New gear advice?

[Towny9]

It’s become my life’s mission to ge

My 10 y/o hasn't used a 29 since tee ball. Maybe we are off-base? She is fairly short but heavier than average I would say.

Most kids use a bat that’s too big for them when they start out - in coach pitch it may actually help them get a little more mass behind the ball and velocity isn’t an issue because it’s coach pitch. When I explain it to parents like this it usually makes sense. Your daughter will probably max out as an adult and swing a 33” bat. If she ends up being a really big and strong girl then MAYBE a 34”. If she’s in a 31 now that means over the rest of her career she won’t go up but 2 more inches. That’s hard to believe considering how much bigger and stronger she will get over the next 8 years.

 

[wazzy]

It’s become my life’s mission to ge

Most kids use a bat that’s too big for them when they start out - in coach pitch it may actually help them get a little more mass behind the ball and velocity isn’t an issue because it’s coach pitch. When I explain it to parents like this it usually makes sense. Your daughter will probably max out as an adult and swing a 33” bat. If she ends up being a really big and strong girl then MAYBE a 34”. If she’s in a 31 now that means over the rest of her career she won’t go up but 2 more inches. That’s hard to believe considering how much bigger and stronger she will get over the next 8 years.

That makes a lot of sense. I'll try and post a video, and maybe you can take a look and see what you think? Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Borrowingminds]

For comparison, my DD is 4'7", 65lbs. She is just moving from a 29/16 to a 29/18.
She did once attempt a 31/20, and she swung it OK, I just felt it really was slow to get moving and possibly breaking the start of her swing.

 

[wazzy]

Let's see if the video will go...

Here she is swinging the 31 in a game against good pitching. You can't see the pitcher, and she walks here, but you get the idea with her stance and practice swings. She was in a league this summer with TB teams after all of the local LL shut down due to covid, so she has seen good pitching... and she can hit it (although there was definitely a learning curve). You can see the size of the catcher and 1st base for comparison. DD (99) = 1st year 10, other team = 2nd year 10.

 

[wazzy]

For comparison, my DD is 4'7", 65lbs. She is just moving from a 29/16 to a 29/18.
She did once attempt a 31/20, and she swung it OK, I just felt it really was slow to get moving and possibly breaking the start of her swing.

DD is quite a bit heavier than yours. Her lower body strength is freakish, too. Does that matter with length? Maybe she needs a shorter, heavier bat?

 

[Borrowingminds]

DD is quite a bit heavier than yours. Her lower body strength is freakish, too. Does that matter with length? Maybe she needs a shorter, heavier bat?

My DD is small, and there is a girl or two on her team with 30's, but most swung a 29 in first year 10u. Maybe that changes in year two. I may be wrong, but from scouring DFP, it seemed within reason, a goal was to get to a drop 10. We are just not there yet.

Another thing not to do was to "grow into" a bat, as expensive as they are.
I can't see the video above, and there are quite a few magnificent minds on here that could help, but my goal was to get a bat that didn't break down or inhibit development.

I heard some places (Dick's maybe) may have the availability to try different sizes?

 

[Westwind]

Never, ever buy a bat to grow into.

Too long is a bigger sin than too heavy.

A bat too long at that age has potential to cause swing flaws that are very hard to fix.

A bat too long can cause a young player to never develop as a hitter. “Never“ is a serious word. Pay attention to it.

There is No Status In Swinging A Bigger Bat Than Most Other Kids The Same Age. NONE. The coach doesn’t care. The other players don’t care. The other parents don’t care. The only people that will like it is the pitchers on the other team.

An inch longer bat does not give you “better plate coverage”. Biggest myth in softball. Get lessons and practice more with the bat you have.

Measure the outside width of your daughters shoulders. Multiply that number by two. That number is likely going to be 30 or maybe 31 in your daughters case. Get a -10 bat in that length. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT, GO DOWN AN INCH. (The bat size guide chart that is on every bat sales site will be similar.)

The vast majority of 10u players should be swinging a -10 Demarini, LXT, Xeno, Ghost that was bought second hand locally. Most 10u kids can’t hit a ball hard enough to tax a high quality modern bat. Let someone else pay new prices and pay half for a great bat. If and when you are going to buy a new bat, contact @CoreSoftball20 on these forums and talk to him. He will give you great advice.

A bunch of us were in your shoes years ago. I made all the dumb mistakes you can make. Trust experience on this topic. Don’t do what the rest of us did.

Sorry if this was seems harsh. This is a message that needs to be delivered effectively.

@mods... For the 922nd time, we need a sticky on this topic.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

[ANNASDAD]

^^^^^ Best young player bat advice you’ll read here today, Westwind knows and speaks from experience which is the best teacher there is!

 

[ang2bmd]

^^^^^ Best young player bat advice you’ll read here today, Westwind knows and speaks from experience which is the best teacher there is!

Totally agree. My 5 ft 6 inch 120lbs high school freshman who is on a national level team is just moving into her 33. Way too many little kids swinging bats that are way to big.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[BrianTx01]

My DD is 5'4" tall and weighs a 150# and she just now went to a 31/21. I honestly think -11 bats are better suited for most kids at 12U. Keep in mind that the aluminum bat she is using is probably true to weight while many composite bats are heavy... especially ghosts.

As far as pants try mizuno or rip-it.