8th Graders

Are you talking school ball or Senior league ball.
13/14 yrs. old play senior league, which is a -8 bat.
Some school ball have went to -3 for protection of player's??
Other's have comprimized with the -5.
Not sure about your area.
-5 are hard to find but are available. EH

I just want to know what most schools, and leagues require 8th graders (13 yr. olds) to use. Thanks. In all the areas, I would like to know.

We don't have Jr High baseball here but in the county to the north the Jr High teams must use
-3.

in my pony league years we could use anywhere from a -8 to a -3. Very few -5 were used/seen.

My son was not restricted on his bat weight when he played middle school ball. He swung a -8 in 7th grade then at 14 (8th grade) he moved to a -5 to get ready for the -3 he would have to swing in HS. All of the major bat companies make a -5 bat these days. Good luck.

We have to swing -3 in middle school.

I would recommend going straight to the -3. He may struggle a bit but it will help him next year in HS.

My travel team of 13 year olds are mostly 7th graders with a couple of "Date change" 8th graders. We are playing 14U USSSA which allows for lighter bats but the majority of boys are swinging -3's. The High Schools that my boys are zoned for have "C" teams that require -3 bats.

Some of my boys are struggling with the heavier bats so I let them use the lighter bats during the tournaments and the -3s during BP and cage work.

The HS coaches have been out to our tournaments so it's going to be interesting to watch tryouts in January. I believe the 24 games that they'll have under their belts will help them in the spring. A couple of my boys should make JV this year so the experience of using -3s and playing on the big fields should be very beneficial.

My son's 13U team played in one league that required no greater than a -5 bat. There is a good Comp Stealth at -5. So they all played it season long, knowing that next summer they would need to move to -3 in prep of HS. We were pretty bummed at SuperSeries Nationals to see opponents using -10 bats. How does that help them long term? Yes I know the answer.

In Washington state either -5/-3 is OK. We chose -5 for a transition bat. It is a huge diff. from a -8/9 to -5. so our son is gradually working to a -3.

My 13 yr old son had been using a -10 Catalyst which he loved. Last tourney (in Dec) he used his new bat, a -5 Vexxum which he had used only in practice before. He was apprehensive at first but after his first hit he gained confidence. In the second and third games he hit a couple of line shots that one hopped to the fence (fences are over 300'). -5 bats have very good pop. Some other kids on the team swing the -5 green/silver Stealths. One swings the -5 Dynasty. The kids aren't quite strong enough to get good bat speed with the -3 bats yet. Or if they can get good speed up to contact with the ball, they don't have the wrist/forearm strenght to get the bat to extension properly (ground balls versus line drives).

I would have to disagree based on past experience and observations. I have seen many 13YO's capable of generating full batspeed with -3's. Even small 13's. You are only talking a 2 oz. difference, that isn't much.

Texan...and others...have talked me into getting a -3 for my 14u. I think he can handle it for a variety of reasons but it's just the perception that makes it difficult I think.

Your son will now have the benefit of being fully adjusted to the -3 before he hits HS, where he HAS to use a -3. Wise choice, IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
Wise choice, IMHO.

Your opinions are respected.

My 13 will be swinging a -3 this weekend for the first time in a game. He is going straight from the -8.5, which he swung well. Will let you know if he noticed any difference. He will be playing up against 14's so hopefully he will see good pitching.

For what it's worth, son didn't seem to have any trouble adjusting to the -3 bat. Hit well though the ball seemed to come off the bat harder. The pitching was at least as fast as he's seen and still had no trouble with the difference in weight.

Your son swung it quite well I might add.

Nice meeting you...best of luck down the road. He's got quite an arm too.

I have always been an advocate of “enjoying the moment” in youth baseball but when it comes to bat weight I always felt the ultra light bats were limiting development for the move into high school and in a way, sending a message that whomever could afford the best bat would be the best hitter and that isn't the way it works. When the high schools started the transition to -3 (son was pre-high school at the time) I immediately switched to the -3. I did shorten the length an inch to make the adjustment less dramatic. If your son is having trouble adjusting to the -3, I suggest you get him some private hitting instructions and help him focus on strengthening his arms/wrists/shoulder with light weights, thera bands, and a rice bucket.
Fungo

Hi Fungo,

I feel as if we are old friends as I read your posts often and respect your opinion. Pray tell...what is a rice bucket?

