Get a real fungo....you won't be disappointed. Those small bats just don't seem right when hitting GB's and INF/OF. hahahahah
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Baseball Dads ~ Little League Bats 2018 (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Eraser
- Start date
soothsayer
Footballguy
There are -11 USABats. But as with most of the bats, their true weight is likely greater than advertised. A -11 is likely appealing to a younger/smaller player. That said, if the bat is designed to have less pop, taking weight away from the physics equation isn't helping matters. I"m not sure the gain in bat speed makes up for the loss of mass.
dino259
Footballguy
There are some small kids out there in 3rd or 4th grade that can't handle the weight and have a decent swing.
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
My youngest is a high school freshman. He's 5-9, 110 soaking wet. He's a smooth athlete but burdened with his fathers slim build. As a high schooler he will be restricted to -3 bats, which he's going to struggle with. Some kids just don't have the strength to get heavy (for their age) bats around, and the slow speed (regardless of sacrifice in mass) prevents contact at all.
Eraser
Footballguy
Easton S350 arrived today.... ordered the 28” -11 and it weighs in at 18.4oz when I expected it to be in the 17oz range. (4’-5” @ 82lbs)
Previously reported that my Easton S450 27” -12 weighed in at 17.2oz. (4’-1” @ 57lbs)
Hope this info helps dads that are looking for USA Logo’d bats for their smaller players.
Previously reported that my Easton S450 27” -12 weighed in at 17.2oz. (4’-1” @ 57lbs)
Hope this info helps dads that are looking for USA Logo’d bats for their smaller players.
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Eraser
Footballguy
Not really. I have a 2017 bat that we borrowed that only weighs 0.5oz more than the listed weight. And in my example above the S450 weighs 2.2oz more while the S350 is only 1.4oz more.
I dont have anything but Easton over here, so I can’t dig deeper. 1oz or 2oz heavier is a big deal with bat speed and getting the bat thru the zone.
Senor Schmutzig
Footballguy
Living in South Florida, you just have to swing a bat and you'll end up hitting a crazy amount of great hitting, fielding and pitching coaches. It's nothing like when I was growing up in the Midwest and we were lucky to have one coach/dad that knew what the hell he was talking about.
My son has had the opportunity to be coached by an ex-major leaguer that won multiple World Series, multiple All Star, Gold Glover, Silver Slugger and plays the same position as my son. He was also coached by the current first base coach of a major league team (who also played professionally) and another guy that "only" pitched in a major college program. And that was all in the same year! It's ridiculous. We were lucky in that they all had kids that were the same age as my son so they opted to coach the teams as well.
I understand that just because someone played ball doesn't make them a great coach but we have been lucky. All of them have been great guys and great coaches who "have been there". My son learned more about fundamental baseball at 8 (he is 13 now) then I learned through my teen years.
russinfortworth
Footballguy
2nd kid doing the whole youth baseball travel experience.
1st one is Pitching D1, but I can guarantee you we spent more on baseball than his scholarship is paying, but we wouldn't trade the memories, car rides, time spent together as a family for anything.
Good luck as you get older.
Luckily for our youngest (8th grade this year) we've got a team that is "funded". The "managers" only requirement is that the $ that we are saving by not having to pay for coaches, uniforms, practice fields, tournament fees, etc, is that we put that money back training for our son so that he can perform on the team.
Last year 13U bought the 31/26 Louisville Slugger Prime 2 Piece ($399) as we thought it would last 2 years................
Nope, this year since his team is going to play mostly 15U in the summer we had to buy a BBCOR (luckily I talked him down in price due to fact that he'd need a 33 by his sophomore year), so we ended up with the DeMarini Voodoo Endloaded 2 Piece ($299) 32/29.
Oh wait, since we are playing wood bat tournaments this summer and attending Perfect Game Showcases, and his wood cage bat is now too small.................so, 1 new cage bat $89 and 2 new game/showcase bats Marucci Pro-Maple ($149/each).
