A barrel for a ball bat having a first inside surface and an outside surface, and a first thickness represented by the distance between the first inside surface and the outside surfaces. The first thickness of the barrel is generally uniform except at one or more locations within the ball impact area of the bat. However, the barrel may include one or more than one thick section relative to the uniform thickness of the rest of the barrel of the bat. In addition, the barrel may include one or more than one thin section relative to the uniform thickness of the rest of the barrel of the bat. The shoulders between the thick and/or thin section(s) and the uniform thickness of the remainder of the bat may be relatively abrupt.