Posted by: Ronnie (rwynn@comsouth.net) on Thu Dec 9 17:40:23 2010

> What are some thoughts on when to graduate to heavier bats? I'm talking 12-16 year old boys. Last year in little league -10s were the thing. This year in Pony it seems to be -6. I hear talk of high school players struggling to adjust to -3 because they didn't start using them early enough. Is it as simple as swinging the heaviest bat you can be successful with? As I understand it a heavier bat can't be swung fast enough to get around on faster pitching.

My son started swinging -3 bats in BP at 12. He used a -7 at 13 in 7th grade then a -3 at 14 in 8th grade. He had no trouble making the adjustment. I think the sooner they can make the adjustment the better. If the swing mechanics are good the adjustment is easy. If they are linear they will struggle regardless of weight.