-13.5 OZ Drops & Training Question

[Three A's baseball]

Are these bats detremental to the development of a baseball player or beneficial?

I have a sceond question for the hitting experts. I have a 24' batting cage and I throw BP to my young (6.5) son. I throw the ball on a line from about 15 feet away (give or take). He is about to start the rec season which is machine pitch (30mph) from 40 Feet.

Is his timing going to be completely off and should I change up what I am doing?

Please help

[kylebee]

They're fine - he's still very young. The general rule is if the kid can't pick it up and swing it ten full times without laboring, it's too heavy for him.

[deaconspoint]

3A's, Just my personal opinions and experiences. If I recall our kids are roughly the same age(7-8). I've been the extremely light bat route and here is what I found. They are benefitial in that they allow a kid to swing harder with less effort. That's it. I am not an expert so I can't say that they are detremental expect for personal experience. I don't think they have much to offer other than being lighter.

My experience. My son was 7 and playing rec ball last year. Got him an ultra light composite -13.5oz. He could swing it well and had some good hits. He was able to use a 29" which I thought was a plus. Don't know exactly why. Then things progressed a little. He kind of blossomed that season(last year) and began swinging the bat a lot harder, rotating better if you will. His team had some older 8's who would be moving on and he practiced a lot with some big brother's on other teams. Our coach that seaosn was very good at recognizing the boys who could siwing a little better and would throw a little faster to them during practice and games. On our own time I was throwing harder and harder to my son since he was able to get around and was doing well. That's when I noticed something. He began complaning more and more about sting out of that bat on miss hits and even on some pretty well hit balls. My thought is that the bat had reached it's capacity. The speed of the harder pitched balls combined with the increased speed of his swing had made the collision between ball and bat more than the lighter bat could handle. That's just my opinion and I don't have any scientific study to prove this. I went off the words of a 12 year old cousin who when taking some swings with my son's bat at a picnic with me pitching made the comment, "can this bat handle these balls." Got me to thinking.

We now use a 28" -9oz bat. I pitch as hard as I want and I rarely hear of any pain. Only on miss hits and they are supposed to hurt. Positive feedback right. When he does hit the ball on the spot it is abvious that he added weight produces better results from the collision. Less power traveling back and up the bat and more transferred to the ball.

Hope this is helpful.

Tim

[Three A's baseball]

Guys,

How about my 2nd question:

I have a sceond question for the hitting experts. I have a 24' batting cage and I throw BP to my young (6.5) son. I throw the ball on a line from about 15 feet away (give or take). He is about to start the rec season which is machine pitch (30mph) from 40 Feet.

Is his timing going to be completely off and should I change up what I am doing?

[Jake Patterson]

Guys,

How about my 2nd question:

I have a sceond question for the hitting experts. I have a 24' batting cage and I throw BP to my young (6.5) son. I throw the ball on a line from about 15 feet away (give or take). He is about to start the rec season which is machine pitch (30mph) from 40 Feet.

Is his timing going to be completely off and should I change up what I am doing?

In large field baseball short throwing cage BP is an art. You need to emulate the timing he will see during a game.

With machine pitch there is not much timing to worry about.

[Three A's baseball]

Jake - So what you are telling me is that even though my son is used to BP from short distances during the winter early spring the adjustment to the pitching machine from 40 ft won't be a problem?

[Jake Patterson]

Jake - So what you are telling me is that even though my son is used to BP from short distances during the winter early spring the adjustment to the pitching machine from 40 ft won't be a problem?


What I am saying is there is little to no rhythm when using a pitch machine at the younger ages. Most new coaches just load and go.

When using a machine on the big field or for older players in a cage the coach should pace the rhythm such that it emulates what the batter would see during a game.

[ctandc]

I'll throw in my 2 cents I guess...

