Here is the skinny on what bat and gear you should spend your money on and what you can skip....
Shout out to my buddy Z for telling me when Joey was about 7 years old. Buy him the bat that he can swing now, not next year. That has been the rule since the kids were that age and they have seemingly stayed in the lineup since then.
So here is the simplest solution to what bat to swing and what size to swing. Swing what works. A Lot of coaches out there love to tell the kids to swing a bat that they will need to swing in the future.. The problem with hat logic is that you are in the present. If you can't swing it now then you may not get to that point in the future. You see if you can swing a 30 inch vs a 31 then swing it. The cost of new bats are now above $500. That is a significant investment and should be well thought out. DO NOT BUY A BAT TO LAST.....
If a bat lasts then it most likely is not a good bat. If it is a good bat and does last then you have a unicorn. See the bat above. There is a saying in construction services that goes something like this. You can get a contractor who is either fast and cheap, cheap and good or fast and good but never all 3 they don't exist. Same goes for bats. The good bats do not last; they break. If you find one then buy them as you see them.
We all remember the orange mako that came out in 2013. Those were absolutely bomb droppers and they lasted. So much that the bat companies started to realize that they had made a product that did not need replacing. These things lasted and are still around. However, the little league decided to change the rules and created a new USA stamp on the bats. Similar to how Apple changes their charging cord ever so often which means we all have to go and buy new cords and chargers so did all the baseball dads who had to go out and buy a new bat.
Most people now know in the softball world that if you buy an Easton Ghost similar to those old Easton Makos these bats will make the ball go further than most. However unlike the old orange bat the new white softball version lasts anywhere from 1 season to 1 round of BP. I am not kidding you. I bought a brand new ghost for Sav and she cracked it within 1 round of bp in a cage. That was when I knew I could not get behind it. We buy a certain bat from almost 8 years ago because he has a great track record for being hot and somewhat rugged enough to last a while.
Here is the deal, if the bat doesn't break or never breaks then it most likely isn't a great bat for pop. The red Mehta from LS is another one of those unicorns in the BBCOR world. It will cost you and the difference is noticeable but at 1600$ in wrapper at the last time I checked I think I will pass. Here is the truth: have your kid swing the bat they believe in. Just understand that if you buy a bat that's a little bigger than they need they may never get the hit they need to stay in the lineup. If you buy the bat that lasts the longest you may not get enough at bats to worry about it.
With Hitrax and Rapsodo there is scientific data to explain the length and weight of which bat your kid should swing. Bring a few bats into one of these facilities and see what your bat speed is. See what your exit velocity is and then make a decision based on metrics and not what you heard from someone. With regards to hitting it's quite simple. The proof is in the pudding. If you hit, you stay in the lineup. If you have the longest bat or the shortest bat I don't think anyone knows but if you are batting .800 then everyone will ask. Have a great weekend and wish us luck down in PGF this week!.
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