Posted by: Jim (J_Cramer@msn.com) on Mon Aug 2 10:49:23 2004

I have a 13 year old son who will be going into the 8th grade this year. Currently he swings a 30" 22oz aluminum bat, and I have read that he should be training with a wood bat, and I realize that when he plays in high school he will fall under the -3 rule as far as bat weight goes. I have also read that he shouldn't work with too heavy of a bat because it won't allow his fast twitch muscles to develop and they are needed for bat speed. Here is my dilema, I know that he needs to increase his bat speed, and I know that in 9th grade he will be under -3 restriction, so how do I get there from here? He needs to swing a 5oz heavier bat + gain bat speed to be an effective hitter.

The weigth of the bat is a more significant issue if one is using linear mechanics, which relies more on the strength of the wrists and arms to generate bat speed. In tests using the heavy bag and rotational mechanics for my 14 year old daughter, she could swing a 26oz. bat as fast as a 21 oz. bat (70+mph) This is the case because the speed is developed using the large muscles of the legs and body vs the arms. Hence my recommendation would be; to use the heavier bat and develop sound rotational mechanics. Best regards Jim.