Opinions on New Bat for my Son

[NewbieBBDad]

Currently my 9 year old 4' 2" son swings a 29" -7, an old $20 cheap bat from Target or Wal-Mart, I forget which. I know it seems pretty heavy compared to most bats but at the batting cages he does really well with it, and decent even on the 60 mph speed setting. Strong little guy with quick hands I figure. My son favored the heavier bat because it stung less that the lighter ones when he would mishit.

In games, he makes pretty good contact with this bat but the balls just seem to die on what otherwise look like smoking line drives to the outfield. A friend mentioned maybe he is getting too much backspin and like a golf ball contact with the turf seems to kill the forward momentum.

I'm not so sure because other kids on the team who don't seem to swing as fast but use lighter bats seems to get more pop. So I'm thinking maybe I should get him a light gameday bat but still use the heavier bat for batting practice.

Well, I can't afford an expensive bat but I found a Rawlings Arsenal 31" -13.5 on sale. I'm thinking, yes it is 2" longer but 4.5 oz. lighter than his old bat. I think he'll swing it as fast if not faster than the old steel clunker. Also, there are times he swings so quick or mistimes the pitch that he hits it off the end of the bat so the 2 extra inches would help there.

But I've never really paid too much attention to bats, just really focused on his mechanics. I just feel maybe I am cheating my son a little bit with the cheap bat, I think having him get better performance with the bat is worthwhile for his self esteem.

What do you guys think? Will a lighter bat sting more? Will it really perform better? Thanks for your advice and opinions as usual! :waving

[Jake Patterson]

What do you guys think? Will a lighter bat sting more? Will it really perform better? Thanks for your advice and opinions as usual! :waving
At nine years old stay cheap and comfortable. A nine year old can't swing hard enough to fatigue the metal, even on a cheap bat.

[merdon133]

I would stay with something in the -9 to -10 range. and if you want to spend the money go with the Anderson Techzilla ( hottest youth bat around) or the Combat.

Anderson web site
Read and you'll see! plus a 30 day return policy if you don't like it!

http://www.messageboard.andersonbat.com/forumdisplay.php?f=5

Lots of good news on this bat as well

Combat

http://www.combatbaseball.com/products.aspx?listingid=16


go to just bats www.justbats.com

[NewbieBBDad]

Well, it's just something about the old bat that seems to make balls die. Maybe it has a really small sweetspot because sometimes I see my son hit what looks like a good line drive but then he is shaking his hand from vibration/pain.

Decided to test some soft toss with a friend's bat and it seemed the ball was flying out much faster. Could be I have a real clunky bat here.

[merdon133]

How old of a bat? you know you could look at places like play it again sports or ebay, sometimes even in the league people are selling bats. Like I said if you're buying a high dollor bat go with Anderson!

Also sounds like he might be opening his front shoulder a little early, based on your comments of hitting of the end of the bat

[Jake Patterson]

Well, it's just something about the old bat that seems to make balls die. Maybe it has a really small sweetspot because sometimes I see my son hit what looks like a good line drive but then he is shaking his hand from vibration/pain.

Decided to test some soft toss with a friend's bat and it seemed the ball was flying out much faster. Could be I have a real clunky bat here.

The bat will fatigue at some point. Check the bat for micro-cracks with a magnifying glass. if you see any the bat is probably spent. Most youth bats however are rated for many thousands of hits and don't tend to fatigue over the period of time the youngster will be using it.

[Baseball gLove]

The reason your son's hits die on the grass is because he is using his arms instead of his body to swing. It sounds to me from what you describe that he is a strong kid. I would let him stay with a heavier bat and teach him to keep his back elbow more connected to his back hip and to initiate his swing with his hips instead of his hands. I would stay with a 29 inch -9 even a -7 bat. The Easton Rampage is very reasonably priced. My son is 7 years old, but he is 4'6" 85 lbs and swings a 29-19.5 bat.

[Jake Patterson]

The reason your son's hits die on the grass is because he is using his arms instead of his body to swing.

