Posted by: Tom Waz (sluggoking@msn.com) on Mon Aug 2 10:50:17 2004

I have a 13 year old son who will be going into the 8th grade this year. Currently he swings a 30" 22oz aluminum bat, and I have read that he should be training with a wood bat, and I realize that when he plays in high school he will fall under the -3 rule as far as bat weight goes. I have also read that he shouldn't work with too heavy of a bat because it won't allow his fast twitch muscles to develop and they are needed for bat speed. Here is my dilema, I know that he needs to increase his bat speed, and I know that in 9th grade he will be under -3 restriction, so how do I get there from here? He needs to swing a 5oz heavier bat + gain bat speed to be an effective hitter.

You can move him to say a 30-25 or maybe a 29 wood bat if you want. Start by having swing this for a couple of swings during his tee work (after he's fully warm), then move it into soft-toss and then finally BP. Watch his mechanics carefully, if his mechanics suffer DON'T have him swing this bat too much until he gets stronger. Start slowly and add a little at a time (you have a full year). Having him swing a smaller bat say 30-18 during the same drills from time to time will allow him to keep his fast twitch muscles in tune.

Hope this helps - Tom Waz