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By Bat Digest | Last Updated March 3, 2021
Some vendors have it one way and some the other. This is not to be confused with the Voodoo Insane or the Voodoo One. The Voodoo Balanced, the subject of this review, comes in a BBCOR as well as a USSSA and USA drop 10 and drop 5. We’ve hit with each of these DeMarini Voodoo’s for 2019 (as we have with the Voodoo line since 2014) and leave below what we have learned.
Not much has changed on the 2019 DeMarini Voodoo Balanced. It’s still a two-piece hybrid bat with a reasonably balanced swing, good barrel profile, and relativity stiffer feel than the two-piece composite world. The bat is very popular and difficult to find but everyone who has ever had the bat loves it. There is another version of this bat that has a heavier swing and a very stiff feel called the DeMarini Voodoo Loaded.
Not much has changed on the 2019 DeMarini Voodoo Balanced. It’s still a two-piece hybrid bat with a reasonably balanced swing, good barrel profile, and relativity stiffer feel than the two-piece composite world. The bat is very popular and difficult to find but everyone who has ever had the bat loves it. There is another version of this bat that has a heavier swing and a very stiff feel called the DeMarini Voodoo Loaded.
In terms of a two piece hybrid bat with a composite handle and an aluminum barrel look how about Slugger’s 718 Select? These bats feel real similar in the USSSA and USA space and comes in a similar size and price.
In the BBCOR realm, we think the most comparable bat is Easton’s new Project 3 13.6 Hybrid. This is a mid to light swinging two piece hybrid. Big barrel and a proven connection piece. But, the 13.6 only comes in a BBCOR.
DeMarini claims to have made some upgrades to the handle in the 2019 version of the Voodoo. Our experience has been that we love both years of the bat line. We couldn’t tell much difference, in our hitting, from the 2018 or 2019 handle. Both feel great on hits and mishits.
The biggest difference is the addition of a drop 5 in the USA Space. A heavier swinging hybrid in the new standard will serve a lot of kids real well–especially those bigger 13 and 14 year old Babe Ruth players that can swing either BBCOR or USA.
The 2019 DeMarini Voodoo (Balanced) is a two piece hybrid bat. Hybrid refers to the fact that it has a composite handle and an aluminum barrel. The handle and connection piece is the same they use on their high end CF Zen and CF Insane lines. It is a decently stiff connection with good durability and a feel that most hitters just love. The barrel is a high grade aluminum that is considered a standard top shelf by most in the industry. More than a few elite college teams and players prefer DeMarini’s aluminum barrel over any other.
To keep consistent ratings across years, models and brands, we’ve devloped an aggregated rating system using 6 categories. As well, we track swing weight (MOI), stiffness and profile although they do not affect the overall score directly. The explanation of each rating is below.
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If you look at the Demarini chart (Mass Index comparison chart) for their BBCOR bats on their website , the Voodoo Balanced has a lighter swing weight than the Zen in a 30″ and the same swing weight as the Zen in a 31″. At 33″, they start to swing heavier than the Zen.
https://www.demarini.com/en-us/bats/baseball-bats/2019-voodoo-balanced-3-baseball-bat
Louisville Slugger is also now listing the Mass Index of their bats for each length. Not sure if you can compare numbers of two different brands, but you can compare within the line-up of a brand.
https://www.slugger.com/en-us/baseball/aluminum-composite/bbcor/solo-619-3-2-5-8-bbcor-baseball-bat
Of course, individual bats will vary.
Good stuff. Thanks. It is crazy how much variation there is among bats and brands and individual bats. We are surprised that online vendors don’t put up more of a fight considering the alternative is to show up in stores and buy it because at least there you can pick the bat up and feel it. Buying a bat online you could get whatever in terms of what it actually ‘feels’ like due to all these discrepancies. We aggregated some of the data you refer to here.
https://batdigest.com/buying-guide/bbcor-swing-weights/
I just wanted to show that in the 30″ and 31″ Demarini Voodoo balanced, the Mass Index is lower, comparatively speaking, than in the 32″ and up. I talked to Demarini and this is by design for younger, smaller players. The 30″ Voodoo balanced swings lighter than the 30″ Zen and the 31″ swings the same as the 31″ Zen. The Voodoo Balanced starts to swing heavier than a Zen at 32 inches. I originally said at 33″. The 30″ Voodoo Balanced is a good option for 13U. The 625 Mass Index number is the same as what Louisville S. lists for the Solo… not sure about calculation accuracies though.
I agree that it’s best to be able to feel and swing a bat to compare, but some bats aren’t available, especially since all the sporting goods stores are gone and in some ares, all we’re left with is Dick’s.
True that. And thanks for the insight. We also live not close to any major store where we can feel each bat. We wish it was more uniform across brands. Seem non-useful for brands to change the proportion they increase/decrease swing weights per inch differently per model. Makes buying online harder than it already is. And with the lack of mom and pop shops, as you note, its too bad. Anyways, thanks for reading and contributing!