Add in a new glove every year (replacing IF or OF glove) at 300 each.
2 trips to Atlanta this summer for PG tournaments
1 trip to Florida this summer for PG Showcase
1 trip / camp at Vanderbilt this summer
Batting Lessons twice a week
Speed training for the year
Yoga for the year
January-July we show up at home to sleep.
My wife just SMH.
1st one is Pitching D1, but I can guarantee you we spent more on baseball than his scholarship is paying, but we wouldn't trade the memories, car rides, time spent together as a family for anything.
Good luck as you get older.
Luckily for our youngest (8th grade this year) we've got a team that is "funded". The "managers" only requirement is that the $ that we are saving by not having to pay for coaches, uniforms, practice fields, tournament fees, etc, is that we put that money back training for our son so that he can perform on the team.
Last year 13U bought the 31/26 Louisville Slugger Prime 2 Piece ($399) as we thought it would last 2 years................
Nope, this year since his team is going to play mostly 15U in the summer we had to buy a BBCOR (luckily I talked him down in price due to fact that he'd need a 33 by his sophomore year), so we ended up with the DeMarini Voodoo Endloaded 2 Piece ($299) 32/29.
Oh wait, since we are playing wood bat tournaments this summer and attending Perfect Game Showcases, and his wood cage bat is now too small.................so, 1 new cage bat $89 and 2 new game/showcase bats Marucci Pro-Maple ($149/each).
Add in a new glove every year (replacing IF or OF glove) at 300 each.
2 trips to Atlanta this summer for PG tournaments
1 trip to Florida this summer for PG Showcase
1 trip / camp at Vanderbilt this summer
Batting Lessons twice a week
Speed training for the year
Yoga for the year
January-July we show up at home to sleep.
My wife just SMH.
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Bull Dozier
Footballguy
I get that baseball and equipment are expensive, but why are you replacing a $300 glove every year? I bought my son an A2K several years ago. I told him that was the last glove I'd buy him. He's played two seasons of Babe Ruth, one (short) season of freshman ball, and a whole VFW summer season and it is still brand new(ish). The only reason he's considering saving up for a new glove to buy himself is he has the 11.5" Dustin Pedroia model, and he thinks he wants the 11.25" size (as a middle infielder).
As a kid, my parents bought be a cheapo Rawlings, Fernando Valenzuela that lasted me through high school, softball for 15 years, and I'd still have it today if my kids hadn't left it out in the yard when they were young and it sat for weeks and mildew grew on it. Nothing better than playing with a well broken in glove that is an extension of your hand.
Peak
Footballguy
My son has a 1B Glove and a Pitching/OF Glove. We bought both when he was 9 and both are working just fine. We spend the money on batting and/or pitching lessons, as well as renting indoor tunnels over the winter to use in the crappy OH weather. But even then we split the costs with another baseball family on his team. My son is an aggresive player going for every ball he can, diving and all, yet he doesn't need a new glove each year. That seems crazy. I have this exact same model for about the same time period. Still works great, granted there's no palm padding anymore. But I have a catcher's mitt I use with my son when he's pitching. I still use the old Fernando glove for my softball games and simple catch with the boys.
Bull Dozier
Footballguy
My kids went through phases growing up (as most kids should) of playing different positions and thinking they were going to be one place or another long term. I told them once it seemed they were set at a position and it made sense to me, I'd get them a glove for that position, then I was done. When one was a catcher, I bought a $60 youth sized cathers glove. That's the best purchase I ever made. It still is in good shape after being the team's main catcher's glove for two seasons. Even though it is youth sized, I can get my hand in there to play catch with. The pocket is perfect, and nicely padded now that my boys are in high school and throw with a little more pop.
They are both middle infielders, so I bought the older one the Dustin Pedroia when he was 13. Then of course he gets drafted on a stacked Babe Ruth team that had its infield set, so they plugged him in at 1B instead. Of course the Dustin Pedroia with no palm padding was not going to work for that, so I bought another cheapo 1B glove.
