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Baseball lover that you are, you've done the right thing and signed your child up for Little League, Pony Baseball, Cal Ripken or the local organized youth baseball league. Sure, you have championship dreams, like all the other parents. But are you really giving your child the necessary edge to break away from the pack and become a real star? 

When a child gets up to bat, you probably don't give much thought to how much the size, heft, and materials of the bat can affect their performance, but the truth is that all of these can have a profound impact on the development and safety of a young athlete. Here's how you can make sure you get the best bat for your child. 

First, you want to be sure that the bat that you have purchased is legal for play. This requires understanding your child's hitting ability and league rules. The bat length, material, barrel size, and knob must all be approved, and the correct specs can vary according to your child's age and league. The BPF (Bat Performance Factor) should be recorded on the bat and considered as well. It's the indication of how fast the ball will come off the bat. If you have two or more children playing in leagues, don't take it for granted that one bat will work for all. You will want to check in with each child's league and coach to make sure that any bat you purchase is legal for p

Softball was invented on the spur of the moment in 1887. It was Thanksgiving Day in Chicago, Illinois, and members gathered at the Farragut Boat Club to learn the outcome of the Harvard and Yale football game. Yale won, and a Yale graduate threw a boxing glove at a Harvard graduate. George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, yelled out, "Play ball!". Someone grabbed a broken broomstick handle, the glove was tightened into a ball, and softball, an indoor baseball game, was born. No glove was used to catch the ball, as it was soft.

Adult wood baseball bats aren't all the same. Great adult wood baseball bats are made of rock maple because it's as strong and dense as wood for bats can be, yielding great durability and long life (lasting 3 times longer and performing up to 20% better than traditional ash). With a very tight grain, rock maple reduces bat flaking and splitting problems. It's hard to go wrong with the hardest wood available for bats—and that's what most X Bat adult custom pro baseball bats are made of. Major Leaguers know this well.

              Allow me to introduce the SB401 wood training bat.  Designed as a training tool, the SB401 mimics the precision required to hit the modern day sweet spot of the shorter barreled bats.  As a former collegiate player and now a collegiate coach for over 24 years, I can appreciate the great strides the sport of softball has taken.  Never in our history has the sport seen so much parody in competition.  Today's equipment must be cutting edge, durable and purposeful.  The serious player must simply have the best of what the market has to offer.  Corporate America has recognized this demand, dedicating millions of dollars to provide better equipment through persistent research. 

 

Not all youth wood baseball bats are the same. The best performing youth baseball and training bats are made of hard maple because it's the strongest and most dense wood for bats today, yielding great pop and long life. Hard maple's tight grain structure ensures a bat that is less likely to flake or split. All X Bat youth baseball bats are made from the hard maple so many Major Leaguers say is the hardest wood for bats on the market today.

If you're a softball player, you want to play to your highest ability, consistentlybe the best you can be, right? If you're a player, coach, or a player's parent you want your players to work with gear that maximizes their strengths and enhances their value to the team, right?

Of course! That's what competitors and sports enthusiasts do. They exert maximum energy to do their best. The object in competitive sports is to play hard, train hard, compete hard, improve their skills and win. A big part of being a strong player in any sport is carefully selecting the gear that works best for you. This means being smart and learning about the gear, the options, what's excellent, what works and why.

Practice and training makes solid baseball players. Players and coaches who take baseball training seriously know this, which is why they want (and use) reliable, effective, and well-designed fungo, training, and coaching bats—for a variety of training functions and purposes. But figuring out which fungo or training bat is right for the situation and task at hand takes some knowledge and experience.

Strength training can help kids and teens build healthy muscles, joints, and bones. With a properly designed and supervised program, they can improve endurance, total fitness level, and sports performance. Strength training can even help prevent injuries and speed up recovery.

Looking for a not-to-be-forgotten way to say “thanks” or recognize an accomplishment? Trophy bats and gift bats are a terrific and versatile way to make a powerful impact — they enhance most any occasion. Want to surprise and impress a special person, employee, teammate or group on a special occasion?

Everyone has memorable occasions — that's what life's about — but figuring out how to make them unforgettable is one of those things many often struggle with. Making sure these experiences are remembered well is the trick. Fortunately, a great solution is just a few clicks away.

Bat Feedback

Wooden bats help every hitter develop a more consistent hitting stroke. A hitter is forced to take a direct path to the ball so his swing is shorter, more compact and his bat speed increases. The feedback from a good clean hit is immediate- the ball jumps off the bat and the high pitched crack of the bat is distinctive. A poor swing has a dull sound and the ball doesn't have the exit speed or the distance.

Physical Examination

During the physical part of the exam, the doctor will usually:

• record height and weight
• take a blood pressure and pulse (heart rate and rhythm) reading
• test your child's vision
• check the heart, lungs, abdomen, ears, nose, and throat

You know that playing sports helps keep kids fit and are a fun way for them to socialize and make friends. But you might not know why the physical kids may have to take at the beginning of their sports season is so important.

Softball has about 27 million participants playing in the United States. What started as a recreational game with varying levels of competition and competitiveness evolved into a completely different game with the advent of metal and composite bats. No longer was the game about strategy and good fun but more about who had the “hottest” bat that could hit the ball further and faster. Hitting the ball over the fence was what the game became about more than bat control and hitting them where they ain't.

There are more choices for wood types for baseball bats now than there were in any time since the 1930s.

In the early days of the game, bats were much better balanced and players grew stronger by swinging heavy wood bats from the time they started playing baseball. Bats had much thicker handles for bat control and smaller barrels which gave them better balance and made them feel lighter to swing. Hickory, elm and oak were used by many players before the 1950s. It was not unusual for players to swing 35 ounce bats right up into the 1980s. Players grew up swinging wood bats and wood bats were heavy in those days. The ball jumps off a heavy wood bat like a non-metal bat but players feel that bat speed is more important that physics and the mass behind the ball.