Seeking a practice bat for DD

[Chewy_06]

My 12 year old seems to have quite a knack for breaking bats. As of yesterday, in two seasons she's fractured too many bats. Including, CF5, CF6, CF7, CF8 and separated the barrel from the handle on her Legit practice bat.

The first time, when the glorious CF5 made the sick sound, I was elated to watch the ball sailing - so proud of my kid, who was then 10 for being just like her dad in being able to shatter bats (yes, it runs in the family, I have a collection of bashed, cracked, and otherwise useless slo-pitch bats that are in my garage awaiting her future boyfriends LOL). Then the reality of having to get a new bat sunk in, which was shortly followed by, OMG, of all the bats to break, not THAT one..... However, now, having it now become routine, I'm ready to get off the ride.

After trying out the options our local fastpitch addiction enabling establishment had available my wife made the decision to give the folks at Demarini even more of our hard earned money for another short term bat rental from them & bought the child another CF8. Yes, I'm not really a happy guy about this. However, this is not a hill I want to die on today.

I told my daughter i was going to wrap her new bat in bubble wrap as a means of trying to keep it intact for a little while. She was not amused.

What i'm looking for is another bat for her to use in the off season that has as close as possible weighting & swing characteristics as the CF8 - that hopefully will be cheap enough that I wont stress over it. We bought the Legit last year for that purpose, which it did a reasonable job of, until it met the same fate as the other bats.

Looking for suggestions on lower end bats that might fit the bill. Haven't been able to find anything in person on a shelf here. Its not a bat that will see game duty (unless the obvious happens yet again and she demolishes yet another demarini).

I have no problems at all ordering online if we're reasonably confident that the bat we're going to buy is close to the CF8-11 she has now.

Suggestions?

 

[iMlearning]

If she's cracking bats too easily, you need to move up in weight. Those bats run light anyway. In the meantime, look for a used cf series bat on eBay.

 

[ANNASDAD]

At 12, go ahead and switch her to a -10 bat. Especially a Demarini, they swing light, usually right on the listed weight. A -10 bat is also going to be more durable than a -11 bat. After one night's practice she won't even notice the weight change difference.

 

[quincy]

I was thinking the same thing. -11 for a 12 year old seems light, -11 for a 12 year old breaking bats seem way to light unless she enjoys breaking bats. Hey, I broke another bat today!

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Get her an LXT -10.

 

[Chewy_06]

Thanks

We're going to explore trying to move her to a drop 10 with her hitting coach as soon as a CF8-10 is available locally.

Which means, given my complete lack of faith in any Demarini's survivability, i'll still be on the hunt for a similar bat for practices.

My original question was about a practice bat, not bat weight, I didn't include enough information to have that discussion - we're Canadian, eh. U12 is not like 12U. U12 here, 11" ball from 35' with the best pitchers between 50-53 (according to our radar gun, not according to teh parents!). We did experiment with a drop 10 for her - before settling on the drop 11. She moves to U14 for this year. 12" ball from 38' - and, i think moving up weight will probably be ok for her and, am thankful for the nudge on this. I think we probably would have left her with another drop 11 had you guys not raised this. So, thanks SO much!

 

[ANNASDAD]

For a practice bat in Canada........find a Easton SRV4B one piece bat or a Anderson Nanotek. Did you ever actually say what length bat your DD is using or did I miss that? I have a one of the newer Nanotek's in a 31/21 that's practically new, I'll make you a great deal on. It's a great cold weather, cage bat or as Greenmonsters will tell you it's also a really good game bat !

 

[Eric F]

We're going to explore trying to move her to a drop 10 with her hitting coach as soon as a CF8-10 is available locally.

Contact DFP member CoreSoftball20. He's got really great prices, and will ship what you want to your door - Demarini, LS, Easton, and more.

 

[Chewy_06]

Thanks guys

she's been swinging a 30.

She spent an hour with her hitting coach last night exploring bat lengths & drops & it looks like, based on where she is right now, she can either go up to a 30-10 or can go to a 31 but needs to stay on the lighter side, which, I think we'd rather avoid. If she's trashing -11's, I can only imagine what she'd do to a -12.

The wife had already caved in and bought another CF8 30-11, so, given the desire now to step up to the -10, we'll wait for one to arrive here (they're temporarily out of stock) & do an exchange. And, in parallel, i guess i'll start the hunt for a sacrificial practice bat.

 

[Jdaddy]

Since you're going to get a drop 10, I would look for a CF3 or CF4. You should be able to find one for less than $100. These were more durable than the newer CF's. DD got a CF3 ($75 shipped) to keep swings off of her CF5.