At least I wisened up with the younger one and got him the same glove, just with padding in the palm.
ragincajun
Footballguy
My 6 year old is swinging this. https://maruccisports.com/f5-junior-big-barrel-10-2-3-4/ Came in right at 17oz.
Bought it 20% off with a trade in at Acadamy.
Bought it 20% off with a trade in at Acadamy.
Eraser
Footballguy
This bat is illegal in Little League and Cal Ripken. Nice bat though if in other affiliations.
ragincajun
Footballguy
UncleZen
Footballguy
That can be hard some times. Easiest way is if they have references. Otherwise, a good hitting coach will work with what your kid already has and tweak things. Unless your kid is just way off, their stance should be comfortable to them. The coach should start teaching a short, to the ball swing. A lot of old school coaches try and teach the kid to get their back elbow up but that encourages the kid to drop their hands and have a long swing. If the kid has a short swing, you can have your kid swing a bats length away from a fence without ever hitting the fence. A good coach will almost always start with tee work.
UncleZen
Footballguy
Yeah, been there, done that. We played in the wood bat nationals in Marietta, GA every year too. One of our highlights and greatest memories was winning the Florida state 16U championship and recognized as honored guest at the governors annual baseball dinner. This dinner is to kick off spring training and attended by most of the baseball GM's in the business as well as a few other guest. The year we went had Cal Ripken Jr and David Price as speakers. Spent a ton of money through the years but we wouldn't have it any other way. Great times!russinfortworth said:
Bob Loblaw
Footballguy
I just don't get this situation. I read about a week or so ago (or whenever it was announced). Why only one version of the same bat? Why wouldn't all the ghost-x bats be banned? This makes no sense to me.
coyote5
Footballguy
because they determined that that particular length/weight combination of the bat exceeded the regulations set for USABats. Other length/weight combos did not have the same issue.
Then maybe there is an issue with the regulations. The material reaction should be the same for the same model of bat. Maybe there were some shenanigans by Easton in the making of the bat causing this particular ratio to be suspect?
shadyridr
Footballguy
SHIZNITTTT
Footballguy
Had my son play with a drop -3 the past season to get ready for high school ball.
Peak
Footballguy
Not an equipment related question, but I'm hoping some of the NY Area LL Coaches/Dads can share some insight.
My son's team is going to a tournament where they'll play a team called the MENA All-Stars. All I know is that this team is out of NY. Has anyone heard of this team or any insight as to what organization they're with? Curious as I saw an article about one of their coaches (Agnew) who created a LL organization in Qatar. I'm hoping it's an international team, as I think that may be good experience for our team. We don't get that kind of experience much in Ohio.
My son's team is going to a tournament where they'll play a team called the MENA All-Stars. All I know is that this team is out of NY. Has anyone heard of this team or any insight as to what organization they're with? Curious as I saw an article about one of their coaches (Agnew) who created a LL organization in Qatar. I'm hoping it's an international team, as I think that may be good experience for our team. We don't get that kind of experience much in Ohio.
The Commish
Footballguy
Season's over down here....kids ended up in first, but there was no tournament like usual. Lots of parents upset in the bat changes. Turns out their kids aren't as good as they thought they were. On a side note, I am not big on "swing teaching" devices, but I saw this one kid with this thing called "swingrail" I think. Anyone know what I'm talking about? It's a strap that goes around your upper arm that has a loop in it. There's a plastic piece you put on the bat that then fits into the loop. It's designed to teach them to keep their shoulders level and upper body square through the swing zone. It's the first training equipment that I thought might be a good idea for those kids who were taught "back elbow up" with no other meaningful instruction. You can tell who those kids are as their swings are not ever consistently tightened up and their arms move all over the place.
Anyway, was wondering if anyone else has seen or even used this....TIA.
ETA: Here
Anyway, was wondering if anyone else has seen or even used this....TIA.
ETA: Here
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