Posted by: Steven (steven@ars-inc.com) on Sat Dec 30 15:12:40 2006

Hey Guys,

The change from 28 inch to 31 inches is a HUGE single jump and definitely the reason for drop in bat speed. I coach an 8u team and most if not all of my players are swinging 28 inch bats ranging in weight from 16.5 ounces to 19 ounces. These bats are all 2 3/4" barrell and they all swing them relatively well.

When you jump 3" in length it takes much longer to get the bat around. Having said that I think 17 ounces for a 10 year old is kind of light. I just moved my son (4'5", 88 lbs.) up to a 29/19 which he is swinging slower than the 28/17 but not that much.

My advice is a much more gradual jump...say maybe to a 29 or max. 30" and see what happens. Also there is a big difference in how some bats are weighted, some are balanced, while others are very end loaded. The Anderson mentioned by Sandman is relatively balanced, while the Easton Comp I found to be end loaded. You could have two identical bats (length / weight) but the actual swing weight could be very different depending on where the center of gravity is. The longer the bat the more pronouced this is. Try to balance the length of the bat horizontally on something thin to find where the bat will stay level...this will tell you where the center of gravity is and if it is a balanced or end loaded bat.

Just a few thoughts.

> My son's Anderson TZ is a 31/22 and his Stealth composite is 31/20. But he hasn't really swung either very much yet - the TZ during a few fall ball games and the Stealth was a Christmas gift, so not at all yet.
>
> You might have him choke up an inch for awhile. But maybe he gets it around fast enough? I don't know. It just seems bigger than most kids I see that size/age.
>
> Good luck.