Help with a bat choice, please!

I would let him try several and see what one he likes. the 27" is good...and if he can handle the -10, that might hold up better.

As far as what bat to use for a 7 or 8 yr old. The lighter the better, but it really shouldn't matter at this pt. IMO, you should be concentrating on mechanics.
FWIW, my son (league 9 last yr) won a HR derby at a tournament last summer. The 2 other kids he faced in the final each had swung an Easton Stealth ($200+). My son swung an Easton Reflex, which I paid 75 for.

It's not the bat.

Thanks for the replies thus far, and keep them coming.

Another thing I forgot to mention is we have worked on the mechanics thing a lot, and I have a guy that played in the majors take a look at his swing every few months. I agree mechanics are most important.

However, there is no denying the difference this bat change made. My son also mentioned that the Worth Prodigy did not sting his hands like his TPS Omaha (cheap model) does. Do you think the added weight helped, or does this higher end bat just have a much larger sweet spot?

Regards,
Nixsrs93

When my son was seven he used a $25 Mark McGwire model I bought at Walmart. I didn't care how far he hit the ball. I only cared about the quality of the swing and making solid contact.

I've seen little kids (and their parents) with the expensive bats get all caught up in how far they can hit the ball. The kids have mediocre to poor hitting mechanics that fail them in a couple of years when the pitcher isn't trying to throw meat to hit like the coach did.

The TPX Laser is a nice $60 bat for a young player. Spend your money on a bucket of balls, a tee, a $20 wood bat and a Jugs net. Spend time with your son hitting off a tee, soft toss and pitching BP to him.

The Omaha is not a cheap (quality) bat. It's an excellent bat.

My son is a few years older, but not yet HS age.
In a tournament last weekend, he tried a Worth Prodigy and had a serious of great hits. During the game, I leaned over and told my peer coach, "Well, we found our bat." After the game, I looked at the bat and found two dents in the bat. So, maybe its not the right bat afterall. Pitches were likely in the low 60's and my son is a little guy and only 11. The bat just didn't hold up well enough.

When he was 7, we used a wood bat for training and a cheap Easton aluminum drop 12 bat for games. At 9-10's we moved to a drop 10 Easton Stealth.

Since the Prodigy didn't work out, we'll likely go back to the Stealth for 11-12 league play.

RJM,

Thanks for the advice. We have the bucket of balls, we have the tee, we do soft a toss, and we do BP.

What is the wooden bat for?

What is a Jugs net?

Once again thanks for your help.

Here is where I am coming from, I know equipment is not everything. I was just amazed at the difference it made on the velocity of the ball leaving his bat between the two.

By the way the Omaha we have is the all aluminum model, and my son complains of it stinging his hands. No knock against TPS, just his feelings about the bat.

Do we not all want our children to do well? Get good hard line drive hits? Have a chance to make the allstar team.....enjoy the game like we did as a kid????

a jugs net is a net you can soft toss into. Usually portable. The wood bat is to train. My son has trained with one for a few yrs now. It's a bit heavier so limited reps is reccomended. I think the best benefit of training with a wood bat is that the sweet spot is smaller on a wood bat than on a metal bat. So if you learn to hit with the wood, hitting with metal, in theory, should be easier.n Plus the weight of the wood bat also COULD strengthen the swing. Although the difference in weight between the 2 bats should not be too drastic. You don't want your son to struggle to swing the wood.

The velocity difference off a seven year olds bat is not significant. I've seen kids when told they will hit the ball further with a certain bat,. sacrifice mechanics to crank the ball. I truly believe if a parent bought a wild looking $25 bat for a kid who could hit well, a lot of parents would go buy the same bat thinking it's the bat.

The wood bat is for learning to swing a heavier bat and learning to hit on a smaller sweet spot. It teaches the hitter not to accept the reward of a hit off the fists because these won't be hits when they get older. It usually makes hitting with a metal bat easier. It makes the transition to heavier bats much easier in a few years.

A Jugs net is a batting net made by Jugs. It can be set up in the backyard, garage or basement. It's portable and can be taken to practice or games. It's also entertaining to watch parents wrestle with it who don't know how to fold it for storage.

the bat weight/lenth ratio for kids that age is great you have big slow kids,little fast kids and big fast kids if your kid can handle a -10 with consistant line drives than you found the bat size for him . the best bet is to find what he likes and get it on ebay .models from 2002 are still new and great bats for young kids that dont dent and dont dent your wallet . was this a little league/pony sizwe worth "P" you barrowed or a senior league big barrel ? heres a good one ..http://cgi.ebay.com/New-DeMarini-Vexxum-Baseball-Bat-27-17_W0QQitemZ300202230721QQihZ020QQcategoryZ73898QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Well I bought my son the best bat I could afford. The best glove and the best cleats. I wanted him to have the best gear I could afford to give him. The only thing I hate is I wont have to do it anymore after this hs season. There is nothing like the look on a kids face when they see you walk up with that brand new glove or bat.

