Posted by: Torque (roscoethewestie@comcast.net) on Fri Apr 17 15:07:43 2009

> Is there a significant difference between a broken in bat and a new one? I bought my 9 year old an Easton Reflex and have him using it during practice with a bat protector on it. Should I remove the protector and let the bat see some "real" action?

None of the youth bats need to be broken in but the composite bats do hit a little better with age. Since the Reflex is aluminum it will hit as good out of the wrapper as it will a year from now. Personally, I'd take the protector off. If he hits leather pitching machine balls you should use the protector since these balls are harder and will dent some aluminum bats.