Bat
An implement used to strike the ball, from the willow blade of cricket to the rounded baseball bat and, in British usage, the table-tennis paddle.
Definition
A bat is a hand-held implement used to hit the ball, and its form depends on the sport. A cricket bat is a flat-faced willow blade on a cane handle, a baseball or softball bat is a rounded, tapering club of wood or metal, and in British usage a table-tennis bat is the small paddle used to strike the ball.
Each bat is regulated by its sport for dimensions and materials so that it stays within fair limits of performance. The way a bat is weighted and balanced affects how quickly a player can swing it and how much power and control they can generate.
Meaning by sport
This term is used differently across sports:
- Cricket
- A flat-faced willow blade on a cane handle used to strike the ball.
- Baseball
- A rounded, tapering club of wood or metal swung to hit the pitched ball.
- Table tennis
- The small paddle, also called a racket, used to hit the ball (British term).
Where you’ll hear “bat”
Sports that use this term:
Cricket
A bat-and-ball team sport where sides take turns to bat and to bowl and field, scoring runs.
Baseball
A bat-and-ball team sport where two sides alternate between batting and fielding to score runs.
Table Tennis
A fast, low-impact indoor racquet sport that sharpens reflexes and is easy to start.
Explore across the knowledge base
Follow the threads that connect Bat to the rest of SocialSportHub.
Equipment
- Table tennis batA small wooden blade covered with rubber used to hit the ball in table tennis.
- Baseball batA smooth, rounded club used by batters to hit the pitched ball in baseball and softball.
- The racket, blade and rubberWhat the Laws actually regulate about a table tennis bat — the 85% wood rule, the exact thickness limits for pimpled and sandwich rubber, and the pimple density range.
- Cricket batA flat-fronted wooden bat used by batters to hit the ball in cricket, with a curved back that concentrates weight behind the hitting area.
- Pickleball paddleA solid, flat paddle used to hit the perforated plastic ball in pickleball.
Sport categories
Go deeper with Bat
Everywhere else on the platform that covers Bat — assembled from what actually references it, so nothing here is a dead end.
Take it away
Open data and the whole-platform view of this subject.
How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
Evergreen, first-party explanation — it makes no claim that needs an external source. How we handle sources and reviews.