Bat Sizing Guide

[Chris O'Leary]

Let me push back (including against myself) a bit against some of what people are saying.

Last year my 11U, 5th grade son swung a 29/19, -10 bat and this year he's going to swing a 30/21 this year.

I'm currently uncomfortable with the idea that his younger, not nearly as strong, sister is going to swing basically the same bat in 4th grade. I know that girls tend to mature earlier, and I know that last year my 8th grade swimmer girl could have probably kicked her sophomore brother's butt in a fight, but I'm not sure that girls mature that much sooner.

Maybe this just reflects my concern with bat drag, given that all of my kids have had it, but I wonder if people aren't paying enough attention to bat drag.

I base some of that fear on the video I shot in July when we hosted the city-wide 5th through 8th grade softball playoffs and I was able to see LOTS of swings (and LOTS of bat drag).

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Duplicate.

 

[undergroundga]

Let me push back (including against myself) a bit against some of what people are saying.

Last year my 11U, 5th grade son swung a 29/19, -10 bat and this year he's going to swing a 30/21 this year.

I'm currently uncomfortable with the idea that his younger, not nearly as strong, sister is going to swing basically the same bat in 4th grade. I know that girls tend to mature earlier, and I know that last year my 8th grade swimmer girl could have probably kicked her sophomore brother's butt in a fight, but I'm not sure that girls mature that much sooner.

Maybe this just reflects my concern with bat drag, given that all of my kids have had it, but I wonder if people aren't paying enough attention to bat drag.

I base some of that fear on the video I shot in July when we hosted the city-wide 5th through 8th grade softball playoffs and I was able to see LOTS of swings (and LOTS of bat drag).

Then how about this. My dd is currently swinging a 30/20. We tried a 29/17.5 but I think it did more harm than good since she was already swinging a 30/20 well.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Then how about this. My dd is currently swinging a 30/20. We tried a 29/17.5 but I think it did more harm than good since she was already swinging a 30/20 well.

How old is she? How much does she play?

My daughter is a pure rec player who isn't that into the game yet because most of her friends aren't into sports. For now, she just plays rec to be with her other friends.*

Of course, that could be part of it. I think most of the people her are harder-core and their daughters probably play much more and are stronger as a result.

* But she does have some talent that I'm trying to get her to take a bit more seriously).

 

[undergroundga]

How old is she? How much does she play?

My daughter is a pure rec player who isn't that into the game yet because most of her friends aren't into sports. For now, she just plays rec to be with her other friends.*

Of course, that could be part of it. I think most of the people her are harder-core and their daughters probably play much more and are stronger as a result.

* But she does have some talent that I'm trying to get her to take a bit more seriously).

Sorry , forgot to put that she is 8.
And she plays a lot. Last year when she started tb her coach insisted all the girls have 30" bats. Being new we didn't wanna spend the cheese on an expensive bat. Took her to the store and she picked out a $20 Worth 30/20. We didn't know it might be too heavy. Halfway through the season she starte taking hitting lessons. By spring she was hitting quite well. So for summer rec season i wanted to get her a new bat, did a lot of research and figured if I got her a shorter ,lighter bat she would have better bat speed and control.I bought her a 29/17.5. She did very well for a about a mos. But by the end of summer season she was swinging late and all her hits were going to right field mostly as pop ups. Someone suggested to me that maybe her bat was too light.
Then fall season came and she moved up to kid pitch. She felt uncomfortable with the 29/17.5 and wanted to go back to her longer bat, so I bought her a new bat, 30/20 xeno and she is doing well so far with it. I am not sure how to identify bat drag, but everyone talks about how great(I hear the word explosive a lot) her swing looks, especially where she does hitting lessons(by coaches and people watching). They always ask how old she is.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

I am not sure how to identify bat drag, but everyone talks about how great(I hear the word explosive a lot) her swing looks, especially where she does hitting lessons(by coaches and people watching). They always ask how old she is.

Strange results with the lighter bat producing what sounds like bat drag. The bats could be weighted differently, with the lighter one having a much heavier swing weight.

Here's a primer that I put together that explains bat drag...

- Bat Drag 101

P.S. IMO this...

"Last year when she started tb her coach insisted all the girls have 30" bats."

...is crazy. This year my boys swung everywhere from 28s to 31s depending on their size and strength.

 

[quincy]

As a general rule, I agree most batters swing too heavy a bat.

Feels nice and light in the store, soft toss is a piece of cake, can get the timing down on the pitching machine, etc. Facing a real pitcher in a game is when the rubber hit the road.

 

[undergroundga]

Strange results with the lighter bat producing what sounds like bat drag. The bats could be weighted differently, with the lighter one having a much heavier swing weight.

Here's a primer that I put together that explains bat drag...

- Bat Drag 101

P.S. IMO this...

"Last year when she started tb her coach insisted all the girls have 30" bats."

...is crazy. This year my boys swung everywhere from 28s to 31s depending on their size and strength.

Trust me this wasn't the last of the crazy stuff she tried to tell us. We didn't know any better though.
Ds just started tee ball this past summer. We had him useing dd's tball bat until we noticed he was having trouble swinging it. We bought him a much lighter bat and he improved.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

To add to this thread, and regarding the different rates of maturity of boys versus girls, our 6th grade girls played soccer right after our 6th grade boys. While some of the girls were the same size, many/most of the girls absolutely dwarfed the boys, both in terms of weight and height. I know the boys catch up buy 8th grade, but this is something to pay attention to. I may recommend a lower drop for 6th grade girls than for 6th grade boys or at least lower the drop sooner for the girls.