Softball bat technology has certainly come a long way from the days when an $80 Louisville Slugger burgundy bottle bat was what every fastpitch hitter dreamed of owning. (Linda Lensch I’m looking at you.)

The materials and construction of today’s bats are designed to maximize distance and power, turning even so-so contact into a potential dinger. At least that’s the promise.

Yet while it’s true that the stiffness of advanced carbon fiber or other materials and “trampoline effect” of the specially engineered barrels do tend to yield better results (all else being equal), there’s one thing they can’t make up for: a poorly engineered swing. That’s something to keep in mind as you start to look at where to spend your money to try to create better results at the plate this season.

I know that $500 bat sure looks tempting in the online ads. These days bat manufacturers are doing a great job of making their bats not only powerful but beautiful.

Heck, a lot of them will let you customize the colors and graphics yourself, which is a wonderful option if you have an eye for that sort of thing and can be a disaster if all your taste is in your mouth, as an old boss of mine used to say. Still, as long as it’s beautiful to you it’s the stuff dreams are made of.

But while they may make your socks roll up and down when you look at the bat, all the pretty colors and cool graphics in the world won’t help when you take it up to the plate and are staring down a pitcher. At that point you’d better know how to swing it.

It comes come down to which you think will work better: a great swing with a cheap bat or a great bat with a terrible swing.

Sure, it’s possible with today’s technology that you can get a few great or at least decent hits with any ol’ swing. All you need to do is get the bat on the ball and the bat will do the rest, right?

That, however, is more of a “hope” or a “law of averages” strategy. Swing it enough times and you’re bound to hit something sometime – or at least you’d assume so.

But the reality is you’ll probably do a lot better making sure your swing itself is in order – that it is sequenced properly, you understand how time a pitcher, you are capable of making the fine adjustments to the swing once you get a better look at the pitch, etc. – before you go spending your limited budget on the shiny new bat.

Think of it like a guitar player. If you go to hear someone play who hasn’t been at it that long, he or she may have a $20,000 Martin acoustic guitar but it’s still going to sound like someone hacking away at an instrument they don’t really know.

But if you go to hear a great guitarist, he or she will draw amazing, mesmerizing sounds out of a $200 special from Sweetwater. Because the tone and technique is in the hands of the player, not the instrument.

It’s the same with that $500 bat you’re coveting. The only way to get the results you want from that big ticket expenditure is to first make sure you know how to use it.

Rather than investing in that fancy new bat, first make sure you’re investing in yourself. Get some lessons from a qualified hitting instructor.

Put in time in the cages to work on what the instructor is telling you. Get comfortable with your swing mechanics and your approach at the plate.

See someone about your mental game if you find you’re great in the cage but struggle in games. In other words, get your house in order.

Then, when you’re sure you’re ready, have at it. Search the Internet or better yet go to a local store or facility where you can try out various bats to see which one feels and sounds best to you – there can be a huge difference even between bats with similar specs.

Then make your purchase knowing you not only have a $500 bat but a $1 million swing to go with it.

By the way, this thought also applies to pitchers and fielders too. Before you go spending money on new gloves or shoes or gimmicks, invest in yourself and what you’ll do with those things first.

You’ll probably like the results a whole lot better.