What is boning a bat?

Boning a bat or compressing the wood as it's otherwise called has been around for a long time. The simple definition is to compress the wood on the barrel in order to make it more dense. 
In today's game it is a process that can be optimised by the manufacturer with a special machine. But baseball is very much a traditional game and players now are similar to those of back in the day as they continue to use a large dried out bone to compress their bats, hence the phrase “boning” a bats. When a player uses a bat that is denser it will last longer (it won’t splinter or flake as quickly) and it will be a harder piece of wood making the ball come off the bat at a higher speed.

 

Is it against the rules to bone your bat?  

There are no rules against boning a baseball bat. But be careful to not alter the shape of the bat or add too much force when boning as this may cause the bat to break prematurely.  

 

How to bone a bat.  

The original way is to take a large dried out bone and push it down on the barrel of the bat to compress the wood. Go up and down the entire length of the bat, using more force when on the barrel and less when on the bat's handle. 

 

Bat boning technique. 

The best and most simplest technique would be to have the handle in between your feet and on the ground with the barrel between your thighs in front of you. Place both hands on both ends of the bone and use your body weight to press it down onto the barrel. Slide your hand and bone, up and down the barrel. Don’t forget to spin the bat around to get the entire barrel.

 

Alternatives

Allright, so who goes around collecting bone’s nowaday..? Getting access to a large dried out bone can therefore be a challenge. Therefore, another simple but effective menthol would be to use a porcelain counter top or sturdy bathroom appliance that has smooth edges. To bone the bat you would have to press the bat down on this object and rub back and forth. This will create the same effect and compress to compress the wood. 

 

NOT recommended.  

Glass bottles - it goes without saying but if this bottle would break, it would definitely cut you badly. 

 

Side note. 

The technique of “boning” is used mainly for wood bats. Best results will be most noticeable on ash bats because of the wood’s lesser density. However, this technique will work on any type of wood. 
 

Final word. 

When buying a wood bat, do your homework and look around because many bat companies will offer to “bone” or compress the wood for you. If your bat is not boned, be sure to take the time to do so - you will be happy you took the time to do so when you see the results.