Posted by: Torque (roscoethewestie@comcast.net) on Sun May 24 20:10:07 2009

> My son is 10; plays in AAA Little League on a team that I manage. He's strong and a
> decent hitter, but inconsistent. One game will be three ropes to the gaps, the next might
> be a popup, a strikeout and a handle-hit to second. He's been using a 30/19 bat for most
> of the year.
>
> A week ago, he started using a maple bat, 30/28 and started just killing the ball. 20 BP
> pitches and 18 of them are sitting at the base of the fence after BP. He just can't miss. I've
> even taken to throwing harder to him than the pitchers he faces, and he kills the ball. The
> other parents on the team are as dumbfounded as I am. His teammates have tried the
> wood bat and can't hit it worth a lick. It's just freakish how good he hits with this heavy
> bat. He's tried switching back to the Al bats, but can't hit them.
>
> What does this tell us about his hitting style? I figure I'm just going to go with the flow and
> have him hit with that wood bat.

A bat that is too light is very difficult to hit with. Which bat is his 30/19? Wood makes you a much better hitter because you have to focus on hitting the sweet spot and he is probably concentrating more with the wood. I'd rather hit with a bat that is too heavy. He probably has a pretty fast swing and he swings too fast with the aluminum. Good maple hits really good. Besides being too light, the aluminum may have a weight distribution that doesn't work for him.

For a 10YO AAA pitcher the ball is probably exiting the hand at 48 to 52 MPH. Probably crossing the plate at 40 to 43. Your son may be swinging 60 to 65.