At what age should you buy a "good" bat?

[redhotcoach]

Learned at 10u it doesn't help. First high $ composite died right at one year (prob shouldn't have used it in the cages). We started using $70 alloy, dd likes bat better, and is hitting just as well.

 

[SBFAMILY]

When she has had enough hitting lessons to learn how to use a bat correctly. It has nothing to do with age!

 

[andyh64000]

My 10YO uses a decent composite I managed to get new off ebay for $55 (30/20 worth titan) and i have noticed that when she hits it on the sweet spot the ball really jumps and she can hit it a mile but whenever she hits it just off the sweet spot the bat is really dead...more so than her old aluminum. Is this typical with composites? If so I guess my answer would be when she is not only making contact but making consistent sweet spot contact.

 

[redhotcoach]

My 10YO uses a decent composite I managed to get new off ebay for $55 (30/20 worth titan) and i have noticed that when she hits it on the sweet spot the ball really jumps and she can hit it a mile but whenever she hits it just off the sweet spot the bat is really dead...more so than her old aluminum. Is this typical with composites? If so I guess my answer would be when she is not only making contact but making consistent sweet spot contact.

Could be just need more breaking in and rotating bat after each hit so it is not being hit in the same spot. A single wall should have pretty good bounce even off of the sweet spot spot. Our dead combat is like hitting the ball with a soaking wet tree branch. There is no mistaking that it is dead.

 

[amanda_cake]

DD=diamond diva

I got my first decent bat when I was about 13. I was making solid contact frequently and it gave me the extra umphh.

 

[PEPPERS]

IMHO its different for every player and the level of play they are at. The size/weight of some of the high end bats don't allow the younger smaller players to swing it properly. Because I can never say no to her I made the mistake of buying my then 9yo DD a composite stealth (the old white/purple one -10) at the beginning of last year because she begged and said it was so "pretty". I didn't know enough about bats then and didn't realize it was too much bat for her. She never used it and ended up using an on sale $50 demarini cat osterman with a minus 13 drop all season.

This year she has grown into the stealth and can appreciate the technology it provides... too bad its out of warranty now and they don't make that particular model anymore so if it breaks we are done.

Be careful on too heavey a bat this can set up some poor mechanics using a bat that is too heavey. I advise to spend the money on a good coach for lessons before investing in an expensive bat. When she is ready for the expensive bat you will know it.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have found some really cheap prices on the orange Rawlings Plasma, on Ebay. It is a great double wall bat and my DD had the green one in HS. It was expensive, then.

I paid $40.00 for the last one.