2017 Anderson Rocketech Review

By Bat Digest | Last Updated June 15, 2022

Those looking for a lot of barrel per swing weight should look elsewhere. As well, those who want maximum performance along the length of the barrel should probably lean toward a composite barrel.

Price Check

2017 Rocketech Video

2017 Rocketech Video

2017 Rocketech Models

The Rocketech from Anderson, aside from the Techzilla, may be their most popular bat. After several hours in the cage and on the field, as well as some emails back and forth with Anderson corporate, we are prepared to present our 2017 Anderson Rocketech Review. You may also find our 2017 Anderson Bat lineup helpful.

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General Recomendations

Recommendations for the Rocketech in the slowpitch and fastpitch bat space are similar. As a dual walled aluminum bat with an end load, the bat will find its sweet spot of hitters in those who prefer a bigger hitting bat with near perfect durability. Those who play a lot in cold weather will like the bat that much more as it has no risk of cracking like composite barrels. For aluminum, it has an enormous barrel. The dual wall design helps a lot with hand sting, too.

You may recall, the 2016 version in the fastpitch space won our best fastpitch bat in cold weather, and if we had to choose today, the 2017 Anderson Rocketech would win again.

Model Recommendations

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Comparable Bats

In the slowpitch and fastpitch space, we have yet to find a dual walled aluminum alloy bat aside from the Anderson Rocketech. That means the Anderson Rocketech slowpitch is built like no other bat out there. If that is a good or bad thing, time will really tell. In theory, at least, it should be the most durable slowpitch and fastpitch bat on the market.

Previous Models

In fastpitch, the bat is released in a 31 through 34-inch length with a drop 9. The drop, you should know, is the numerical difference between the length of the bat in inches and the weight of the bat in ounces. For example, a 33-inch drop 9 will weigh 24 ounces. Such is the case with the Anderson Rocketech fastpitch bat.

Slowpitch bats come in a 34-inch length. The weights are a 30, 29, 28 and 27 ounces.

Construction

In fastpitch, the major upgrade is a more durable end cap. This reinforcement only adds to the already remarkable durability of the 2015 fastpitch Rocketech.

The slowpitch Rocketech is a brand new bat altogether. Really, there is no other old school Anderson bat this is designed after, in the slowpitch space. We suspect Anderson saw the success of the Rocketech in fastpitch and thought it would translate well into slowpitch.

Overall Ratings

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.