I'm into honesty and I came here for advice, so this is awesome! Thank you. I would rather learn from your experience than spend 400 bucks on a bat that ruins her swing. In my defense though... I would say that I'm not out to impress anybody by having DD swing a bigger bat than most. That thought didn't ever cross my mind. She used a 29 in tee ball (which was co-ed and therefore coach pitch) and her first year of farm because it was pink. Then, she jumped to the 31 because her favorite babysitter who played in HS gifted her a bat that was likely too small for her. So she tried to swing it and she could. That's it. I'm more guilty of being cheap than anything else. HOWEVER, she does have an impressive swing. The competition will be using composite bats, so I think she needs one. The last thing I want to do is to screw up her swing. How will I know if she has developed swing flaws??Never, ever buy a bat to grow into.
Too long is a bigger sin than too heavy.
A bat too long at that age has potential to cause swing flaws that are very hard to fix.
A bat too long can cause a young player to never develop as a hitter. “Never“ is a serious word. Pay attention to it.
There is No Status In Swinging A Bigger Bat Than Most Other Kids The Same Age. NONE. The coach doesn’t care. The other players don’t care. The other parents don’t care. The only people that will like it is the pitchers on the other team.
An inch longer bat does not give you “better plate coverage”. Biggest myth in softball. Get lessons and practice more with the bat you have.
Measure the outside width of your daughters shoulders. Multiply that number by two. That number is likely going to be 30 or maybe 31 in your daughters case. Get a -10 bat in that length. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT, GO DOWN AN INCH. (The bat size guide chart that is on every bat sales site will be similar.)
The vast majority of 10u players should be swinging a -10 Demarini, LXT, Xeno, Ghost that was bought second hand locally. Most 10u kids can’t hit a ball hard enough to tax a high quality modern bat. Let someone else pay new prices and pay half for a great bat. If and when you are going to buy a new bat, contact @CoreSoftball20 on these forums and talk to him. He will give you great advice.
A bunch of us were in your shoes years ago. I made all the dumb mistakes you can make. Trust experience on this topic. Don’t do what the rest of us did.
Sorry if this was seems harsh. This is a message that needs to be delivered effectively.
@mods... For the 922nd time, we need a sticky on this topic.
Good luck and enjoy the ride!