight, making you miss many pitches.

2. Cracked bat

When a bat has a crack on it, it can mean that it is broken, or you shouldn’t worry about it.

Generally, most ”cracks’ are called webbing. Webbing is paint crack that doesen’t affect the performance of your bat. In fact, it is often a good sign in composite bats as the bat has flexed and properly broken in.

Cracking (webbing) happens only on composite bats and often when a bat has a dual-barrel construction, meaning the outer barrel is softer than the one-barrel construction bat.

However, these cracks will become bigger over time, and after a certain point which isn’t often far, the bat will break, and you’ll know when that happens. As a general rule, monitor the bat’s performance, and when you see a decrease in it, the bat has gone bad.

3. Dented bat

Denting, on the other hand, happens only on aluminum (alloy) bats. You don’t need to break in an aluminum bat, which means that all dents are very bad for the bat.

When you swing your dented alloy bat, and the ball hits on the dent, it will probably fly so far from where you aimed that it’s lucky if it remains within the borders.

The dents on an aluminum bat can be repaired like you would repair a dented car, but this depends on the dent. Also, if the bat is old, there will be new dents all the time, which means that the bat is broken.