BAT WEIGHT - DROP: My boy is 10. Good size for his age (4ft 10, 95-98lbs depending on when he last ate) and he's always swung a 'heavier than average' bat it seems. I started him at 3 with an old wood bat I had for me, I simply cut it down (it was cracked) and taped it up...he carried everywhere like a security blanket or teddy bear. HIS BODY taught him how to swing that lumber...he couldn't just use his hands. At 4 or 5 he graduated to a 28" 20 or 21oz (I can check I still have it) Worth LEAD PIPE. He used that through 2 years of coach pitch. I caught alot of deals on new equipment and we tried Demarini (-12.5?) nope he didn't like it, then this, then that...each time I picked 'em for a song, then usually made a buck or two selling 'em. Finally snagged a -8 30" 22oz TPX Omaha for cheap....all of a sudden no more problem 'waiting on the kids pitching' and hits went further...well duh.

He's been BP'ng with a 30/25 since last Spring, and he now prefers the -5 at 10 (just turned in December) says it 'feels better' when he hits it.

I think it's a matter of this....20 years ago, these ultra-lights didn't exist. And kids made do...and went on to play HS / College and Pro Ball...I still see it....my kid's 12 year old LL team he's on...one of the kids is a MONSTER and he can swing it...I picked up his 'toothpick' and it was a -12 or -13. I put my son's old -8 in his hands, and his first comment "feels heavy". After the first hit went 20ft further than the light bat, his Dad came up to ask me what bat it was...tried to tell him it was the weight, not the 'type' or 'brand'...but next practice the kid was toting the current year model -8 of that bat. And still raping the ball.

So I'd say....the heaviest bat a kid can SWING effectively is the right weight.


BP :

I prefer pitching from the distance a kid will see in game situations...but I may be extreme...even my Frankenstein arm can still bring it pretty good, so I've had coaches / parents in the past use a radar gun on ME so I can get a feel for how much effort = game situation speeds. I also prefer letting the kids see a wind-up / stretch , full motion instead of feeding 'em ball after ball. It's a pace / effort type of deal.

Again just my 2 cents.

[TG Coach]

Are these bats detremental to the development of a baseball player or beneficial?

I have a sceond question for the hitting experts. I have a 24' batting cage and I throw BP to my young (6.5) son. I throw the ball on a line from about 15 feet away (give or take). He is about to start the rec season which is machine pitch (30mph) from 40 Feet.

Is his timing going to be completely off and should I change up what I am doing?

Please help

A kid should swing the heaviest bat he can swing properly with maximum bat speed. Bat speed and mass (the bat) determines how hard the ball will be hit.

[Ursa Major]

I have a sceond question for the hitting experts. I have a 24' batting cage and I throw BP to my young (6.5) son. I throw the ball on a line from about 15 feet away (give or take). He is about to start the rec season which is machine pitch (30mph) from 40 Feet.Three, my feeling is that kids benefit from as much variety in the looks that they can get in hitting a baseball, from hitting off a tee, to short toss, to wiffles, cage work, to live hitting. Your cage work will help get him used to grooving his good swing against something akin to live pitching. Just make sure he gets enough "real" swings to make that timing adjustment you worry about.

Seventy percent of your battle is getting the swing mechanics right. Do it however you can. Kids are pretty adaptable in getting the timing down.

[Three A's baseball]

Thank you for your help.

I start with my son off the tee and we move it around the plate so he can pull the ball, hit the opposite way etc etc.

Then we soft toss with the same agenda. We then do the top/bottom drill when I throw two balls in the air.

I then stand on a bucket and drop balls straight down.

After that I go behind the screen from about 15 feet and give him bp. I mix up speeds the best I can from that distance.

We do this in about 35 minutes to keep it short and fun.

Then we play a game if he hits a line drive to the back of the net it's a point for him and a strike is a point for me. First to 5 wins.

Daddy 7 Alfred 5. We keep stats.

[DunninLA]

One way to tell is to go to an empty field, tee up about 20 balls with a lighter and a heavier bat. Sometimes the heavier bat doesn't hit as far off the tee, since the kid isn't strong enough to swing it.

I think it is a very good idea to practice off the tee, soft toss and cage with a bat 2-3 ounces heavier than the game bat. by mid-season, get (or borrow) a 1 or 2 ounce heavier bat, and so on through the years.

[Three A's baseball]

I just bought a youth model wood bat from DBAT. I was thinking of getting him to start practicing with the wood.

Your thoughts?