Home Run Derby - Ghost vs LXT

[MB2.0LHT]

Thats awesome @JumboJack!!! Good for her!! I am not trying to tell you anything different and pretty sure I mentioned there are outliers.

Perhaps you should go to work for Easton or DeMarini as you are clearly smarter than what they recommend.

What do you think you gain by the longer bat? Just curious to know? Pretty sure Easton, DeMarini would love to know as well.

Again, just trying to help and there is always somebody that is an exception to the rule. You clearly are and for that I applaud you! Is your DD heading off to D1 next year? D2? D3? Regardless, take that bat with you!!!

Last thing I will add to this........Lauren Chamberlain swung a 33" bat. She is 5'9" and your DD is not even close based on what you said before.

Again, if it works, stick with it! For others, I recommed a bat that fits the player to start. A homer with a bat that is clearly too big will likely go even further with a bat that fits the girl.

S3

S3 your right in general. My DD’s are 15 and 5’ 2” and 5’ 4” and weigh 125 & 135. One is very strong and the other average strength.
The shorter stronger DD swings 32” Ghosts and taller DD prefers 32” Sluggers.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

Well, after all this...Ray Demarini's old saying is still true after how many years. Swing the heaviest bat
you can without losing bat speed. Just because you go "lighter" doesnt mean you are going to gain
anything...you actually will lose pop/exit speed if its too light. Just like a bat thats too heavy.

A bat that is too heavy, is just as bad as a bat that is too light. Every player has their weight that works
well for them.

 

[prsboogie]

Just a general question, any love for the Xeno? And is there any theories on a drop 10/32 vs a drop 11 33? Both being the same weight obviously with different lengths but would the 32 still come around faster?

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[Quasimodo]

This is an interesting discussion!

DD is a college freshman at a Louisville school. She went from a 33/25 GA to a 33/24 LXT. She has never hit a LOT of hr’s but she hits a lot of balls that either hit the fence or one hop the fence. Awesome in tb but she is frustrated that so many lasers get caught by college outfielders. (They are after all much, much better.)

She had to come home to quarantine because her roommate was C+ in September. I front tossed to her on a field we know well and I felt like she hit well with the LXT but she still feels like she is hitting too many balls off the end cap and not hitting on the sweet spot as much.

I did feel like the ball came off the bat very well.

I personally would like to see her swing a 33/25 or 33/24 Xeno but dad doesn’t get to pick the bats anymore.

Well just using logic, if the bats are the same length, but the LXT is a little lighter, and less end weighted, why would she hit more balls off the end cap. I think it is more habit than bat quality. The LXT is going to be a lighter swing being 24oz and is less end weighted, so ends up getting ahead of typical Ghost contact points.

 

[Quasimodo]

Well, after all this...Ray Demarini's old saying is still true after how many years. Swing the heaviest bat
you can without losing bat speed. Just because you go "lighter" doesnt mean you are going to gain
anything...you actually will lose pop/exit speed if its too light. Just like a bat thats too heavy.

A bat that is too heavy, is just as bad as a bat that is too light. Every player has their weight that works
well for them.

Exactamundo! We are having this discussion right now with coaching in the Philippines. When you only have two pitchers who throw 60-61 and the other 63 in the entire country, we are speed deficient! When we go to Peru for the 18U World Championships in March we will face pitching that is often higher than 63. And some coaches here have actually bought heavier bats than normal, "for power". Even a PXT! I have bought two CF-9 slappers, 34/24, 33/23, and a LXT 33/23. I am going lighter, for bat speed and power, but they just don't get it!
Anyway, the words of wisdom are "swing the heaviest bat you can without losing bat speed".

 

[Quasimodo]

IMO, this is it right here. Some bats, particularly end-weighted, are more likely to hit one out if perfect contact is made. However, for myself and DD, I've always searched for the balanced bat with the larger sweet spot. Bat speed, control, and the ability to get around on a pitch and get the best leverage and makes a hard hit (long) ball more likely. I've always trained DD to hit deep line drives rather than high fly balls. If a girl is reasonably strong, hitting the ball like that will produce HRs as a byproduct while generating a good average. I'd rather have a small miss be a laser-shot or hard grounder than a pop-up.

I helped with a higher-end national this summer. Bats were inspected prior to the tournament and then each game and tagged if there were defects. The tagged bats were then stored in the TD's office until the owner was no longer in the tournament. I was amazed at the number of broken Ghosts...I mean BIG cracks, rattles, and wobbles. There were also a smaller number of the newer LXTs. None of the bats were very old, but many of those bats looked beat to hell...lots of metal cleat marks and indications of machine ball use.

The size, length of the sweet-spot is all about productivity! "keep the line moving!"

Two teams, totaling the same number of bases in a game. How did they score their runs, and which one do you want to be?

THINK ABOUT IT! Slugging Percentage vs. On Base Percentage


TEAM 1 - 24 total bases comprised totally of:
6 HR = 6 Runs scored totally on the basis of 6 HR


TEAM 2 - 24 total bases achieved:
0 HR = 9 Runs scored

Inning . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . 2. . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . 7

Offense . . . . .1 1 2 . . . . 1 1 1 . . . 2 1 1 . . . 1 1 1 . . . 1 1 1 . . . 1 2 1 . . . 1 1 1 = 24 bases total
(1=single, 2=double)

Projected- . . . 2 . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . 1 . . = 9 runs scored
Runs Scored

The prospect of walks was not included. Also, please note that putting the ball in play, which HR do not do, does not increase the pressure on the defense and result in errors unless you are you have Jose Canseco on your team.

I have nothing against HR's! My mighty midgets in 2017 and 2019 had a higher SLG% than any teams in the World Championships and international competition except, Teams USA and Mexico. I love long line-drives!

 

[Quasimodo]

Bet she does worse with pop/distance

I read one of the bat test sites that is frequently seen. They chose the Demarini CF9 as the best "power" bat made between 2015 to 2020. Another tester always do live testing but always use 32/22 bats in their youtube videos. In international we play on 220' fields. My best power hitter that slugged 1.862 last year uses a CF9. My midget pitcher who is 4'10", shown in the photo, uses a CF9 and hits balls over the 220' fences. You can let the bat do the work, or you can produce the work! Almost all of my power hitters use the CF9 or an LXT.

 

[Quasimodo]

You can hit 300' homeruns without fences.

 

[Westwind]

Well just using logic, if the bats are the same length, but the LXT is a little lighter, and less end weighted, why would she hit more balls off the end cap. I think it is more habit than bat quality. The LXT is going to be a lighter swing being 24oz and is less end weighted, so ends up getting ahead of typical Ghost contact points.

Yep, I’m aware.

She went with a much lighter swing weight for the reason that she will facing the best pitching in the country and wanted greater adjustability for movement and speed.

It was the same thing we did her first year of high school when we knew she was going to be facing D1 committed pitchers four years older than her. Establish yourself as a hitter, hopefully get in the lineup and go from there.

 

[CoreSoftball20]

I read one of the bat test sites that is frequently seen. They chose the Demarini CF9 as the best "power" bat made between 2015 to 2020. Another tester always do live testing but always use 32/22 bats in their youtube videos. In international we play on 220' fields. My best power hitter that slugged 1.862 last year uses a CF9. My midget pitcher who is 4'10", shown in the photo, uses a CF9 and hits balls over the 220' fences. You can let the bat do the work, or you can produce the work! Almost all of my power hitters use the CF9 or an LXT.

If you read what I was answering...he was talking about the slapper (not every CF) as compared to his other bats that she is hitting well with. I said she would do worse with the slapper with pop and distance compared to whatever bat she is using
effectively.