Yet another bat question. Xeno vs. CF5 vs. ???

[ms244]

The dreaded "which is better" bat question. My 14yo DD is swinging a 33/24 Rocketech with minimal success. Her batting coach is obsessed with these bats. In fact, on any night that you go to his facility you will rarely see anything different than a RT in his cage. I personally think that the combination of the end loaded design and the drop 10 is hurting my DD with bat speed and consistency.

I have done a fair amount of research and I have narrowed it down to a couple of bats. The 2013 Xeno 33/23 and the 2013 CF5 33/23.

First I would LOVE to find a used version of either or both but I hate buying from evilbay. Too many shady people on there anymore. So if anyone would want to unload theirs at a fair price shoot me a message. Conversely I may have a couple of RT 33/24's up for sale also.....

But realistically I am interested in reviews from actual owners (not the fake ones from retailer websites that all say "Best bat ever!") Let me know your thoughts on either bat, the good, the bad and the ugly. Would also be interested in people that have switched from a RT to either bat.

Thanks in advance!

 

[00fpdaddy]

Go to softball fans.com fastpitch section. There not trying to make a killer profit. Bought all my dds bats there. Gl

 

[lkgrge17]

my dd started putting the ball over the fence when she switched from the cf4 32/22 to the xeno 2011 32/22 version. she was 14 at the time and upon purchasing that bat (2011 xeno used from ebay). she went from hitting rockets to the fence to hitting rockets 20 ft over the 210 ft center field fence. she had hit 4 over the fence in her first 6 games with that bat. she was 14 and stood 5'7" and had weighed aprox 150 lbs. Your dds bat speed may be affected by the heavy bat. by experience she loves the xeno and we tried them all. Make sure to buy a bat that is the right size and weight for your DD. 33/24 sounds heavy for a 14 yr old.

 

[Lenski]

The Xeno and the oneX are hot bats, but I've personally seen reliability issues with them. The CF4/CF5's seem to hold up better overall. The Worth 454 is also something to research if you have not. I agree with lkgrge17, a 33/24 is usually a huge bat for a 14 yr old.

 

[Westwind]

There is a right bat for everyone. Despite how well they work for some girls, neither the cf5 or cf5 insane were the right bat for one of my dd's. she swung a miken NXT for a couple weeks at the end of season and did very well with it and she is currently swinging a rockettech at the cage. I don't know what she will do in the spring but it will be one of those bats.

I know a girl who was clobbering the ball with an Easton stealth speed and switched to a Xeno with poor results. Everybody thinks whatever their dd swings is the only bat out there that is any good but I think the truth is that there are some bats that work great for some and not so great for others.

I do have a suggestion, you might stick with the rt thru the winter if you are in, say the upper Midwest, where we don't start playing for several months. I think good things come from training with a rt such as learning to throw the barrel and putting the ball on a smaller sweet spot. If your dd still isn't loving it grab a new bat 2-3 weeks ahead of season and it will be nice and fresh to hit bombs with.

 

[coach james]

Both are awesome... until recently, I would have said go with a xeno. I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago asking about the onex... the majority of the responses were against the xeno and onex due to durability issues... I went back to old faithful and found another stealth dirt cheap at closeoutbats.com
fyi... this site also has a cf5 for $99, but its a -8

 

[ms244]

I decided to try a 33/23 CF5 for her. I should get it by the weekend or early next week. We have only 1 tournament left the beginning of January (Dome tourney). I do like the idea of keeping her with the RT to build up strength during the winter and then switch to a balanced bat for spring.

Kind of a side story, but our batting coach is OBSESSED with the RT bats. We have been with him for 3 years now and my DD has been using a RT for the last 2 years because of his recommendation. My DD is strong for her size but I think a 33/24 is too big/heavy. Does your batting coach recommend bats for his students and what is the best way to change from what he recommends?

Of course this is assuming that my DD likes her new CF5 and it performs for her.....

 

[iMlearning]

Obsessed

Ours seems to be obsessed with Easton Stealths/Brigades. The Cf5 is a really good bat and will seem much lighter than the RT. My DD thought it felt a lot lighter than her Brigade of the same weight.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Here's the thing about endloaded, low drop, smaller sweet spot bats like the RT. If you can swing a RT with good mechanics and be an effective hitter, you have good mechanics and can swing any bat and be effective. Whereas you can swing another lighter, less end-loaded bat and be effective while still having crap mechanics. The mechanical swing flaws eventually get exposed as the quality of competition increases and then a hitter will struggle mightily until the mechanics get fixed or they become so frustrated that they quit.

 

[chinamigarden]

I decided to try a 33/23 CF5 for her. I should get it by the weekend or early next week. We have only 1 tournament left the beginning of January (Dome tourney). I do like the idea of keeping her with the RT to build up strength during the winter and then switch to a balanced bat for spring.

Kind of a side story, but our batting coach is OBSESSED with the RT bats. We have been with him for 3 years now and my DD has been using a RT for the last 2 years because of his recommendation. My DD is strong for her size but I think a 33/24 is too big/heavy. Does your batting coach recommend bats for his students and what is the best way to change from what he recommends?

Of course this is assuming that my DD likes her new CF5 and it performs for her.....

the best way to change from what he recommends? Send her to her lessons with a different bat. That should be the end of the conversation, you don't owe a batting coach a reason for which bat she uses.

Hitting is very much a confidence thing. Any batter is better if she feels good about the bat she swings. It doesn't matter if its a POS bat to everyone else, if she thinks its good for her, then it is. I am certain you will find plenty of people who are willing to buy that RT off of you once you find the right bat for your dd.