Follow
Donate to HeyBucket.com - Amount:

Welcome Anonymous !

Your Fastpitch Softball Bible
 

Fastpitch Discussions

1-2 oz (less) bat make a difference?

What's on your mind?

by mderzio » Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:28 am

My 10u is 5'4" and about 115 lbs. and is swinging a 32/22 cf4. This was my older daughters bat a couple years ago. I just don't think that she has the bat speed she could have with a lighter bat. I would like to put her in a Zeno but they are only -10. What would be ideal would be a 31/-11. My big question is if we put her in a 31/-10 Zeno would we notice a difference being it is 1" shorter and 1oz lighter?? Would going to a 30" bat be a bad decision due to her height?? She did have some big hits in fall with the cf4 but in hitting practice I tend to notice her bat speed declining after several swings. I have mixed opinions from people that watch her hit. Unfortunately there is nowhere around here to go try different bats and she is the biggest kid on the team (teammates are swinging much smaller bats) so I have to rely on the internet. ANy and all input is much appreciated.
mderzio
 
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:45 pm

by bartbouse » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:48 pm

Yeah. That's too big. Many high school girls don't swing any larger. I understand she is tall for her age but there are alot of other factors. Whoever suggested she should swing a 32 inch bat is crazy. I don't see many 12us who can handle that. It wouldn't take most coaches 2 minutes of front toss to see this. Yes, every ounce makes a difference. Two ounces doesn't seem like much but I've seen it make a large difference. 1 inch in length is huge. My 12u daughter is still on a 30" despite her having a brand new zeno 31" and brand new 454 31" in the bag. Go down to 30" until she can handle that.
bartbouse
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:30 pm

by NumeroUno » Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:24 pm

MD to find out what size bat your daughter needs you need a Pocket Radar. I have seen 12U kids swing 34's it just all depends on the kid

Go to the pocket radar web site. It will tell you how to do it.

I will give you an example. To find out what the best size bat fits her you need to measure ball off the bat exit speed. I have done this many many times. Put a ball on a tee, you sit about 10 feet behind the hitter. Take all kinds of different bat sizes and different weighted bats. Chart them all. See what bat has the highest ball exit speed. That is the best bat that fits her swing

Okay well here is the curve ball, there are also calculations about giving up a certain amount of ball exit speed for a heavier bat.
Help support heybucket and become a premium member today for only $12.00 a year
premium.html
User avatar
NumeroUno
 
Posts: 8912
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 1:50 pm

by PDad » Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:49 pm

NumeroUno wrote:Okay well here is the curve ball, there are also calculations about giving up a certain amount of ball exit speed for a heavier bat.

:? That sounds like the trade-off between bat speed and weight. Measuring the ball exit speed instead of bat speed should cover that.
User avatar
PDad
Premium Member
Premium Member
 
Posts: 3439
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:52 pm

by OCsoftballmomma » Mon Feb 10, 2014 10:07 pm

My daughter is in 12U. She's 5'5" and weighs about 120. Back in October we tried about 5-7 different bats. She has very slow hands so weight was a factor. We went with a 33/22 DeMarini CF6. (The drop 11) She has been tearing it up with this bat!!! She had a Worth 454 before this one and HATED that bat!! This DeMarini is the best bat out there right now for kids with slow hands!!
OCsoftballmomma
 
Posts: 17
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 9:54 pm

by Hollow Grind » Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:35 am

In my experience a 31/21 Xeno swings heavier than a CF5 of the same size, going to a 31/21 CF5 might be a better bet, and I'm a huge Xeno fan. And not to be contrary, but a 5'4" girl swinging a 30" bat is comical. Close to half the kids on my daughter's 12U team swing 32" bats and hit the heck out of the ball.
User avatar
Hollow Grind
 
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:45 pm

by GIMNEPIWO » Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:05 am

I believe 1 ounce makes a difference just like 1 inch makes a difference ... So before you start to measure bat speeds you should make sure that the bats you are test driving are the advertised weights ... Some manufacturers advertise swing weights while others like DeMahoseyou and Mr Notso Freakiniceonthefone in their Customer Dis-Service Dept will tell you that being a full ounce off the advertised weight is within company tolerances ... So you could purchase and be using a $300 bat that is labeled 32/22 and it is actually a 32/23.
"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, the strength of the wolf is the pack" Rudyard Kipling
User avatar
GIMNEPIWO
 
Posts: 4339
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:58 am
Location: Between Rock & Hard Place

by TooOldToCare » Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:15 pm

Similiar to what Uno said. We measure both bat speed and ball exit speed and see where the fall off is. If you can maintain bat speed with a heavier bat, that is usually the way to go and will result in higher exit speed of the ball which results in greater carry.
TooOldToCare
 
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:38 pm

by bartbouse » Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:01 pm

Hollow Grind. "And not to be contrary, but a 5'4" girl swinging a 30" bat is comical. Close to half the kids on my daughter's 12U team swing 32" bats and hit the heck out of the ball."

I generally agree. But you clearly failed to read that she's 10 years old not 12. I bet that half of you daughter's 12u team wasn't swinging 32" bats in 10u. That means none of them were, which is exactly my point. Regardless of her height, she's 10. She shouldn't be swinging a 32" bat. Her muscle development is not there.
bartbouse
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2013 12:30 pm

by Fredegar » Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:17 am

Err on the side of a lighter bat. You want to develop muscle memory swinging a quick bat ... not laboring with a slower swing. Especially at the 10U and 12U level. You want to develop the good habits of a quick swing at the younger ages. Hard to get that back once your body is used to the slower swing with heavier bats when you're young. I really don't think you're doing your daughter any favors by having her use a 22oz bat at 10U ... doesn't matter how big she is. As others have said, her muscles aren't developed.

Consider this: College kids in weight-training regimens are only using 24-25oz bats. A 10U kid shouldn't be near that, and in my opinion neither should 12U kids. Yes, the slower heavier bats might be working against the pitching you're seeing now. But those slower swings, and that muscle-memory of learning how to swing a heavy bat, may keep you from succeeding later against better, faster pitching. JMHO.
Fredegar
 
Posts: 311
Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:32 pm

Next

Return to Fastpitch Discussions

cron