![\"Choosing](\"http:\/\/baseballbats.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bats-hanging-in-a-store.jpg\")
<\/a>At BaseballBats.net, we are constantly asked how to choose a baseball bat. After years of following the bat industry, our most important piece of advice when choosing a bat is to realize that there are a number of factors that must be taken into consideration. These include:<\/span><\/p>\nLevel of play<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Size and level of the hitter<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Appropriate association stamps<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Cost<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Comfort<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Secondly, and this may seem\u00a0obvious, but know that batters generally prefer aluminum and composite baseball bats to wooden bats due to their light weight and high strength (note: pro players are allowed to use wood bats only). Additionally, aluminum and composite bats can provide more \u201cpop\u201d of the ball\u00a0off the bat, and tend to be more durable than wooden bats (e.g. they don\u2019t break!).<\/span><\/p>\n Next, younger hitters generally prefer lighter bats to heavier bats. This is because lighter bats allow the hitter to generate enough bat speed to more effectively launch baseballs (although there are restrictions about bat weights at some levels).<\/span><\/p>\n Also, bats today are becoming increasingly high tech and expensive \u2013 with youth bats reaching $300+ price levels. You can check out some specific bat brands and their prices in our Bat Brand Directory.<\/span><\/p>\n But what is the most important factor in choosing a bat? Comfort. The comfort of the baseball bat to the hitter. Because as with any piece of sports equipment – whether it\u2019s a baseball glove, swimming cap or hockey skates \u2013 the more comfortable the hitter is with the piece of equipment, the better he will perform.<\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, if possible, have the future batter take a few swings with the bat while picturing himself in a game. Better yet, have them borrow and use, in game, the same bat from one of their teammates to see exactly how it feels. This is because a swing in the store doesn\u2019t always feel like a swing at the plate! And if that exact same bat is not available, have the hitter try the next best thing: a similar bat from last season or the same bat in a minimally different size.<\/span><\/p>\n A\u00a0swing in the store doesn\u2019t equal\u00a0a swing at the plate!<\/strong> <\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Actually using the bat is important because, when choosing a bat for younger players, you must make sure they can swing it without struggling. We\u2019ve all seen the young players struggling to swing bats that are far too heavy and\/or long for them. If you as a parent, family member or friend are not particularly knowledgeable about the baseball swing and mechanics, then have a knowledgeable coach or hitting instructor watch your son swing with some different models\/sizes\/weights to see which one meshes best with his swing.<\/span><\/p>\n Remember to consider the speed and level of pitching the hitter will be facing. Just because a hitter can get a heavy\/endloaded bat around while dry swinging it, doing slow work with it, or even while hitting at the batting cage, doesn\u2019t mean he will be able to do the same against the game-day fastballs and sliders he\u2019ll be seeing. Level of Play & Regulations<\/span><\/p>\n Baseball bats are measured using their length to weight ratio. A 30\/20 bat is called a -10, which means that the weight is ten ounces less than the length in inches. The most common \u2018drop weights\u2019 you\u2019ll see are -12 (generally only used by very young hitters), -10, -8, -5, and -3 for BBCOR bats. Most pro level\/high quality wood bats are -2\/-3, while some wood bat companies offer wood bats in lighter drop weights but the less dense wood makes the bats more prone to cracking. Youth bats generally come in lengths ranging from 25\u201d-27\u201d (for younger players), through 28\u201d-32\u201d for most 10-14 year old hitters. The only two things that really need to be considered regarding bat length, is hitter comfort and the ability to cover the entire strike zone.<\/span><\/p>\n A quick word about wood bat materials\u2026 ash bats will tend to be a little lighter than maple bats in the same length and turning model and be a little more forgiving, while birch feels like a maple\/ash hybrid. Since maple is a denser wood, some feel that they get more \u2018pop\u2019 swinging maple over ash. When first transitioning to wood, many hitters feel more comfortable starting out with more forgiving ash then trying out maple and birch.<\/span><\/p>\n And another, final, quick word. This one on Drop Weights. While certainly we don\u2019t want hitters to swing bats that are too heavy for them, do realize that bats with more mass will give you more distance on hits (so long as bat\/swing speed doesn\u2019t suffer). Also, since -3 BBCOR bats lie ahead for every player headed for HS ball and beyond, keeping hitters in high drop weight bats (e.g. -10, -12) too long can interfere with a smooth transition to a -3 BBCOR when the time comes.<\/span><\/p>\n Doing your homework and becoming informed, are your two best friends when getting ready to purchase that shiny new bat that your slugger\u00a0will (hopefully) feel comfortable bringing to the plate all season long. <\/span><\/p>\n Check out our page detailing the different types of bats<\/a>, and then ask any more questions on our Baseball Bat forum<\/a>, which is the most active bat forum online!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At BaseballBats.net, we are constantly asked how to choose a baseball bat. After years of following the bat industry, our most important piece of advice when choosing a bat is to realize that there are a number of factors that must be taken into consideration. These include: Level of play […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1199,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2375,"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/97\/revisions\/2375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baseballbats.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Light vs. Heavy<\/span><\/h2>\n
Comfort Matters Most<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n\n
Wood Baseball Bat Materials<\/span><\/h2>\n
Baseball Bat Drop Weights<\/span><\/h2>\n
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