Stepping up to a -11

[ANNASDAD]

It's not Horween...

Just say it, I’m out of my league with this bat talk!

 

[S Spiff]

My two cents, fwiw, is to go ahead and get a -10. When my kid was 10, we had a -12 or -13. We had the same concerns. We fretted about whether she could get around, and worried about -12 or -11. But every time she moved to a "heavier" bat she was fine and a better hitter than before. It really is true that being on time is about her swing and not the weight of the bat.

Now she is in college. At 5'2", she has always swung a 33" bat. The coach is sort of insisting everyone swing a 34. So she's been swinging a 34 in bp and reports bombs. It's like groundhog day. Turns out she gets around fine with a 34.

I know there has to be a limit where too heavy is too heavy, but I tend to think that even the smallest kids can handle a -10 unless it is comically too long. If I had another little one, I'd get her a -10 and learn to swing that.

 

[Tazman]

My two cents, fwiw, is to go ahead and get a -10. When my kid was 10, we had a -12 or -13. We had the same concerns. We fretted about whether she could get around, and worried about -12 or -11. But every time she moved to a "heavier" bat she was fine and a better hitter than before. It really is true that being on time is about her swing and not the weight of the bat.

Now she is in college. At 5'2", she has always swung a 33" bat. The coach is sort of insisting everyone swing a 34. So she's been swinging a 34 in bp and reports bombs. It's like groundhog day. Turns out she gets around fine with a 34.

I know there has to be a limit where too heavy is too heavy, but I tend to think that even the smallest kids can handle a -10 unless it is comically too long. If I had another little one, I'd get her a -10 and learn to swing that.

I have seen far more young girls suffer from a bat that's too heavy than from one that is too light. We had a girl on my daughter's team at 10U swinging a drop 10 grandpa bought. We traded with my daughter who was stronger swinging a drop 11 after I told the-10 parents it was too heavy. She (drop 10 girl) immediately doubled her hit production. My daughter got a bit more distance with the -10 vs -11 but it wasn't huge. 10 year olds need a lot of strength or a near perfect swing to benefit from a -10.

 

[tim_s]

when i was coaching 10u travel, virtually all of my girls were swinging the old CF9 -11.....the classic teal one

some were 30, some were 31.....some transitioned to 31 from 30........one or two might have even been at 32

they all stayed at the -11 as they increased length; with the smaller ball, a little less mass seemed to make no difference, and they all had good swings, good bat control, generated good bat speed.......as a team, we hit the crap out of the ball

they told us when it was time to move up from the -11 when they started to crack bats lol.....by our first year 12u season, almost all of them transitioned to a 31 or 32 -10.....a couple of the taller/bigger girls transitioned to 33 at some point in 12u


with the smaller ball, i don't think the extra oz of mass helps things as much as good bat control and being able to generate good bat speed; imho by the time girls move up to the 12" ball, that extra oz DOES become a factor, but it's a lot harder to get rid of habits developed from swinging a too big of a bat too soon


guess my .02 is that for most swings at 10u, you aren't going to hurt anything with the -11, and it will become apparent if that bat is too light for them........with the 11" ball, I like to err to the oz light vs oz heavy........your mileage may vary

 

[tim_s]

for most cases, an inch and an ounce is a pretty good jump.......we always tried to do one or the other, unless a kid made a huge leap

 

[Chad504boy]

I'd say go 31/20. Bat manufacturing companies are doing a better job of being closer to sticker weight these days. Worst case scenario, she chokes a half inch for just a little while.

 

[BlueDad]

I really, really appreciate all the guidance. I’ll add a once and see how we do.

Now, for the fun part!!! Which -11 should we get??? She’s a first year travel ball player U10, U12 next season and it’s her 3rd year of little league. Still working on contact, but she’s getting there. Takes about 120 swings a day outside of team events.

 

[rjgarcia76]

I really, really appreciate all the guidance. I’ll add a once and see how we do.

Now, for the fun part!!! Which -11 should we get??? She’s a first year travel ball player U10, U12 next season and it’s her 3rd year of little league. Still working on contact, but she’s getting there. Takes about 120 swings a day outside of team events.

My DD is a die hard Demarini girl...The CF line is her weapon of choice. Out of all the different bats she's tried, the Mizuno Power Carbon is the only other bat she's used for any considerable period of time. With your girl coming off swining a Spryte, I think you'd be pretty safe with either of those two in a -11.

 

[Chad504boy]

i'm dd is a ghost and lxt type of girl right now.

she had a mizuno pwr crbn as her first bat at about the time you are talking about for your dd. 31/20 too.

 

[tim_s]

I really, really appreciate all the guidance. I’ll add a once and see how we do.

Now, for the fun part!!! Which -11 should we get??? She’s a first year travel ball player U10, U12 next season and it’s her 3rd year of little league. Still working on contact, but she’s getting there. Takes about 120 swings a day outside of team events.

well, those old CF9 -11's are going for MORE than what I paid Core for them brand new.....so I can't say go that route haha

if it were me, I'd look for an older composite in the CF line, maybe a few others, on eBay......it was pretty hard for girls swinging those -11's to kill them (until they were ready to move up in size, then they cracked a few haha)

i'm actually starting to look around a bit for something older in a 30/19 for my youngest.......gotta wade through the knuckleheads selling a used CF9 for $850, but there's deals to be had