USSSA Fastpitch Softball Bat Marks & Grandfathering Rules

Effective January 1, 2012

Have the new permanent¹ USSSA Mark on its taper OR
Have the old permanent¹ USSSA mark OR
Be a Wood Bat
ALL of the above must be manufactured by an approved USSSA Bat Licensee

Effective January 1, 2014^{2 (NEW)}

Have the new permanent¹ USSSA Mark on its taper OR
Be a Wood Bat
ALL of the above must be manufactured by an approved USSSA Bat Licensee

¹USSSA marks and other graphics of the bat must be applied permanently and must be applied by the USSSA licensed manufacturer. No stickers or decals are allowed and no one may add graphics to a bat once manufactured. Use of a bat with graphics not applied by the manufacturer will be use of an altered bat and subject to suspension under the USSSA Altered Bat rules. In addition to being violation of the USSSA Altered Bat rules, any use, creation or application of a USSSA mark without written permission of USSSA is a violation of Federal Trademark law and may result in prosecution by USSSA. If you have any concern about the person selling or providing you a bat, do not accept the bat, because you will be held responsible for any bat you bring into or use in a USSSA facility.

²For USSSA Fastpitch Softball Only. As a result of manufacturing delays in fastpitch softball bats with the new USSSA mark on the taper, USSSA has extended the grandfather period for using old mark (“USSSA 1.20 BPF”) from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2014. This extension applies only to USSSA
Fastpitch sanctioned play and does not apply to USSSA Slow Pitch sanctioned play.

Bat Testing

USSSA has implemented new rules for the testing of baseball and softball bats before a manufacturer can license a bat with USSSA. Current bats can improve with use, abuse, internal damage or by intentional altering and that improvement can exceed the BPF (Bat Performance Factor) limit for bats set by USSSA. Externally damaged bats even under current rules may be removed from play by umpires or directors. Bats that improve beyond the BPF limit cause a competitive imbalance in the game, can cause serious injury to participants and is unfair to those who have bats which comply with the USSSA BPF limit during the useful life of the bat.

Under the new rules a bat will no longer be licensed for USSSA play if it can ever improve in performance beyond the BPF limit (1.20 for softball and 1.15 for baseball) during its useful life. In addition, under the new rules manufacturers must demonstrate to USSSA that bats that are easily altered to mprove the BPF will show dramatic visible damage or otherwise become unusable. If the bat meets the new rules in lab testing, authorized USSSA manufacturers may add the new USSSA mark to the taper of the bat. Bats with the old USSSA mark are being phased out and for fastpitch the phase out period will last until January 1, 2014. Even if a bat with the new mark passes the tests in the lab, the bat model may still be removed from USSSA play if it proves to be one which exceeds the BPF limit during actual play without showing dramatic damage. January 1, 2014 there will no longer be a list of legal fast pitch bats, just rules which require the bats be made by an authorized USSSA manufacturer and have the new mark of the taper or be made of wood. There is no such illegal bat list at the current time. However, if a bat with the new mark is ultimately found to be illegal during play by the explanations stated above then USSSA will begin a list of such bats. For a more extensive review of the rationale behind these rule changes, please

Updated 11/21/2012