OP here. I guess she's still little in my mind... 5'0" and 90# with no clue where she's hiding it all. Can't return the bat as someone unwrapped it even though they were told not toDid pick up a 31/21 just to compare all three sizes. Great clearance sales around here right now!
Anyway, got to put in some practice over the last few days with the giant bat. Wiffle balls at 15' were not a problem with the 32" or 31". Inside and out were all hit well with good mechanics.
Today we went to the diamond at 35' with a bucket of balls. Started with the old 30"/19. Too fast a swing, lots of fouls, but a few solidly hit balls. Moved up to the 32/22 and right away all the hits were going down the 1st/2nd base side. Instantly I thought, too heavy of a bat, everyone is right. Noticed the hips weren't moving like they should and she was stepping out a little. Fixed that and was jumping out of the way of line drives at my head. She did hit the 31/21 with about the same results.
Overall distance of the fly balls was about the same. Line drives and grounders did scream a lot more than normal though. Nothing really to the left side of the field, so reserving full judgement until I see what she can do with a girl pitching. She's faced faster pitchers than Dad before, but I know where to put the ones she doesn't like to hit!
Second Year ASA U10 Fastpitch Coach.
Five-O,ninety pounds. I'm voting 31/21. Absolutely!
Um "too fast a swing?"
Uh thats what everyone is breaking a swing apart for, to get as much bat speed as possible. The faster the bat #1 the faster and farther the ball goes #2 The longer a batter can wait before commiting to swing. It is said that the speed of the bat is twice as important as the weight of the bat. Of the 3 over the fence game hr my 12 yr old has hit, #1 was a 30/18 (when she was 11), #2 was a 30/20, #3 was a 31/21. When we are goofing at the park, her fav bat to us in front toss is my miken 34/27 freak maxload. Heck she hit of a tee indoors all winter with a 30 oz bat. Her swing looks great with the 27 oz bat. She hits several over the 200 foot fence with it. BUT come game time, her go to bat is 32/22, her fast or big movement pitcher bat is 31/21, and if we are facing a really slow pitcher she will take out her 32/23 rockettech. I say nothing to her about which to use, it's all about what she feels like.
Keep all the bats. Pack them every game. She may want a light one on a certain day or heavy on another. NPF has "whats in the bag" for several of the pro women. They do the same, take a light and a heavy bat. I will say there are more then a few hard hitting pro adult women using 33/23 bats!
I second that redhotcoach.My DD will carry a couple of bats.It depends on the pitcher.If the pitcher looks slow the heavier bat.If pitcher looks fast the lighter bat.Sometimes it depends on her mood.My DD is 5'2 103 lbs(doctor visit yesterday).She uses Easton Rivaly 32'' 19.5ozs. She likes this bat.
the absolute I go by is this. If the batter is confident in the bat, she will swing it better then the bat that "fits" her
I just had a 12 year old crack a CF5 -11. It actually wasn't a crack, it was pretty much a quarter sized hole in the bat.
The father called Dimarini and they basically said, "your daughter is outperforming the bat, we will send you a -11 if you like but we've seen a lot of this and really would rather send her a -10. The lighter bats are meant for very young/inexperienced players".
This 12 year old is about 5' tall and weighs about 95 lbs, she's a good player, but her hitting is about middle of the road for an A ball 12 year old. That bat did crack on a solid shot over the CF's head though, during a rec ball game where the pitching was about 35mph.
I have to go with the manufacturer here. If your kid can swing a bat with any kind of proficiency, don't get anything lighter then a -10. Even the bat makers consider them toys.
-W
It absolutely cannot be larger than 34"-38oz. Other than that, I cannot think of anything.
You abide by the ramifications of your decisions.