We've doneas Coach May did -- the best we could afford. Which wasn't always very good, to be truthful. But when he was eleven, and had a very nice bat, he wanted a practice bat too. So we went to the used sporting goods store-- and bought the soon to be famous "eight dollar bat". Famous, because at practice he and every teammate, and coach, who tryed it absolutely blasted the ball. He loved that little bat. It was a cheap Easton when it was new. And it was a very cheap "practice" bat that then saw many ab's in games. My son has never asked for the expensive stuff -- always believing in the player's effort and skill more than the equipment. But I won't argue that pricier doesn't equal better.Many times -- most times -- it does. But not in the case of the $8 bat.

I'm gonna take issue with the wooden bat. I have yet to see a 7 year old, no matter how athletic, who could put a good swing on a wooden bat -- one which is long enough to cover the strike zone.

It's easy to find aluminum bats like the one mentioned in the OP: 27" and 17 ounces. An athletic strong 7 year old can swing this, and have good quick mechanics while doing so. A similar length wooden bat would weigh 7 or 8 ounces more.

I'm an old f*rt, and in the mid 50's, the youngest age which Little League accepted was, I believe, 9 years old. Where I lived, the standard age to begin was 11, although sometimes a 10 year old with excellent athletic ability was allowed to play. Why so late compared to today? Well, the bat I started with was a 30-30, and as I recall, the lightest bat available was 28-28. We could swing those bats at a younger age to play softball, but we sure couldn't make a good swing against even a 50mph pitcher until we weighed a hundred pounds or so.

I believe that at age 7, a kid will learn better swing mechanics with a sub 20 ounce bat. And the bat needs to be long enough to cover the plate; otherwise the batter tends to extend his arms prematurely to reach the outside pitch. Aluminum fits the bill.

What age to start swing wood? Whenever the player can handle an aluminum -3 in game situations, then he should be able to handle a e.g. 31" 29 oz. wooden bat (which is quite a bit harder to swing) in practice. Typically 13 years old for talented young lads.

Obviously, your mileage may vary....

Jim,

I was the Worth Prodigy Big Barrel (2&3/4") model he used 27" & 17oz.

Thanks for your help.

I have found several of the Demarini Vexxum 2007 (27" & 17oz) models on ebay and the like for in the $50 to $60 range. That bat was $200 last year, so just because the new model has come out it has greatly decreased in value.

The Worth Prodigy at $175 or so is just too much right now.

Regards,
Nixsrs93

quote:

Originally posted by Nixsrs93:
Thanks for the replies thus far, and keep them coming.

Another thing I forgot to mention is we have worked on the mechanics thing a lot, and I have a guy that played in the majors take a look at his swing every few months. I agree mechanics are most important.

However, there is no denying the difference this bat change made. My son also mentioned that the Worth Prodigy did not sting his hands like his TPS Omaha (cheap model) does. Do you think the added weight helped, or does this higher end bat just have a much larger sweet spot?

Regards,
Nixsrs93

I'd say the extra 3oz. made the biggest difference in the stinging of his hands and the extra distance. He probably doesn't have the hand strength yet to hold that lighter bat with a thrown pitch. I would do some things to improve his grip and forearm strength. Without a doubt, some bats are better than others, but any top brand bat in the $75 to $150 range should be fine. Remember, he isn't going to be using this bat for long, so don't go overboard. As someone has already said, work on his mechanics and he will be fine.

glad to help my dad is a bat wholesale supplier and i never get a new bat either. the best bat i had was a 2002 worth 3dx grey 2.75 x 32" . when the carbon shell broke in the sound changed and balls jumped over the fence .
dad said it was a bpf of 1.14 new and once broke in it was closer to 1.2 . he rolls them now !

The extra 3oz's is what made the difference. The bat started hitting the ball instead of the other way around.

A good test to determine if a kid is strong enough to handle a certain size bat is to have the kid hold the bat by the knob - straight out to his side... (parallel to the ground). If he can do this for 20-30 seconds without shaking etc. etc. then the bat is not too big.

Anyone know anything about the Miken Heat Coach Pitch bat? I think it is brand new this year. 27" @ 15.5 oz and 100% composite.

Guys,

Here is an update, my son went 3 for 5 this weekend at a tournament with the Worth Prodigy 27"@17oz. All was well, except we found some waves on the bat already. This bat has pop, but seems to have some durability issues. Our team played an age group up, so we took it on the chin all day Saturday.

This makes me think the Miken Heat or a Demarini Vexxum is the better choice for durability.

Thanks,
Nixsrs93

Folks,

Any more thoughts?

Regards,
Nixsrs93

The Demarini Vexxum will do MUCH better from a durabilty perspective. No question. We've had several and no wrathing, scarring, etching, demarcation, or pimpling. Use it with machine balls as well and no dimpling, pitting, or strafing. Even blems resist blistering (enamel paint), deformation, or hemmroids. (yes, bats get hemmroids)...don't laugh,,,just talk to a metallurgist.

quote:

Originally posted by Nixsrs93:
...

By the way the Omaha we have is the all aluminum model, and my son complains of it stinging his hands. No knock against TPS, just his feelings about the bat....

The reason your son's hands sting is because he has poor mechanics and is using his arms instead of his whole body to swing the bat. My son uses the Omaha 29-19.5 with a 2-5/8's barrel (he is 8). I can see when he swings with just his arms and when he uses proper form. He learned very quickly that a good swing virtually eliminates the bat sting.