Question about CF5... and what's the best 30/20 out there?

[02Crush]

My 10U DD just demo'd almost every hot new bat on the market, except for the Mizuno Whiteouts because the store did not have them. She went at it for over an hour. In the end it came down to the new Easton Brigade Series 30"/-11.5 and the Demarini CF5 30"/-10. She chose the Demarini CF5. I can tell you now she said there was a VAST difference in feel between the Xeno and the CF5 so do not asume they are equals. Xeno was ruled out very early. I was surprised. Her best description was that the Xeno Felt HEAVY and the Demarini Felt Lighter in her Hands. Maybe a comparison would be the OneX and the CF5. Eitherway, if you can let her swing more then I say let her do it again and let her decide. I was also baffled at how the Exit speed was very high with the heavier bat as opposed to the lighter ones. I suppose it was a momentum thing. I did notice some fatigue with the heavier bat after a while. Although I do not know any game situations where they swing constantly for an hour so not sure that is a factor. Good Luck.

 

[humpty]

02crush did she swing a -11 cf5?

 

[midmosoftballdad]

02Crush how did the exit speed of the Easton FS3 compare with the CF5? And I'm also curious if she swung a -11 CF5.

Thanks for the input!

 

[29dad]

I'm definitely no bat expert but DD just got the Miken NXT and although it's too soon to give any meaningful feedback, I do not think it is end loaded. Felt balanced to me, nothing like her old end loaded Rip It Reaper. I know the Rev Ex replaced the NXT and you're right, they don't make a 30/20.

 

[midmosoftballdad]

We went and demo'ed the CF5s tonight. We measured both swing speed and exit velocity on several bats we already own and three new Demarinis 30/18 Vendetta (just for kicks), 30/19 CF5 and 31/21 CF5. The best and most consistent batspeed was on the 31/21 CF5. Exit velocity was hard to show any real discernable difference... they were all comparable, I'd need to do a much larger test to get good data. What we took away was that DD decided she does not like the feel of the Demarinis... she wants to stick with the Power Brigade (we have an FS3, but I want to take her to -10 so we'd be upgrading to a 30/20 FS1... However, now I'm concerned with those bats swinging heavier than the CF5s (as I've read ). She's concerned (as am I) that even though she can get the 31/21 around reasonably well, that it's simply too long for her at 4'8".

The real problem is the lack of the ability to demo the other bats... I guess I'll take her to Dick's and have her take some swings in the aisle with the FS1 and the Xeno to at least get her hands on them...

Frustrating to say the least...

anybody have thoughts on using the longer bat? DD is afraid it will mess up her swing.

 

[nanotech14]

they make cf5 in 30/20, I guess you need to fiqure this out. The new bats are pretty much the same. They aren't going to be like a 04' rocketech or some of the other bats, that as they broke in they were going to be over the 98 mph ASA limit. By the way what was her exit speed and bat speed? The thing is, to many parents, think that if they get their dd's a $300 bat, they are going to get this Div1 player or MLB player swing. It takes years to work on a swing, thousands upon thousands of hitting softballs, all year round. The boring stuff that many girls complain about. Go get last years models of bats, spend about $120. Take the rest of the money saved by not buying a $300 bat, buy a nice tee, 2 dozen balls and practice your swing. 100 or more swings a night or find a good HC. I wish sometimes they would just, ban $300 bats and then we can find out what players are working and those that are just a product of a expensive bat. Before you question me, yes my dd has those expensive bats, but has spent 4 almost 5 years, learning how to hit, thousands of thousands of thousands of balls, to the point that some of the old balls, looked like the shape of eggs. Good luck

 

[humpty]

Nano you know If the swing is good the cf5, or any other top level bat, will hit the ball harder than a lower level bat.I know a small 10u kid in the fall went from an older aluminum demarini cat osterman bat to a 2013 cf5 and went from barely hitting the grass in the air to hitting balls over OF heads. I would say it easily added 30ft to her best hits. And the line drives and ground balls are screaming compared to other bat. I also wish they would outlaw the 300 bats. Just too expensive. But at the same time if I'm gonna buy a new bat I wanna make sure I get the best one I can afford. And we play a lot of Usssa and next year the bats have to have the new stamp or I would get a used 2012 cf5.

