- First, three words about bats: "Lighter Is Better"
Barry Bonds, who weighs 195 pounds, uses a 28 ounce bat! A light bat is easier to control, and, contrary to old-school thinking, you can hit a ball harder and farther with a light bat than with a heavy bat because you can swing a light bat much faster. As acceptance of this fact has grown in recent years, the overwhelming trend in both baseball and softball has been to lighter bats. In case you need convincing, consider that NCAA and high school reviewing sports bodies have rules prohibiting baseball bats from being more than 3 ounces lighter in weight than the length of the bat in inches. This was done for safety reasons-it was thought that big, strong players swinging ultralight bats hit the ball so hard that infielders were at risk.
In Little League, however, light bats are not considered to be unsafe for defenders, because the players aren’t nearly as big and strong as their older counterparts. Even using an ultralight 19 ounce Little League bat, a typical 90 pound kid won’t be able to make up for the disparity in size and strength between himself and a college player. In fact, to have any chance of swinging with proper technique, most Little League players need an ultralight bat.
It’s a bad idea to get a baseball bat that’s too heavy for your Little Leaguer with the thought that he or she will "grow into it". Instead, your kid will learn bad habits trying to swing a bat that is too heavy. When in doubt about two bats, go with the lighter bat.
- THE RULES
Little League baseball bats must be 32" or less and have barrels no more than 2¼ in diameter. The bat must also be made of an approved material, but need not actually say "approved by Little League" on the bat. In practice, every major manufacturer uses approved materials.
- LENGTH AND WEIGHT
Manufacturers typically print the bat’s length in inches on the barrel or the handle. They also print the weight, either in ounces, or as "- something". The "-" stands for weight in ounces less than length in inches. In other words, a 30 inch bat designated as "-10" weighs 20 ounces. Weight: In general, buy a bat that is "-10" or lighter.
The table below probably covers 80% of the players in a given division, but, as they say, "your mileage may vary". Some kids are bigger than others; some are strong for their size; some have already developed good technique. The best any article can give you is a rule of thumb.
Division (age)..............Bat Length, Weight
Farm (7-8)..................26" or 27", -10 or lighter
Jr. Minors (8-9)............27" to 29", -10 or lighter
Sr. Minors (9-12)..........28" to 31", -10 or lighter
Majors (10-12).............29" to 32", -9 or lighter
- MATERIALS
Wood is out - has been for years. Wood baseball bats are heavier, less durable, and have less "pop" than aluminum bats. Leave wood to the pros. Most modern bats are made of aircraft-grade aluminum supplied by Alcoa or Kaiser. Variations in the alloy formula have resulted in stronger alloys, allowing the manufacturers to design bats with thinner shell walls, which in turn corresponds to lighter weight. All of these advanced alloys are known by trade names (usually a number), as well as brand names (sometimes the same grade will be marketed under a different brand name by different bat makers). The brand names are heavily hyped: you can be sure that if a bat is made of an advanced alloy, that fact will be trumpeted somewhere on the bat, usually in large bold letters. By the same token, you should beware of bats -11 or lighter that do not state the type of alloy used. They will probably be made of an alloy that is too weak to support the thinner wall required for the light weight.
Standard aircraft aluminum is designated in the trade as "7046". Most budget bats are made of this grade. "7050" grade alloy includes a small amount of copper, and is about 33% stronger than 7046. About 12 years ago, Alcoa branded its 7050 grade "CU31" and began marketing it in Slo-Pitch bats as the first high performance alloy. The "CU" designation refers to the addition of copper to the alloy. Alcoa’s "C405" is the next higher grade, supposedly about 10% stronger than CU31. C405 as introduced 8 or 9 years ago, quickly followed by C405 Plus and C405 Ultra, which are the same alloy manufactured under difference processes. The strength difference between C405 and C405 Ultra is only about 5%. C405 Ultra is, therefore, about 38% stronger than standard aircraft aluminum. "7075" is a new alloy by Kaiser that is claimed to be equal to or better than C405 Ultra. Kaiser’s Sc500 Scandium, and Alcoa’s C500 and C555 represent the next level up. C500 and Sc500 Scandium are about 3-5% stronger than C405 Ultra, respectively. C555 is claimed to be about 7% stronger than C405 Ultra, or about 40% stronger than standard aircraft grade aluminum.
The current king of the hill is SC777, made by Kaiser. While the other exotic alloys only offer incremental strength gains over CU31, SC777, if the claims are true, represents a truly big leap: about 50% stronger than C405. This means that SC777 is nearly twice as strong as standard aircraft aluminum.
(Article dated June, 2003)
- WHY ALLOY GRADES MATTER (AND WHY THEY MAY NOT)
There’s a lot of hype out there about the various alloys. Here’s why alloy grade really matters. Manufacturers use advanced alloys in order to be able to make the walls of the barrel of the bat thin while still allowing the bat to be strong enough to resist denting. Thin walls equal light weight. Thin walls are also claimed to contribute to a "trampoline" effect, or rebound, when the bat strikes the ball. The rebound effect enhances power, and therefore, distance, given the same swing speed. Think of throwing a baseball against a wall made of superball material, then against a wall made of concrete.
Other than allowing for thinner walls, however, there is little power to be gained from the exotic alloys themselves. The various alloys have virtually the same specific gravity, so the walls of a -11 CU31 bat are likely to be the same thickness as those of a -11 SC777 bat. There may be some difference in the trampoline effect, but it is negligible.
A good rule of thumb: stick to baseball bats made of CU31 or 7050 alloy or better for -10 bats, at least C405 for -11 bats, and C500 or better for -12 bats. If your child is 11 or 12 and uncommonly large and strong, consider Sc777. If the bat is -9 or heavier (I do not recommend bats heavier than -9 in Little League), alloy grade is not that important.
- OTHER DESIGN FEATURES
In addition to advanced alloys, manufacturers also tout special features or manufacturing processes that supposedly increase the durability of their high-performance bats. Easton C-Core and Z-Core bats have carbon fiber bonded to the inside of the barrel walls for increased strength and durability. Easton C-Core and Z-Core bats do have a reputation for durability; whether their durability derives from the carbon fiber is anyone’s guess. Worth puts out several bats that hype a "cryogenic" manufacturing process. Testing by B&N Softball, an independent tester of slo-Pitch bats, has shown that "cryogenic" bats offer no strength advantage over non-cryogenic bats of the same alloy.
(Admittedly, this testing is now 2 years old; perhaps Worth’s newest "cryogenic" bats do offer some advantage. Personally I doubt it.) Worth also makes bats that employ variable wall thickness. This supposedly allows stronger, thicker areas to be adjacent to thinner areas, somehow making it less likely that the bats will dent. Louisville Slugger"Air" bats and some Nike bats are filled with pressurized nitrogen to keep the bat from denting. Seems to me that this would affect, and maybe even compromise, the trampoline effect, but I don’t know of any testing on the subject.
- SHOPPING FOR A BAT
You can expect to pay anywhere from $40 to $200 for a Little League bat (yes! $200 for a kid’s bat!), so it pays to shop around, including on the Internet. As baseball bats become more and more of a status item, like skis, manufacturers come out with new designs, or at least new paint jobs, every year. Sometimes you can find last year’s model for a lot less than the current model, and sometimes last year’s model will actually be better.
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