New Bat time ,need help...

[Daddylawman]

My DD still swings her CF4, but every other girl I know at Gold is going to the Xeno.

[bigapples08]

Thru actual tests taken by four Div. 1 hitters.... this is there results.

Xeno... has pop, each of the 4 girls liked how it felt and the ball does jump well off the bat. The grip was the girls overall favorite and (3) of them liked the sound when the ball was hit. This bat ranked the best by a extremely narrow margin overall for distance. However, we broke two of them within (4) seperate hitting dates. (1) was brand new the other had 500 - 600 hits on it.
454... has pop. Ball jumps off the bat. The girls were split on how they felt about its feel. We had three of them to swing and all the same weight. Each one felt slightly differant. We didn't try to verify just went by feel to the girls. 2 of them liked the grip and two of them didn't. No issues with failure. However on day four we threw off speed mixed with changeups and the miss hits seemed to come off better than the Xeno, Rockettech, and Easton Stealth.
CF5 Insane...has pop for being so light. But not as much in comparison to Xeno and 454 or Rockettech. This is a great bat for kids that want pop but need help in the strength department. Our kids liked the ease to swing but felt they didn't get the same distance when hit perfectly. and they were right. the Xeno & Rockettech produced the farthest distances all together when timed perfectly.
Rockettech.... Same as ussual with this one. Not much has changed. Well hit balls fly off this bat. Not as forgiving as the 454. Probably the best bat for the $$ seeing as they have reduced their cost on this bat by a hundy. Our girls had split feelings on this old warrior. (2) of them loved the balls hit that they hit well, and they of course are old rockettech girls. The other (2) just felt like it they didn't hit well on day four when we changed speeds on them. Lastly they hated the end knob and the grip.
Easton Stealth -9 (black bat)...this bat seems to be just like the Rockettech. Same Stealth as previous sold, not much change. Spilts on the grip feel (2) of the girls hated the grip. A ball well hit flies off the bat. Just as the Rockettech this bat takes a pounding and still keeps producing. Our test model for this bat was last years model and had tons of use. Still produced great distance and pop when hit well. Not a true comparison seeing as this bat had so much use however, rest assured a good value. The bat owner has produced numerous homers with this thing and she wont part with it any time soon. Miss hits don't go well with this one, again just like the rockettech.

Sorry we did not have the following bats to test.....Mizuno Frenzy, Miken Freak, or the Ripit.
Please note we do this for fun and in no way are we trying to advertise the sale of any brands.

Each of our girls are Div. 1 players that play in the east. (3) are righty and (1) lefty. All three have advanced swings and the comparisons they make are really based on hitting long ball and line drives.

Stuff for you to chew on...hope this helps.

[softballjunkie801]

Thank's for all the great information , My DD demo'ed the Xeno last summer in Boulder and just didnt care for the feel but she did hit good with it . I think it was the sounds more than anything that soured her on it .

I guess we will just have to put a few in her hands and see how she feels with them ..

Thanks again for all the great imput..

[dodgerblue]

All bats mentioned are good, my DD swings a Demarini and has had the same bat for 2 years now and she doesnt want a new one. Good thing is her college that she will attend in the fall swings Demarini's so she's not changing at this point. Comes down to personal preference, the bat doesn't make the hitter unless its shaved.

[absdad]

..is looking for more of a center balanced bat.. Has anyone used the C5 Insane

The Insane version is end-loaded.

My DD loves Demarini's, but the Xeno is hotter. Sold a Phenix to buy the Xeno. It's the real deal.

[dodgerblue]

The bad thing about the Xeno is I've seen 2 break in half in the last year. I've seen 3 bats break in my life watching girls softball 2 were Xeno and 1 a Miken. One of the best hitters on my DD HS team was swinging a Xeno for a little while but went back to her Demarini. Like I said before it's personal preference.

[absdad]

The bad thing about the Xeno is I've seen 2 break in half in the last year. I've seen 3 bats break in my life watching girls softball 2 were Xeno and 1 a Miken. One of the best hitters on my DD HS team was swinging a Xeno for a little while but went back to her Demarini. Like I said before it's personal preference.

My DD's Xeno (2012) developed a rattle inside, and now is starting to get "wobbly" at the joint. Is this where you've seen the Xenos break?? I'm tempted to not care, and let her keep the replacement when we get it. The bat is hot, thats fo sho.

[DDG]

Not sure of your kid's age, but if she is older and is close to, or has chosen a school, see if they use a specific bat. Maybe a good time to move to that. We were hoping to get 18 months out of the last Easton we will ever buy. Foolish of us as it broke after 12 months. Had to spend $$$ on a CF5 that will only be used for 6 months. After that, the school provides them.

Look for a 2012 CF5 33/-9 on sale in Mid August.