 

[nanotech14]

humpty, I know that what you said is the truth, I agree with you 100%. My dd has 2 cf5 insanes a 2012 & 2013 and a RT. I just hate having to see parents fall into the bat wars anymore. The bat manufactures are making the green on parents just trying to keep up with the Jones. It would be nice to have a fast pitch league or org., that allows only a single wall aluminum bat, of the Orgs. choosing. Time to separate the hitters from the posers. Kind of like what college baseball has done.

 

[mogsoftball]

try the CF5 Insane. Thne Insane models are endloaded so maybe a 30/20 insane will solve your delimma

 

[midmosoftballdad]

they make cf5 in 30/20, I guess you need to fiqure this out. The new bats are pretty much the same. They aren't going to be like a 04' rocketech or some of the other bats, that as they broke in they were going to be over the 98 mph ASA limit. By the way what was her exit speed and bat speed? The thing is, to many parents, think that if they get their dd's a $300 bat, they are going to get this Div1 player or MLB player swing. It takes years to work on a swing, thousands upon thousands of hitting softballs, all year round. The boring stuff that many girls complain about. Go get last years models of bats, spend about $120. Take the rest of the money saved by not buying a $300 bat, buy a nice tee, 2 dozen balls and practice your swing. 100 or more swings a night or find a good HC. I wish sometimes they would just, ban $300 bats and then we can find out what players are working and those that are just a product of a expensive bat. Before you question me, yes my dd has those expensive bats, but has spent 4 almost 5 years, learning how to hit, thousands of thousands of thousands of balls, to the point that some of the old balls, looked like the shape of eggs. Good luck

I do appreciate the input, and have enjoyed reading your contributions to this site, but it appears as if you've made some assumptions here that are a tad off base.

For starters, my daughter works VERY hard, (we have even have several buckets of balls and several nice tees). She practices her swing daily, on her own and with me. She puts in LOTS of work and is very dedicated. She's been working with an extremely well respected hitting coach for 18 months, and has (from what I've been told) a very high level swing for her age.

So as her father, having seen her dedication and her will to succeed, AND the success she's having mechanically, I've decided to complement her hard work with the best 'tools' available. My intention in making the post was to hopefully get some feedback from what this community has experienced with regard to these bats as we are unable to demo most of them without significant travel. I fully realize that the top tier bats will produce very close to the same results, and have come to realize that the key component to bat selection is feel and individual preference (how's it balanced, flex, etc...).

I'm fully aware of which models and sizes are offered in the CF5 - as stated previously, my daughter has ruled that line of bats out (she does not like how they feel in her hands).

I certainly don't expect her to magically become a D1 player or have a MLB level swing because her dad decides to buy her a nice bat. I DO, however, expect that if she continues to be this dedicated and put in this level of work that she *might* get an opportunity to achieve that dream... EIGHT years from now.

I'm not sure what her bat and exit speed have to do with anything other than providing me the data I need to determine which bat is optimal for her (I'm not looking to brag, or have her swing dissected in the technical forum). But since you asked - the speeds were consistently mid 50's topping out at 58mph with the 31/21 CF5. Not sure where that ranks for a 4'8" 80lb 10 year old but I'm going to assume that it's pretty good.

Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, and all members of this community as the information shared here is extremely helpful to the fastpitch communty at large (I've been lurking for years, learning all kinds of stuff from you all).

As mentioned above, I've come to the conclusion that when choosing a top tier bat, feel and personal preference is paramount. I simply will not invest this kind of money without my daughter actually swinging it first (even if it's just in the sporting goods store).

She's ruled out the CF5, and due to her height, I've ruled out the Mike and the Worth 454, so we're down to Xeno, OneX and the FS1 (we're not going to wait for the 30/20 Rocketflex). When we track down a 30/20 of each of these, she'll get to make her choice.

And yes, it's certainly possible that we decide to go with last years model of any of these (except the Onex, obviously) - it's just that much harder to find these for her to swing...

Again, thanks all for both the assistance here, and for all you do for this awesome sport that my daughters and I have completely fallen in love with.

and thanks specifically ITT to humpty (who obvously gets it)