A little more than a year after the NCAA proposed a ban on composite-barreled bats, the National Federation of State High School Associations has announced a moratorium of its own. The NFHS Baseball Rules Committee now forbids the use of the composite bats. The new rule will take effect for the 2010-2011 school year and remain in effect until the bats can meet the Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution (or BBCOR) standard of performance.

Tests were performed at the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and showed the effect bat rolling can have. The NFHS release stated: "Rolling the bat isn’t the only problem. Rolling only speeds up the performance enhancement that would occur over time after normal use. Even composite bats that were not altered will eventually see this increase in performance, and the rules committee views that as a major concern."

Just like the college rule, bats with composite handles and tapers are still legal.

The safety of metal bats in high school baseball has been in question for some time, but the topic got national attention this spring when Gunnar Sandberg, a righthander from Marin Catholic High in San Anselmo, Calif., was struck in the head by a line drive. He was placed in a medically-induced coma for several days. He has since been released from the hospital and gone through extensive rehab.