Anderson Rocket Tech Fast Pitch Softball Bat Review - Updated

The Anderson Rocket Tech Fast Pitch was a power hitter’s aid that was about as awesome a bat as there ever has been for those big and strong enough to use it. Unfortunately, that particular player is pretty rare; able to hit pitches thrown by the top pitchers in the game with a bat that had a weight-to-length ratio similar to a slow pitch bat.

The 2005 version is still made for the elite player, but with two advantages that should expand the pool of talent that can effectively use it. It is lighter, with a minus-9 ounces ratio – standard for an elite high performance fast pitch bat. And it has a larger effective hitting area thanks to its new Power Arch design.

The reason, then, that the scores for this bat were not higher is that this bat is still just for the elite player. It is a minus-9 ounces to inches ratio bat and the aluminum wall inside the barrel makes it swing a bit more end-loaded than the typical fast pitch offering. That means it takes a bit more strength to get the bat started and a bit more speed to get the walls to flex.

The smaller girls were excited to try it after watching the bigger, more powerful girls take their swings. Their hands were slow though the weighting helped them get the bat around the best hits were impressive, though less frequent than with lighter models. Even so, many of these girls did not want to put the bat down and said they would use it in a game even though it was a bit heavy for them.

The bigger girls were impressive. Making good contact seemed easy and often resulted in shots deep into the outfield, with many balls going farther than 250 feet for some of the bigger 18U elite and adult coaches taking cuts. The clean crack sound elicited giggles that did not seem to go with the display of line drive hitting.

Besides being impractical for girls with average bat speed, the only drawback as far as the girls were concerned was the tiny knob – a slow pitch design that encourages players to place the knob in the palm of their bottom hand. That grip is seldom used in fast pitch.

Rocket Tech FP is a minus-9 weight ratio bat and has a long barrel with a traditional taper, the shape preferred by power hitters. It is available in 30”/21 oz., 31”/22 oz., 32”/23 oz., 33”/24 oz., and 34”/25 oz. It is ASA, USSSA, NSA, ISF, and ISA approved.

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Rocket Tech Fastpitch
Rocket Tech Fast Pitch

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Article written by Ryan MacDougall