Posted by: Jimmy () on Fri Jan 26 19:31:30 2007

> > "Dennis. No offense as who would not want their kid or those who are being taught
to have privy to the best mechanics. But at the lower level is it not more important to have
the kids making contact and feeling early success/good about themselves?"
> >
> > That assumes that they will be able to have the same level of success with a big barrel
bat as with a standard barrel bat.
> >
> > I'm not convinced that that will always be the case.
> >
> > If you shift the Center Of Gravity of the bat you will alter the Swing Weight of the bat
which may hurt the player's batspeed.
> >
> > The analogy between a big barrel bat and an oversized head racket doesn't
necessarily apply.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Chris. Point taken as nothing is etched in stone with regard to hitting, but there has to
be a reason why the 2 3/4 diameter bat hs been limited to 2 5/8 max at the college level.
And more often than not greater mass gives enough of a confidence boost in itself. I think
we tend to forget about the hitters of the past using heavier bats which were supposedly
harder to swing, yet you still had great hitters some of whom had less efficient mechanics.
I am convinced that there is so much more to hitting than batspeed. Otherwise everyone
would be warranted to use the identical stance, style, and technique. Maybe they should,
as I noticed a somewhat striking similarity on Teacherman's site between Ted Williams and
Barry Bonds.
>
> In my opinion the more relevent issue is the weight of the bat as opposed to the
diameter. But for the most part it is an individual call. Hitters brought up on the big
barrel bat could could be just as well off as hitters who use the 2 1/4 model. Likely the
primary reason big league hitters don't use the biggest barrell is that the top quality wood
comes in too heavy than what they are accustomed to swinging at the lower diameter.
With aluminum there are more options.

Hi guys,

The more mass through the ball at high velocities the better. It is important that the
hitters at a young age learn to use the heaviest bat that they can control along with some
batspeed. Using a heavier bat where the hitter can still apply the fundamentals of hitting
will help in the development of their swing down the road. Some dads out there want
instant success for their kids more than the kids do so they end up buying tin cans for the
child to swing. This just lessons the chance of the child developing the fundamentals
nessesary to swing a real bat down the road. I think kids should use wood bats (little bit
heavier with smaller sweet-spot) to help develop the core fundamentals of a good swing.
And dads, you can buy a dozen wood bats for less than one tin can, aluminum.

Jimmy