Posted by: ted (ted@209racing.com) on Sat Jun 14 12:33:55 2003

Yes, a heaver bat will drive the ball farther, given all other factor remain the same. The extra distance isn't that great because the bat is much heaver than the ball in the first place. It's also more difficult to keep all those other factors the same with a heaver bat. When you're comparing bats for weight, you'll want to consider the consistancy of the swing, along with a maintained batspeed. Usually the increased energy required to swing a heaver bat at the same speed, results in a less accurate swing. You may hit more homeruns but also hit more pop-ups or choppers as well.

You want the heavest bat you can swing without loosing bat speed or accurcy. The cost for losing either is not worth minimal gain in distance if there even is any.

When you're looking for the right bat, you should try sever bats at the same weight, because the weight may be distributed differently, giving unique "swing weights" for the same weight bats.

Also, hitting of a tee may not bring out that loss of accuracy I mentioned, since no last second adjusts will need to be made to hit a stationary ball. Tees are great for practice, but not when you're trying to find the right bat. At least try some soft toss against a fence or net.