Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Tue Jan 2 11:43:10 2001

how do you pick the correct bat size and weight?
> > my daughter is using a 33"by 22oz
> > i bought her a 34"by23oz for xmas
> > i told her not to unwrap until she is sure it is right for her
>
> Hi Rusty. To check to see if the weight is good, have your daughter hold it from the knob straight out by her side, parallel to the ground. If this can be done comfortably for about 15 to 25 seconds, the weight is probably good. As far as length goes, that really depends upon your daughter's own preference and what she hits best with.

Rusty,Joe,et al-

The usual advice in girls fastpitch is to use the lightest bat possible to maximize batspeed.This is reasonable if you use the typical arm swing most girls(unfortunately)are taught.As Jack demonstartes here,the preferred power swing should be the same for baseball and softball.It is often easier to swing Jack's way with a heavier bat.The usual baseball type advice is to swing the heaviest bat you can without sacrificing batspeed.This may require actual batspeed measurements,which is possible if you use a batspeed meter.The batspeed meter can also help guide overload underload training.This way you can see what bat weight is best as well as monitor your progress.