Posted by: Alan () on Mon Apr 15 22:05:36 2002

Coach Jim,
> Good luck with the bat change. If you don't get too much grief from some of the parents, I think the kids will realize the extra pop that they will get from the heavier bats and be quite pleased... this of course if they are swinging correctly.
> Let me know how your season goes.
> SS Coach
> ----------
>
> SS Coach - thanks for the reply. Reading between the lines of your reply, I think you are at the same place I am, the -11 and -10...not only are not the best for 11 and 12 year old ball, they also don't get the kids ready for the next level.
> >
> > You're indicating a -8 in your reply, and that's about right where I was thinking, either a -7 or a -8 for the 11/12 age group. It would also make sense that if they got more swings with a slightly heavier bat, the reps would make them stronger for the next level - it all makes sense to me...so OUT go all the -11 bats.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > Hi - I was wondering if you have some "science" in bat weight...I have a suspicion that "lighter is better" is all wrong. Part of my evidence: I took a few cuts today before practice (for my LL 11-12 year-olds), and I swung with their light bats (eg, 31", -11), and a HS bat (32", -3), and the ball just flew off the heavier bat, I mean, at least 100' further per swing - SO, if a lighter bat gives faster bat speed, and if bat speed is all that matters, then I violated the "law of baseball physics" today - Big Time.
> > > >
I have a theory that heavier bats will drive a ball farther if you can keep the bat speed up. In other words use as heavy a bat that you can while keeping your speed up. When the bat begins to slow you down then move to the next lighter weight and stay there. There seems to be a top limit to how fast you can swing that doesn't get any faster as the weight gets lighter. Let's call this the optimal balance of speed and weight. Of course you'll need a way to measure bat speed.

The reason I say this is to hit the ball you have to overcome the inertia from the ball moving toward the plate and send it in the opposite direction. A combination of the bat weight multiplied by a factor for the batspeed = power of the stroke.