Posted by: StevenV (steven@ars-inc.com) on Wed Jul 5 11:15:04 2006

Joe,

I also have a son - only he is 7 years old, weighs around 80 lbs. and 55 inches tall, so close in size to yours. Your question must start with an answer of "How much do you want to spend"? I will get to what we recently did in a minute, but first would like to start off with the obvious and not so obvious.

If you are on this site, you most likely are an avid fan / teacher of baseball as most of us are. Therefore you are probably "in it" a little deeper with your 8 year old than most recreation ball players at that age. There are many articles (even on this website) that give you rules of thumb....my rule of thumb on this topic as well as which glove is right for my kid, is there is no rule of thumb that applies. Too many variables at this young of an age to apply a formula or rule of thumb. Just as your kid and my kid are on the large scale for this age group, there are as many kids that are much smaller. In addition, there are some larger kids that do not necessarily equate to strength and coordination. The other recommendation is to go to a cage and swing lots of bats...that doesn't work either because the bats I am looking at typically aren't lying around in cages waiting to be hit.

If you don't have time to read this post, go to the bottom of it for my recommendations on bats, otherwise I will share a test I did. I bought four bats within the last year (I know I will have emails sent saying way over board for a 7 year old...so save your breath), keep in mind at least for me, money wasn't an issue and I am the engineer type when it comes to this kind of stuff so it was as much for my curiousity as it was to find the right bat for my kid.

First bat - Easton Stealth CNT -13 28/15 oz. 2 1/4 barrell - result was a very evenly weighted bat, that was very easy for him to generate lots of bat speed. Problem was the barrell (sweet spot) was limited and it did not seem to have much "pop" when a well struck ball was hit.

Second bat - Easton Stealth CNT -10 28/18 oz. Senior league 2 5/8 barrel - result slight drop in bat speed, decent weight distribution, larger sweet spot, but very dead spots outside of the sweet spot. A little off towards the end cap or handle and the ball would "thud".

Third bat - Easton Stealth CNT all Composite -9 28/19 oz, Senior league 2 5/8 barrel - this bat just came out a few months ago and is one of the first 100% composite bats. The bat was / is very end loaded with the weight, too much so for a young kid. Although the bat only increased by 1 oz. from his last bat, the bat speed decreased by what looked like 25%. When he was able to time the swing right, the ball seemed to come off the bat very well, and because of the composite structure, the ball was struck well either towards the end of the bat or even closer to the handle. Again, the main problem with this bat is how much of the weight is focused on the cap end of the bat. I am surprised for a youth bat they end loaded it so much.

Fourth bat - Louisville Slugger TPX Catalyst -10 28/18 oz. composite bat with 2 1/2" barrel. This bat has been out only weeks now, and is the first 100% composite bat with the Senior league with the largest barrel of 2 1/2" at a drop 10. Right out of the box, this bat felt extremley well balanced more so than any of the above bats. The bat seems to be all barrel and handle, nothing inbetween. It feels / swings as light as the first bat described above which is 15 oz., but looks like a monster bat compared to all of them. In the few weeks he has hit this bat, he has really hit the ball as hard and far as he ever has. This would be my recommendation for your 8 year old child. Enough mass to this bat to create lots of pop, but yet able to swing with lots of speed.

I see too many kids this age that are in serious baseball with way too long and heavy bats, just because it has the big barrel. Some leagues limit barrel size, but the USSSA and Super Series ball we play in have no barrel limitation. Until this bat came out, they just were too heavy for this age. The drop -13 bats are typically too small and eventually will make it too hard for kids to transition into leagues that limit the drop to a -3.

Oh yeah...the cost of the two composite bats: Easton $299 and the TPX Catalyst was just over $300. Again, for those of you who think at this age, competitive baseball is inappropriate, or a wood bat would work just as well then I accept that opinion. All I can say is that my son drives the schedule, not me, in fact I have to force him to do other things and keep things in some kind of perspective.
Contrary to some folks, Jacks video and the type of instruction I give him has led to his understanding of rotation mechanics and he incorporates all of the mechanics with the exception of complete understanding of THT. I have put together drills suitable for his age that have allowed him to incorporate CHP / Loading / some THP and overall very good rotational mechanics.

Just some thoughts..............


> My son is 8 years old and is 4'7" tall and weighs 85 lbs. I am lookig for a bat that will be perfect for him. Is a 31/19 good for him? I have looked at several articles including one published by Worth which had tables with suggestions. But the recommendations are different based on Age and Height & Weight. I can't buy him several to try and pick one.