TXCubFan,
The rice bucket is a baseball player’s best friend and I mean that seriously. A plastic 5 gallon bucket (with lid) filled 3/4 of the way to the top with uncooked rice is an excellent aid in strengthening the hands, wrists, and forearms. The object is to place the rice bucket on the floor and work the hand in a circular motion until you touch the bottom of the bucket ---- repeat that process until you feel the "pain". You will be amazed at the results. Replace the lid when finished to keep the critters out.
Fungo

I was wondering what a rice bucket was for too. My son and I saw one in the dugout at the Texas A&M - Corpus Christi ballpark. We just looked at each other and shrugged. Now I know!

For the rice bucket, I'm assuming you can get rice in bulk somewhere? That would be a LOT of boxes of minute rice!!!!!

Fungo - So they insert their fingers in the rice then what? Palm open and rotate like waving? Make a fist and rotate like a punch? Make a fist and roll it around?

Here are a few ideas:

5 gallon bucket, with lid, filled to ~3" of top with rice. *Try Walmart for bulk rice.*

1. Take you hand and work it down to the bottom of the bucket, find the ball and then work it out of the bucket, then work the ball back down to the bottom.
2. Point your hand straight, pull your pinky and ring finger to your palm. Keeping your arm straight, rotate the thumb and forefingers clockwise and then counter-clockwise.
3. Make a fist with the thumb pointed forward. Keep arm straight, making clockwise and counterclockwise circles with the thumb. Turn the hand 90 degrees so that the thumb points towards the hip, and repeat.
4. Make a fist. Keeping the arm straight and still make clockwise and counterclockwise motions.
5. Same fist, move the hand forward and backward, then side to side.
6. Keep fingers and hand pointed straight and move the hand only front to back for several reps and then side to side for several reps.
7. Finally make a fist, work it clockwise to the bottom and up then repeat counterclockwise.

Thanks Fungo & Texan,

I'm off to find bulk rice and let the "yute" give it a try.

Txcubfan

Just a quick update on bats and observations. Son played in a tourney last weekend and some kids used their Xmas gift bats... Two kids used -3 bats: 07 Dynasty and 07 Omaha. Unfornutely for the team they went hitless using them for the tournament. They are usually strong hitters and were making contact but from lack of bat speed the balls were easy flyballs or ground outs. One kid, who playing up a year on the team (12 years old), switched from a -10 silver/blue (stiff handle) Stealth to a - 8.5 TPX ExoGrid. He hit a couple of long drives in the left field gap (260-280 range) that were the hits of the tournament for the team! Kid has very nice swing and get great bat speed. Another kid also got a -8.5 Exo he used (was swinging -10 Catalyst) but went hitless with it. He's a lefty with a "long swing" (also 12 years old) and couldn't get around the ball (pop ups and grounders to 3rd).

So these observations were pretty much what I would expect. The right bat in the right hands can produce good results. A couple of ounces or an inch in lenght doesn't sound like much but it does make a difference. And while going to a -3 earlier rather than later, is good for the batter's HS goals he may suffer immediate setbacks. This weekend was a case where the team was knocked out of the tournay losing a game 7-6 that should have been easily won if the kids swinging the -3 bats were using their -8.5 bats. They were in the 5&6 hole batting and came up with men in scoring position (twice with bases loaded) and could not deliver. They really needed to swing those bats in practice/cages until they were ready to handle them.

Not too many people mentioning the WOOD to my surprise ...? my advice is to get your son a wood bat, go one inch longer than his metal bat and swing off the tee with it set high at the numbers...but thats it, then after 2 weeks try some soft toss with it, then by the 3rd week throw from behind the L screen. if he can be consistent with that then he'll be a beast with the metal. Some people forget that kids started playing baseball learning with the wood and only that....believe there were some great ball players that came of it...just sayin...kids weren't built any bigger back then, hell we got bigger kids now, so where did we go wrong where we are worried that little Johnny cant swing a drop -3 by 14 years old ??? Quit babying them mom & dad, make them swing the big bat and learn the mechanics now before its too late..... Oh yeah, one last thing...dont ever take them to a Baseball Factory Camp ....LOL buy them 100 wood bats with the $$$$ instead!!!

8. Now ready for rinse and drain water, steam cook for 15min and serve...

 

lol sorry I had to...But GrEAT workout, we do that as well and this really works dads !!