Bat question...

My dd has struggled a little this year batting. Its been hard to figure out exactly what has been missing as I am the hc of her rec team and have been spread thin, helping everyone and of course dealing with everything else in life. Anyways, she has been using an Aircraft Alloy Easton that is 29 inches and 17.5 oz. She is 4'9, 75's. She begged me to let her hit her friends bat for one practice and I said ok after saying no all year. First half of practice she used her bat, second half she used her friends 30 inch, 20 oz Demarini composite. With her bat she was like she has been all year: timing was a little off. Hit some rips to the outfield, hit some line drives and hit some pop flies and of course missed a few. Probably only hit 6 I would say were really good and 5-6 solid out of the 25 balls. IMO it looked more of a timing issue than anything else. Then with her friends bat.............very first pitch, she hits the ball the furthest she has ever hit in her life. The ball hits the top of the fence in centerfield and bounces back. 2 more inches and she would have went yard. Then she proceeds to destroy about 20 of the 25 balls after that. She missed 2 balls and fouled off a couple.

It was a real head scratcher. Now, we are of course going to do some more hitting with other bats now and see how things look, but is it possible I sabotaged my dd all this season by making her use a bat that wasnt the right size for her? Of course the composite bat is hotter than the aluminum one. I mean its the difference between a $65 bat and a $250 bat, but I dont think it could mean that much a difference and I dont think it could help her get more contact.
It could be possible after that first rip, she just oozed confindence. Maybe thats whats happened.??????

IDK, what do you all think? This is of course a knee jerk reaction, but again it was really weird. Thats the best bucket of balls Ive ever seen a 9 year old hit. Was it luck? lol.

Here is my dd's bat : 2012 Easton Mystique: SX67B Fastpitch

Here is her friends bat:http://www.justbats.com/product/2012-demarini-cf5--dxcfp-fastpitch/13550/

Bats make a difference. I'm sure the composite bat helped but my guess is the biggest help was the extra 2.5 oz. Gave her some extra thump and may have helped with timing issues as well.

Agree with axe it was probably a combination of both.

To really find out take some video of her swinging both and slow it down and watch her mechanics.

The CF5 is one of the best bats going and the quality of the bat along with the extra mass and bigger sweet spot helped drive the ball further without a doubt. The issue of making contact with more balls though, is proabably a result of the longer heavier bat helping her timing.

Add to that the mental aspect of her feeling loose and confident at the plate and you have a winner.

If you decide to move to a bigger comosite you can get a good 30/20 bat without having to spend $300. Not a CF5, but there are lots of good bats out there and you can get a older mid level composite for under $100 easy. Heck you can get them for less than you paid for the mystique and use it till you are sure that is the correct size and then buy a high dollar one. That's what I have doen this year.

southwestsoftball said:

but is it possible I sabotaged my dd all this season by making her use a bat that wasnt the right size for her?

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Yes, it is very possible ... and it happens frequently. Many blame the use of ultra light bats for why we see so many sub-par swings today. It is so easy, and tempting, for a hitter to power their swing with their arms with an ultra-light bat.

JimB speaks of turning the 'magic spot'. He calls it the magic spot, because he turns that spot and 'like magic' the barrel is at contact. Others refer to this as SnF (Stretch-and-Fire). SnF is the fastest way to deliver a barrel from launch to contact ... and yes, it can feel like magic when it's new to you. SnF isn't natural for many people ... so it generally needs to be taught. A hitter first learning SnF mechanics may feel that they will be late. Their brain tells them that they won't get to the ball in time. Relative to their arm-powered swing, the feel can be that they left their hands back too long and the ball will be in the catcher's mitt by the time they arrive at what would have been contact ... but like magic, the barrel squares the ball ... and the brain says "wow, I can't believe I got to that ball on time, I thought for sure it was past me".

It's tough to convert an arm-powered swinger to SnF ... the brain of an arm-powered swinger sends the wrong message when a ball is in flight ... the barrel is in the person's hands, and the brain instinctively tells the hitter to use their arms/shoulders to move their hands towards the ball. The notion of an early running start and establishing SnF mechanics isn't there for those folks. What is especially tough about converting an arm-powered swinger is that many of them tend to use ultra-light bats, and this allows them to get away with using an inferior swing ... so their mentality tends to be, to hold fast to the notion of powering their swing with their arms, and their poor swing mechanics get embedded in their swing approach.

Give a kid a barrel with extra weight, and have them face relatively fast pitching for their age, and if they use an arm powered swing, then they will feel foolish. They will feel down-right silly. Their mechanics have been exposed for what they are ... terrible. Now teach that kid SnF mechanics, and the extra weight generally won't be much of an issue. The kid is now launching the barrel with the fastest approach possible ... with a heavier barrel ... and they are waiting longer before launching the barrel, so they are making smarter decisions in regards to aborting their swing ... and they are launching the ball farther than they have ever launched a ball.

More than likely you have a mechanical issue to address ... and if you are like many, the use of an ultra-light barrel will make it tougher to overcome.

Like FFS suggests, there's probably an underlying mechanical issue. A hitter w/ solid mechanics will be able to swing as well either a wiffleball bat or Babe Ruth's wooden log. That said, there's no disputing that a player will perform better with a bat they "like" (for whatever reason) because they feel comfortable and confident.

My DD was small still is small at 14 yrs old.I too tried to and did get her the lightest bat I could find I thought I was helping her get hits easier with a light bat.She did hit the ball.When DD moved up in age she faced better pitching and wasn't hitting the ball.So the answer was lighter bat,right.No wrong.After posting video of my DD it was pointed out she was a arm swinger.Her bat mechanics were exposed.So we are now and have been in the process of trying to correct this.So listen to the posters on this site.Get your DD the heaviest bat that she can swing and still maintain the proper sequence.Sequence trumps all.Learn from my mistake.

I truly appreciate everyones response, especially FFS who I respect with great admiration. Thank you all! I have no doubt that there are plenty of mechanical issues she has to work on. I mean she is very new to the game and she is 9 years old. If there werent lots of mechanical things to work on I would be in a state ot total and utter shock.

We tried a few different bats today and outside of the mechanical stuff, I have come to the full conclusion that she is much more comfortable swinging a bat in the 30/20 or 31/21 area than she is with her 29/17.5. I will post some video of her hitting form a couple different angles and will do both off the TEE and front toss for everyones thoughts. It will be greatly appreciated to here some opinions from all of you. Thanks again! I love this webiste!

There can be an advantage to not subsidizing a poor swing with ultra-light bats ..... something understood from a golfing perspective as well.

but I dont think it could mean that much a difference

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Yes, it can. That is why I advocate using a good composite -10 bat. It doesn't have to cost $300.00. I buy old Catalysts several times a year for $80.00.