THE YEAR OF THE RECOIL

• Posted on 15 October 2019
• By Carl Lemelin
• Posted in 2019, DC41, Miken, Recoil, Slowpitch
• 4

We look back at the best selling slowpitch bat in 2019 across all Baseball Town shops: the Miken Recoil!

Once in a while in the wonderful world of softball, a bat model comes along that is all
the rage on fields all over a given region. This summer in Montreal, that model just
happened to be a Baseball Town exclusive: the Miken Recoil.

The 2019 Recoil is a modernized version of the early 2000’s original. That period in time
marked the beginnings of Miken’s technological revolution in slowpitch bat making and
the Recoil quickly become one of its more popular models.

I was very curious to find out what made this year’s version such a winner. The Recoil
was Baseball Town’s bestselling model of slowptich bats in 2019, a feat we rarely see
happening for an SMU exclusive.

Once again, I went to the best person I know who could answer all my questions and
enlighten us all on any softball related subject, our very own Steven Beauregard.

A REALLY GOOD START

Just like aspiring ball players at camp, slowpitch bats have their own spring showcase to
make themselves known as candidates for a great season: the Baseball Town Demo Day.
All softball players should be on the lookout for this annual event scheduled in March of
every year at our Coup Sûr cages in Laval. Hitters are invited (limited spots available) to
come in and try all the newest bat models.

This year, there was one clear winner within all the feedback received during this great
day of testing. Almost everyone who tried the Recoil raved about how hot the ball came
off its 14”, bright red barrel. Contrary to all other days at Coup Sûr, on our Demo Day
real softballs are fed into our pitching machines, rather than the usual yellow rubber
practice balls. This insures that potential customers get the real feel of bat
performance.

Well, regionally the slowpitch world is small enough that word got around very quickly
about the Recoil’s unanimously successful day and these shiny red sticks started flying
off our racks in following months.

FINDING THAT PRECIOUS BALANCE

You’ll often hear softball players talking about breaking their bats. This has a much
different meaning in softball than in baseball.

In softball, hitters want their bat to be “broken”, because it actually means “broken in”.
The composite which slowpitch bats are made of is layered, and the more balls you hit,
the more these layers start fraying, making the surface of the barrel more flexible. That

flex then allows for a trampoline effect on contact with the ball, thus increasing the
energy exchange and hitting distance.

“From my experience, the Recoil has been my favorite bat since the Worth Legit, Jeff
Hall model”, says our friend Steven, adding: “It breaks faster than most models, but it
maintains its durability.”

That’s the balancing act all manufacturers seek to perfect: a bat that breaks easily, but
doesn’t start cracking at its surface. You want only the inner layers to fray, because bats
are sold with a one year warranty.

As for comparing the Recoil to its Miken predecessor as the brand’s bestseller, the
DC41?

“I found the Recoil’s barrel less stiff than the DC41 and I really like that it has 0.5oz at
the end (Maxload), as opposed to DC41’s full ounce”, explained Steven, “The Recoil
barrel is simply hotter and seems to have a larger sweet spot.”

I can confirm that the feedback from customers on the Recoil has been nearly
unanimous in our stores all summer. It’s been an all-out love fest!

We always welcome customer feedback on any of our products at Baseball Town, so
please don’t hesitate. Whether you do it in person by visiting one of our three stores or
via our many interactive Web options (Facebook, Instagram or baseballtown.ca), we
always appreciate to hear from you all!