Rocketech

quincy said:

8U was the worst, the bats the players had was actually funny. Still remember us calling out “use the pink bat”. I had $20 invested in that bat and most the Players on the Team used it.

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HAHA yeah I coached when DD played 8u & we had not only the bat issues but glove issues as well. They would come out with those itty bitty t-ball gloves that an 11" ball wouldn't even fit in.

01mom said:

I fully agree with him on the good mechanics part, I was only disagreeing that not everyone in the sb world knows that a RT requires the good mechanics in order to be successful with it. Some people hear bat x is hot & buy it without doing any research.

The dear in the headlights is lack of mechanics & confidence and a RT is only going to make it worse. She would have a better chance at fixing both with a -10 balanced bat but I am not the coach so I sit on the sidelines and cheer the girls on & hope for the best. There's not a single girl on the team including DD that has mechanics good enough to swing a RT.

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It can be difficult to be confident when you are using mechanics that put you at a disadvantage.

I had two girls that finished my winter hitting training this year, that went on to swing heavier barrels during games. Both were "turn arounds" ... both had less than stellar seasons prior, and both went on to lead their team afterwards. One was a HS senior that led her team in HRs, and the other is an 8th grader that has sky-rocketed past her teammates in a major way. Both are swinging 27-oz bats in games. Both have surprised people with their turn-around in performance.

It's much easier to be confident when you use clean swing mechanics.

I'm not saying that your DD should make any changes at this point in time ... but I am saying that for some people, that a healthy off-season training program that promotes clean swing mechanics with a heavier barrel, can lead to a brighter future.

FiveFrameSwing said:

I'm not saying that your DD should make any changes at this point in time ... but I am saying that for some people, that a healthy off-season training program that promotes clean swing mechanics with a heavier barrel, can lead to a brighter future.

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Mine is a wrist roller at contact which is why I ended up reading posts in this area, she doesn't struggle to hit the ball but she struggles to hit it well with live pitching. Her season is about over and I was looking for ways to fix the rolling (found what I was looking for). Don't want to derail this thread too much so I won't go into all of DD's hitting issues but I'll be working with her trying to fix her & if I'm at a loss I'm sure I'll post some video & get more specific advice.

Early rolling over of the wrist is generally not a forced action in terms of the hitter attempting to perform the action, but more a 'result' of using less than ideal swing mechanics. Generally the answer is not to force a palm-up extension through the ball, but to instead address the underlying mechanics.

01mom said:

Mine is a wrist roller at contact which is why I ended up reading posts in this area, she doesn't struggle to hit the ball but she struggles to hit it well with live pitching. Her season is about over and I was looking for ways to fix the rolling (found what I was looking for). Don't want to derail this thread too much so I won't go into all of DD's hitting issues but I'll be working with her trying to fix her & if I'm at a loss I'm sure I'll post some video & get more specific advice.

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Just remember palm up and palm down at contact. If you do nothing else to her swing that will make at least a small impact on the issue. There may be larger issues behind it. Like rotating on top of the ball rather than behind it. Or not taking the top half with her on a weight shift. But 75 % of the time the palm up palm down is a leading culprit in hitting down on the ball.


Tim

IACoach said:

My DD, 12, used a 32/22 CF4 and has allways been successful batting. After reviewing the threads on the Rocketech, I picked one up for her to try - 05 31/22. She was hesitant at first, but did start using it last weekend at a Rec tournament. Nothing but success - she fell in love with it hitting a couple of doubles and a triple. Today at our 12U TB tournament she scored her first HR - not over the fence but a line drive to it! I do not think the CF4 is going to see any action.

Not to hijack this thread but I do have a question to you that have the RT's and an end loaded composite. Being the RT's are heavier than listed (I believe some of the extra weight is in the knob and it is supposed to swing like a 22 even though it is heavier) do your DD's swing a heavier composite or the same weight? and which composite bat do you prefer?

Thanks!

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The metal heads that use the R/T have a hand path designed to use a heavier end loaded bat. ( and yes mine was defiantly a metal head ).Composite Bats that are drop 10 but sold as ....... it has an end load feel is a marketing trick in my opinion. Check the balance point of a composite that says it feels like an end load compared to a true end loaded bat like the R/T. You will see the difference. People can see that mass on the end of the bat generates longer harder drives but bat companies do not want to lose money from customers that cannot swing them.

If your dd swings a end load. Leave it alone. If she swings a balanced composite and is productive and happy. Leave her be. Mixing the 2 bats is mixing 2 totally different hand paths and swing mechanics. End loaded composites still have a ways to go imho. The insane is pretty good but still not where it needs to be. There is a reason they dont put heavy end loads in a composite. The mass at the end wrapped in a composite shell cannot take the abuse that the aluminum alloy can with stand.

With all the advancements they have made in composite end load the Queen of battle is still the Original end loaded R/T. Now i will get off my soap box lol.

Tim