I am uncertain how you could determine this without seeing a clip of him hitting.

[merdon133]

My son is 7 years old, but he is 4'6" 85 lbs and swings a 29-19.5 bat.

That's a big boy! my son is 4'6" 80lbs and he's 9yo

WOW! keep feeding Meats and potatoes

[TG Coach]

The bat may be past it's prime. There are plenty of bats you can purchase from $40-$60 for a 9U player. Don't spend a lot. Chances are he'll outgrow it by next year.

[NewbieBBDad]

Thanks for the feedback. The bat is actually 3 years old but has been in heavy use for a year now. If I were to guess, the bat has been swung over 5,000 times in a batting cage with dimpled balls. All the lettering is gone, only the base paint remains. Now you have me thinking that maybe this bat really is dead and he needs a different practice bat.

Does anyone know if wood stings less than metal? He wanted a heavier bat anyway but there isn't anything less than -7 that I found besides wood.

Anyway, I decided to buy this 31" -13.5 and we went to the cages. In soft toss the balls seemed to zip much faster. At low speed pitches the balls also seem to go faster. He is swinging faster so he needs to rework his timing.

Will let you know how it goes in his game Tuesday. :crossfingers:

P.S. I posted a video in an older thread of him previously. Pretty certain his swing is body centric and from the previous comments from posters here I think they would agree with that.

[Baseball gLove]

My son had a similar problem. In the cage form was great. During the game he was reaching with his hands to the ball. Ball would die as soon as it reached the outfield grass. There are -5 bats including Anderson, Easton, Louisville Slugger and Miken, BUT I'd wait until your son is 12 for a -5.

[Baseball gLove]

I am uncertain how you could determine this without seeing a clip of him hitting.

I have seen his son's clip. When my 14 year old was 10 years old, almost everyone thought his swing was quite impressive; some said it was beautiful. Didn't help the ball go farther. We worked on keeping his hands up and letting the ball get deeper and then even ground balls went to the fence.

I think he still uses too much hands, even though yesterday he hit a 340 foot double that bounced once to hit the 365' sign. I'd like to get that clip up and was wondering where I could upload it so one could use a media player to analyze his form in slow mo. I think my son should tilt a little more and stay a little more connected. He thinks not.

[bbb3601]

Our coach told us that in LL kids could not use a bat over 30". Is this a actual rule?

[bbjunkie]

Our coach told us that in LL kids could not use a bat over 30". Is this a actual rule?

No, I think the limit for LL majors in 33". Most of the kids on our LL team used 31-32" bats.

[NewbieBBDad]

I have seen his son's clip. When my 14 year old was 10 years old, almost everyone thought his swing was quite impressive; some said it was beautiful. Didn't help the ball go farther. We worked on keeping his hands up and letting the ball get deeper and then even ground balls went to the fence.

I think he still uses too much hands, even though yesterday he hit a 340 foot double that bounced once to hit the 365' sign. I'd like to get that clip up and was wondering where I could upload it so one could use a media player to analyze his form in slow mo. I think my son should tilt a little more and stay a little more connected. He thinks not.
Well Baseball Love brings up a very good point about swings being different. I'll have to look closely at this one.

[NewbieBBDad]

Oh. P.S. I got my son his first wood bat for practice, nothing fancy just a $13 30" bat but it's much heavier than his old 22 oz. bat. He seems to like it alot. The sound, less vibration, the feel. He did surprisingly well with real lumber at the cages although he did say he was quite worn out at the end, LOL!

[Baseball gLove]

Oh. P.S. I got my son his first wood bat for practice, nothing fancy just a $13 30" bat but it's much heavier than his old 22 oz. bat. He seems to like it alot. The sound, less vibration, the feel. He did surprisingly well with real lumber at the cages although he did say he was quite worn out at the end, LOL!

Tape the handle or you'll be buying a bat a week.:D

[NewbieBBDad]

Tape the handle or you'll be buying a bat a week.:D
I taped both handle and barrel. :happy: