What Bat Should I Buy My Baseball Player?

What size bat should I purchase for my child is a great question to ask when picking out a baseball bat. There are many things that can come into play. Below are a few things to think about when purchasing a bat:

1. Height and weight of child

2. Bat Certification for your Association

3. Composite Bat or Alloy Bat

First, we will talk about height and weight of your child. You will want to measure your son or daughter with their shoes/cleats on and know how much your child weighs. This will help with determine the length of bat to look at. The chart below is a rough estimate that you can use for help!

With all bats, the weight will be relative to the length, for example, all high school bats are three ounces lighter than the length (33 inches, 30 ounces for example).

In order to help verify that you are picking the correct length of the bat, it is best to compare the bat by standing the bat next to your child and the knob of the bat should not extend past your child’s hip. This is an extra step to make sure the bat isn’t too long for them to swing.

After determining the length, you will want to know which bat certification and drop weight your organization follows and/or allows. If you don’t know, please contact them prior to purchasing and they can inform you of what certifications and drop weights are allowed in their league or tournaments. This is something you should especially check out if you are playing in tournaments in different states. SEBA follows the same rules as the South Dakota Class A Baseball, American Legion Baseball, and the South Dakota High School Baseball Association.

And the last thing you will want to take into account is the type of material the bat is made out of, as this can help with determining the price of the bat. Bats are made out of different materials and come in either one piece or two pieces.

This information below on composite vs. alloy bats is on the baseball monkey website.

https://www.baseballmonkey.com/baseball-bat-buying-guide

COMPOSITE BATS VS. ALLOY BATS

COMPOSITE BATS

Composite bats are made out of a layered material similar to carbon fiber, which makes it easy to control the weight distribution of the bat. Manufacturers can make bats balanced (weight is evenly distributed) or end-loaded (the bat has more weight at the end of the barrel, giving it a heavier swing weight), depending on the style.

Pros of Composite Bats

• Reduced vibration to the hands, minimizing sting from a miss-hit ball.

• Tend to have a larger sweet spot and more ”pop”

Cons of Composite Bats

• Often more expensive than alloy bats, since the manufacturing process is more complex.

• Require a break-in time.

  Remember that the pop won’t come until a composite bat is broken in. To break it in, follow these tips:

• It’s recommended that you hit between 150-200 hits with a regular baseball or softball, not a rubber batting cage ball.

• It’s also important to slightly rotate the bat each time you hit the ball, so you evenly break it in - this ensures your bat lasts a long time.

The above is the only recommended way to break in your composite bat. Methods such as hitting your bat against a tree or rolling it are not recommended and will damage the bat and void the manufacturer warranty.

ALLOY BATS

Alloy bats, also called metal and aluminum bats, have been around longer than composite.

Pros of Alloy Bats

• Tend to be less expensive than composite bats.

• Do not require a break-in time, meaning they’re at their prime right out the wrapper.

• Often last longer and even when they get damaged, they typically dent, rather than crack. This means they can still be used once damaged, whereas once it is cracked, a composite bat can’t be. As long as the bat is not damaged to the extent where a barrel ring can no longer fit around the barrel, the bat will still be considered legal.

Cons of Alloy Bats

• Tend to have a smaller sweet spot and less “pop.”
A good rule of thumb is the more expensive the alloy, the longer the sweet spot is and the better balanced the bat will be.

If you like both alloy and composite, it’s possible to get a hybrid, or comp/alloy bat. Hybrid bats have a composite handle and an alloy barrel. The benefits of getting a hybrid bat are that you can get the composite handle, which reduces vibration, and the alloy barrel for the performance and cost savings.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE-PIECE AND TWO-PIECE BATS

• One Piece Bats: Typically, stiffer and more balanced. The one-piece design does not allow for more vibration control, so they will often have a lot of vibration on miss-hit balls.

• Two Piece Bats: Tend to have more flex and have less vibration.

  Generally speaking, contact hitters benefit from one piece bats for the better balance, and power hitters benefit more from the two-piece bats for the added flex. The choice between the two is based on your personal preference and hitting style.