I coach a 16U team and am "manager" of the organization's 18U team. The girls I have coached in the last few years understand that bigger bats don't mean bigger hits. Some of the new girls this year want to use 34/28 bats and they really can't handle them but they say things like "last year I hit fine with them". Last year they played in what would be '"select ball" and the pitchers probably couldn't get the speed up to 50 and their swings reflect that. I have some time and can hopefully change their swings for the better.
The 18U coach wonders why I would purchase a 33/23 bat for that team. Some of the girls aren't that big (5' 3" to 5' 5") and wouldn't be able to handle a bigger bat IMHO. Last season, for the most part the 16U team used 32/22 and 33/22 or 23 with a few exceptions.
My question is what size bats are most 16U and 18U teams using? I realize that bats are an individual preference, but there must be an "average" size for girls at this age. I seem to recall that most college girls are using 33" bats and some 32"?
Any advice relative to how I convince these girls to use lighter and livelier bats? My 15 Y/O uses Demarini CF4 black 32/22 and my 17 Y/O uses an Easton CXN (something like that) 33/23. They both handle the bat well. Some of these girls and their parents don't want to listen - imagine that!