Is my daughters bat too heavy

[InsidePitch]

12U DD is 5'4", 100lbs and uses a 32/20. She can't hit it out of the park but can drive it about 180. After 3 tourneys this spring she is hitting .500 with one in the park and a couple of standup triples. She started using a -13 last year and I noticed it came around very fast an no pitcher was too fast. Obviously the new bat is a -12 and two ounces heavier but still very fast. I am a fan of the light bat for smaller framed girls.

 

[notoday]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I bought her two bats a 33/20, and a 33/22. Now the trick is getting her to use them she likes the heavy bat. She has 5 games this weekend, I'll give feedback on how it goes, thanks again.

 

[Pops]

I Beg To Differ

I think that the bat is too light. At 13 I bought my dd a 34/28 and she could have gone bigger. She's 15 now and I am thinking about going 34/30. As a sophomore on her High School Varsity team she hit a home run over a 8 foot high fence 250 feet from home plate. When I found the ball after the game it was 419 feet from home plate. More bat mass equals more power.

The formula to determine proper bat weight for a fastpitch player is "height in inches divided by 7 plus 20".

Your daughter is 64 inches tall divided by 7 equals 9.1 plus 20 equals 29.1. Your daughter should be swinging a 29 ounce bat. A heavier bat makes a player use their legs to swing the bat creating more power.

If it ain't broke don't fix it, mom.

Best Regards,

Pops

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

I think that the bat is too light. At 13 I bought my dd a 34/28 and she could have gone bigger. She's 15 now and I am thinking about going 34/30. As a sophomore on her High School Varsity team she hit a home run over a 8 foot high fence 250 feet from home plate. When I found the ball after the game it was 419 feet from home plate. More bat mass equals more power.

The formula to determine proper bat weight for a fastpitch player is "height in inches divided by 7 plus 20".

Your daughter is 64 inches tall divided by 7 equals 9.1 plus 20 equals 29.1. Your daughter should be swinging a 29 ounce bat. A heavier bat makes a player use their legs to swing the bat creating more power.

If it ain't broke don't fix it, mom.

Best Regards,

Pops

Really? LOL . Then why arent D1 players using bats that size? Well , because they face good pitching and those bats are WAY TOO HEAVY

 

[Ade's Dad]

I think that the bat is too light. At 13 I bought my dd a 34/28 and she could have gone bigger. She's 15 now and I am thinking about going 34/30. As a sophomore on her High School Varsity team she hit a home run over a 8 foot high fence 250 feet from home plate. When I found the ball after the game it was 419 feet from home plate. More bat mass equals more power.

The formula to determine proper bat weight for a fastpitch player is "height in inches divided by 7 plus 20".

Your daughter is 64 inches tall divided by 7 equals 9.1 plus 20 equals 29.1. Your daughter should be swinging a 29 ounce bat. A heavier bat makes a player use their legs to swing the bat creating more power.

If it ain't broke don't fix it, mom.

Best Regards,

Pops

I would agree if we were talking about slow pitch.

 

[softballphreak]

I would agree if we were talking about slow pitch.

There are some pretty strong slow pitch men in our area and I don't know any who swing heavier than a 27-28.

Pops' DD would never come around on our pitcher or several more in our area. If you have some really slow pitchers lug the heavy bat to the plate. Swing as fast as you can in case you hit it. It will go farther if you hit it right.

Word of caution: you can go too light, though.

419 feet. Probably uphill, too.

 

[CycloneSoftball22]

You also have to consider the element of making consistent contact. That larger sweetspot doesnt really help if you cant make consistent contact. Also , who cares if you "can" hit a ball 400+ ft.? Most fastpitch fences are only 200-220 feet?


But , I also do agree that some girls go too light. I would try and stay away from the -11 and -12 bats for 12u and older.

 

[RookKev]

I think they may have a spot open on the long haul bombers. 400 ft, keepers.

 

[rowdy]

If the fence is 200 ft then you need a bat that hits it about 210. If you look at the best home run hitters in the world they don't do better than one in ten hits. So the other nine times you hit the ball what are you getting? On our team we want to hit for average first, then power.

 

[01mom]

Without seeing your DD swing, I will agree with the majority here that it is too big. My sister played from the time she was 4 till she was 18 and she never used a bat that big. When she stopped she was just under 5'7 and around 130lbs the bat she was last using was a 31/22 aluminum bat and she put many out of the park and was a consistent hitter. Just a few months ago my sister picked up my DD's 31/19.5 and put one out of the park off a tee so you don't have to swing a tree to be able to get it over the fence. Find her something to get her bat speed up, bat speed + good hand/eye coordination + good mechanics = great hits more often. Considering what your DD has been swinging, the shortest I would go would be a 32 in a -10 or -9. But this is all just my opinion & you know what they say about those....everyone's got one . Whichever way you go, good luck to your DD & I hope she has success with whatever she swings b/c nothing beats the huge smile when they get a great hit!