Picking the right X Bat Youth Bat
By:
We find the most important thing with young players switching from metal bats to wood is to find a bat that has great balance. Here's a little exercise to help demonstrate the concept. Pickup any adult wood bat and hold it out with one hand. It feels heavy because you can feel the weight at the end of the bat because the weight is concentrated in the barrel. Now hold it by the barrel end. It feels much lighter. You didn't change the weight, though, you just changed the balance.
Metal bats have hollow barrels with all the weight in the handle so they feel lighter and are easier to swing. To get better balance in a wood bat, you need either a thick handle like the Model 12,
a long barrel like the 98
or a counterweight in the knob like the 73.
Kids get used to thin handle, big barrel metal bats and they want the same shape in wood and then find they can't swing them because they feel too heavy.
Our suggestion for an 8 and 10 year old would be the Model 73, 98 or 12 with a-5 weight differential to start. This will build up their wrists and forearms and help them find a natural direct path to the ball.
Bats that are too light cause the kids to cast the head instead of a short direct path to the ball. Give your 8 year old a 34" adult bat and ask him to swing it. He will choke up to where he can handle the weight and then automatically use a short direct path to the ball. Give him a light metal bat and he will use a long looping path to the ball.