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By Bat Digest | Last Updated June 15, 2022
But does the strangely shaped handle compromise the feel of what you are accustomed to and, hence, negate any benefits that may come from the design? The answer is simple: No. The bat is easy to adjust to after just a handful of hacks and you’ll soon wonder why every bat you’ve ever swung isn’t shaped exactly like this one. (The answer, if you’re really wondering, is that Baden Sports/Axe Bats owns the patent).
It’s no secret we are big fans of the Axe handled bat. And in Fastpitch, where ultra fast hands and time in the zone are often more important than raw power, the 2015 Axe Avenge Fastpitch makes at least as much sense, if not much more, than any bat in the space. Every fastpitch hitter looking for a performance two-piece composite with a balanced swing weight should have the 2015 Axe Avenge on their short list.
We’ve reviewed a lot of Axe bats on this blog site. We first took a look at the BBCOR Axe Avenge, then the Axe Phenom, Elite and Element. We also looked at the Slow Pitch Softball Axe bats and then a shout-out to the T-ball bats (which we think are fantastic).
When I first picked up an Axe Avenge bat, several months ago now, I held it backward. I also had serious reservations. But what I quickly found is that it works. No really, it does. (Especially if you hold it the right way). The ax-shaped handle allows your hands to come inside the ball faster which gives you three distinct advantages in hitting a softball:
And faster bat speed with a bat left in the plane of the ball longer with a shorter reaction time all translate into more often and harder hit balls.
The unique shaped handle also forces something else: one sided hitting. The claim made by Baden Sports (who produces Axe Bats) is that one sided hitting is an advantage. They state that knowing which side of the barrel will take on the impact allows their engineers the ability to produce a bat with greater durability and performance. We might think of an analogy like this: If you know exactly where the enemy will strike, you can focus your forces at the point of attack.
To us layman engineers (in the most generous sense of the term) that makes good sense.
The 2015 Axe Avenge Fastpitch bat, like other Avenge bats, is a two piece composite bat with a moderate swing weight. The bat’s two pieces make for a smooth feel on any hit and butter bombs on full contact. Further, the bat is balanced in its swing weight which makes it an applicable bat to the largest market of hitters.
The bat’s proprietary ax shaped handle can increase swing speed, time in the zone and reaction time. All of these benefits improve batted ball speed and, hence, games won.
The overall rating uses seven different weighted metrics to determine our overall score. Half of total rating comes from the player and our exit speed tests (Player Rating: 25%, Performance: 25%).The other categories are Relevance (20%), Demand (10%), Durability (10%), Resell Score (5%), and Tech Specs (5%).
*: When a bat is denoted by a star (*) it is a preliminary rating. Expect it to be updated as we learn more about the bat and gather more data.
(PlaRa) Player Rating: We measure player rating from user reviews. Those users include our own hitters that we test at the lab as well as reviews we find online.
(ExVe) Performance: Performance measures the exit speeds and distances we capture in our hitting lab with HitTrax using these bats.
(Relv) Relevance: We measure the number of sizes and the MOI of the bat. Bats with a wider range of options get a better score.
(Dmnd) Demand: Demand is measured by consumer sentiment and the buzz around the bat.
(Drb) Durability: A bat’s durability is measured by user reviews as well as feedback from manufacturers.
(ReSl) Resell Score: Based on the price the bats go for used. Higher prices mean greater user demand which means, generally, a better bat. A resell value closer to its original price means a higher score.
(Tech) Tech Specs: We rate the bat on its technological advancements from previous years and compared to the industry at large. This is our chance to reward companies who are trying to innovate.
MOI
MOI or Mass Moment of Inertia is a measurement of bat swing weight. This quantifies how difficult it is to swing a bat. The industry often refers to this as things like End Load or Balanced but those words have been overused to the point of meaninglessness. We measure the actual swing weights of each bat we test using the industry-standard pendulum period, balance point, and scale weight. You can read more about that here.
Price
The price is the original MSRP price of the bat.
Type
The types of bats are single-piece alloy (SPA), two-piece composite (TPC), single-piece composite (SPC), hybrid (Hyb.), and wood (Wood). Hybrid bats are made of composite handles and alloy barrles.
Date
The estimated date the bat began distribution.
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