Bat for young daughter

[Beachbom1983]

I was wondering if someone could recommend a bat for my daughter. When I have gone into the local sports store I have been overwhelmed and I keep getting conflicting advice. I think I have been able to figure out how to pick the right length and weight but I can’t decide which bat to get beyond the size. My daughter has been playing coach pitch with a bat she’s had since tee ball so the bat is way too small and really dinged up. Her coach has recommended she get a better bat. Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand of bat that could grow with her? She’s 8 if that matters at all.

Thank you so much I really appreciate all the help from this forum!

Erin

 

[rslaubaugh]

It's a good time of year to pick up used higher end composite bats for pennies on the dollar online. ;-)

 

[Beachbom1983]

It's a good time of year to pick up used higher end composite bats for pennies on the dollar online. ;-)

Thanks so much is there a particular bat brand or a few you would recommend. Sorry I am so new to this!

 

[lancer360]

What size and weight bat does she currently have. What height and weight is your daughter. Is she playing rev ball or travel ball? Did she just turn 8 or is she almost 9 so she would have to move up to 10u?

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[rslaubaugh]

The brand is not as important as having an appropriate size for your DD so she can build good mechanics. Choose the bat she feels most comfortable swinging. My DD is 9 and I buy her good used composite bats at play it again sports.

 

[MadBandit22]

I was wondering if someone could recommend a bat for my daughter. When I have gone into the local sports store I have been overwhelmed and I keep getting conflicting advice. I think I have been able to figure out how to pick the right length and weight but I can’t decide which bat to get beyond the size. My daughter has been playing coach pitch with a bat she’s had since tee ball so the bat is way too small and really dinged up. Her coach has recommended she get a better bat. Does anyone have a recommendation for a brand of bat that could grow with her? She’s 8 if that matters at all.

Thank you so much I really appreciate all the help from this forum!

Erin

Hi Erin- I would go with a hybrid or 1 piece composite at your daughters age.
There are many options out there. If you can still find them (maybe on Baseball Monkey) a Miken Halo light drop 12.5, or a Worth Legit (light blue, yellow/green drop 12.5 are good choices for a reasonable cost.
For less money you have the Louisville Slugger Proven or Demarini Bustos models.
My favorite pick would be a 2019 Slugger LXT. The prices are dropping with the 2020 bats out now. The LXT has the most weight choices of any high-end bat. Drop 8-12. I would recommend drop 11.
The Demarini CF Zen drop 11 is also a fine choice.
If your on a tight budget the Mizuno Finch line is a good place to look for a good alloy bat. Again I would go with drop 11 or lighter.
Anderson bats is having a big sale right now on their wesite. They have several alloy/composite bats suited to younger players.
Many good bats out there. If you can I would demo as many as possible before you purchase.

 

[lancer360]

Based on an average just turned 8 year old you are probably looking at a 28" or 29". Probably a 28"-10 or 29"-11. Might be able to do a 30"-12 if she is big and strong. Best is to try swinging a few. Do not buy a bat that is a little bit big thinking she will grow into it. This could compromise her swing. Buy the bat that she can swing well and accurately. You will see if you go to heavy/long that her accuracy will suffer. See if you have a Dick's Sporting Goods nearby that has a HitTrax batting cage. They will let you try hitting several different sizes. Take at least 10 swings with each bat. You can look at the exit velocity to help. Higher exit velocity is good, but look at average exit velocity also. A bat that is a little too big might give you the highest exit velocity, but you will see a larger difference between the average exit velocity and max exit velocity. Watching her swing a too big bat you will probably see inconsistancy with lots of ground balls and pop flies. She should be more consistant driving line drives with the right size bat. Used bats or last years models are great for that age. They out grow them before they wear them out. For composite bats Demarini CFZen, Demarini Vendetta, or Louisville LTX are great choices. My daughter started at 7 years old with an aluminum Anderson Rocketech 27" -11 which is a good bat as well. Also ignore anything you see or read about measuring trying to measure arm length, or height of her hips, etc. to determine bat size. Kids grow in so many different ways it just doesn't work. My 9yo has short arms so if you believe the measuring method listed in Dick's sporting good she should be swinging a 26" bat. She swings a 30"-12 LTX and does just fine with it.

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[ANNASDAD]

The brand is not as important as having an appropriate size for your DD so she can build good mechanics. Choose the bat she feels most comfortable swinging. My DD is 9 and I buy her good used composite bats at play it again sports.

This right here^^^^^!

Are you familiar with bat drop weights?
Let’s take a drop 10 (-10) bat that’s a 30/20 for example, that means the bat in 30 inches long & weighs 20 ounces.

At age 8 I’d be looking at a -11 or a -12 at the very most, stay away from a -13, my preference would be a -11 if possible, so that same 30” bat would weigh 19 ounces.

What size is her current bat? I’d probably consider at least starting an inch longer than that bat.

Don’t worry so much about which brand, but definitely buy a top name composite bat! And I’d definitely consider a used bat from Play-it-again-sports. Unless some little girl has a butthead brother who hit rocks or light poles with her bat, most girls that age don’t even break it in much less hurt it! A little road rash is okay, just put a new Lizard skin grip on it and it’ll feel like a new $250 bat!

 

[So Cal Seth]

Just passing on knowledge which was passed on to me, as a daughter of an 8-year-old: does your league use RIF balls? If so, stick with an alloy at this point, and weight on the more expensive composites until you start using a real ball.

 

[So Cal Seth]

Dumb question for the aficianados: Is there much of a difference between 2018 and 2019 Anderson RockeTechs? The 2018 I found for like $70. Daughter will be playing with RIF balls for fall and spring, so looking for a solid alloy bat (unless there are better recommendations).

UPDATE: Answered my own question re: 2018 vs 2019 - Anderson is selling their 2019 for $79 on their own site.

However, if any better recommendations for alloys, please let me know! Gracias.

SECOND UPDATE: They're sold out of the 29/17 for 2019 : (