How to select a Bat

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Measuring a bat

 

MEASURING YOURSELF FOR A BAT

bats

This measurement will tell you where you should be looking on the chart below:

Weight/Height 3'5"- 3'8" 3'9" - 4' 4'1"- 4'4" 4'5"- 4'-8" 4'9"- 5' 5'1"- 5'-4" 5'5"- 5'-8" 5'9"- 6' 6'1"- Over'
Under  60 lbs 27" 28" 29" 29"          
  61 -   70 lbs 27" 28" 29" 30" 30"        
  71 -   80 lbs 28" 28" 29" 30" 30" 31"      
  81 -   90 lbs 28" 29" 29" 30" 30" 31"      
  91 - 100 lbs 29" 29" 30" 30" 31" 31" 31"    
101 - 110 lbs 29" 29" 30" 30" 31" 31" 32"    
111 - 120 lbs 29" 29" 30" 30" 31" 31" 32"    
121 - 130 lbs   30" 30" 30" 31" 32" 32" 33"  
131 - 140 lbs   30" 30" 30" 31" 32" 32" 33" 33"
141 - 150 lbs   30" 30" 31" 31" 32" 33" 33" 33"
151 - 160 lbs   30" 31" 31" 31" 32" 33" 33" 34"
161 - 170 lbs     31" 31" 32" 32" 33" 33" 34"
171 - 180 lbs       31" 32" 32" 33" 34" 34"
Over  180 lbs           33" 33" 34" 34"

CHOOSING THE CORRECT LENGTH YOUTH BAT: MEASURE HEIGHT

Be sure you measure with his/her baseball cleats on. Stand a bat next to your child and compare him/her to the bat. The bat should reach, but not exceed, your child’s hip. If it reaches past his/her hip area, it’s going to be too long to swing.

 

**Put the knob of the bat at the center of your chest with the bat facing outward  if you can reach your arm out and grab the barrel of the bat, it’s the right size.

Batter

WHAT IS BAT DROP Weight?

Bat weight is measured by the minus or drop weight. Drop weight is the difference between the length and weight of the bat, so a bat that is 30 inches long and has a drop weight of -10 will weigh 20 ounces. The bigger the drop weight is, the lighter the bat will weigh.

If you are a strong player, you may assume you want a heavier bat. This is not necessarily the case. You’ll want to swing a bat that still allows you to generate the ideal amount of bat speed through the zone. Finding this balance could be difficult at first, but once you do, you’ll be hitting the ball farther and harder than you could have imagined.

After finding a baseline for the length of the bat, it’s important to incorporate the length of the bat into deciding on the weight. For youth softball, the taller the child, the longer the bat should be. They may not be strong enough to use a heavier bat, so they would have a bat with a larger weight drop.

Deciding on the length and weight of the bat you swing is a personal choice - you should try combining what is comfortable with what style of player you want to be.  Keep in mind that the chart below can be used to find bat drop for both baseball and softball bats and it can be used by both adult and youth players:

BAT SIZING CHARTS BY AGE AND LEAGUE

While the allowable drop weight varies between leagues, bat length is something that can be generalized by age group.

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EXAMPLES FOR FASTPITCH SOFTBALL FOR

REFERENCING ONLY

 

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FASTPITCH SOFTBALL BAT SIZING BY AGE

Lastly, we have a fastpitch softball bat sizing chart by age. As players get older, the bats get longer and heavier, with a lower bat drop (difference between length and weight).

Fastpitch 2 1/4" Softball Bats

Age Under 7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14 and Over
Length 24"-26" 26"-29" 28"-31" 29"-33" 31"-34"
Drop (-13.5)-(-10) (-13.5)-(-10) (-13)-(-8) (-12)-(-8) (-10)-(-8)