Batdance, 2012 Edition

Okay, it's been a while since I provided a bat-buying guide for youth baseball. Things have actually changed a bit. Time for an update.

Let's start with the simplest bats, and the ones most common for younger players. If a bat says it is legal for little league play, chances are it has a few common characteristics.

One of those characteristics is a 2 and 1/4" barrel. This is the standard barrel bat used by little league today.

If your league requires you to use a 2.25" barrel, or if your kid is very small, these are the bats to use. They are generally sold in what's called a drop 12. Drop 12 means that if you measure the length, then subtract the weight, the result is 12.

So, for instance, an 28" bat that is 16 ounces is a drop 12.

These bats are fine for recreational play, and little league requires you to use standard barrel bats. However, once your kid gets to travel ball, or senior league, or a league not governed by little league, then your kid can use big barrel bats.

My friend, Clay Snellgrove, of the Bases Loaded Baseball school in Murfreesboro, TN, advised me years ago that big barrel bats do make a difference. I've found that this generally is true. The bigger the barrel, the bigger the sweet spot and the greater the rebounding effect of the ball off the bat.

The difficulty is that big barrel bats generally come in a maxium of drop 10. So, if your kid is very little and can't swing a very heavy bat, his big-barrel bat will be very short.

My son had two bats when he played U9. A big barrel and a standard barrel that was longer. We tried to guage whether the ump was calling a generous strike zone or not and if he was, we'd go with the longer bat. Once my son could swing a 29/19, though, we were able to use just one bat.

Nowadays, if you're using a Big Barrel bat, many leagues require that it have a Bat Performance Factor of no greater than 1.15. Basically, it should be stamped with "1.15" somewhere on it and in most cases, will have a USSSA stamp on it that signifies it is legal for play in leagues with a 1.15 limit.

Here is where things get tricky. In NCAA play, you can only have a -3 to +3 differential between bat length and weight in ounces. Many high schools have also adopted this standard. Because of this, many middle schools have adopted this standard.

This is the BBCOR / drop 3 rule. Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution is a different measure of bat effectiveness. So, a bat can be no lighter than drop 3, and must have an approved BBCOR.

Even if you have a very young child, you should probably consider the drop 3 standard. For instance, my son has 4 more seasons of play before he gets to High School. In High School, he will need to be able to swing a drop 3 bat.

It makes no sense to let him use a drop 10 bat for the next 4 years, then have to adjust abruptly when in High School.

So, last year, he used drop 10 bats. This year, we're experimenting with drop 9 and drop 8 bats. By the time he plays U14 ball (the year before High School), I hope to have him using, at the lightest, a drop 5. That way, the transition to a drop 3 in High School won't be quite so dramatic.

On Paper, I would like the transition to look like this:

U11: Drop 8 or 9
U12: Drop 6 to 8
U13: Drop 5 to 7
U14: Drop 3 to 5

Obviously, how closely he adheres to that schedule depends on how much he grows, how much body mass he puts on, etc. I'm just highlighting that you need to think about when and how you're going to wean your kid off of a drop 10 bat if you hope to have them play in High School.

I think most of us who are going through the effort of getting our kid through travel ball are doing it so they can make their High School team, someday.

So, basically, little league or very young players? Go with a drop 12 bat.

Get a big barrel as soon as the kid is big enough to swing it and is in a league that allows it. Use a drop 10 through maybe U10 or so.

Right around middle school age, think about the transition to High School bats. Wean the kid away from drop 10s.

In High School, you will have to use a BBCOR bat, with no lighter than a drop 3 differential.