Picking a Good Youth Baseball Bat

Having fun in the game of baseball begins with being able to hit a pitched ball with a bat. A player who can hit is a player that likes playing. There is little doubt that having solid hitting fundamentals is key to putting a baseball into play, but another key factor is also finding the right youth baseball bat for them.

It can be the case that parents who would like their player to get better at hitting the ball go out and just buy any old bat that they find as long as it looks nice. This can backfire and cause your player unnecessary problems with their swing if the bat is too long, or too heavy. If a bat has either the wrong length or the wrong weight it can create problems in the future for your player.

The are a few things that parents need to be aware of when selecting a bat for their children. The most important elements of the bat is its weight and length. This is generally communicated to to consumers by a ratio called the length-to-weight ratio. This number is communicated as a negative number (like -3) and is a description of the difference between the length and weight of a bat. A -3 bat is 3 ounces lighter than the length of the bat. A 30 inch bat with a -3 length-to-weight ratio is 27 ounces.

It is important for youth players to have the lightest bat for the length that they need. A light bat will help them swing the bat faster, control the barrel of the bat better, and to make solid contact on both the inside and outside edges of the plate.

Unfortunately, light youth baseball are not cheap and can run you a up to three hundred dollars depending on the level of bat that you buy. They are expensive because of the high quality alloys that producers use in making these bats. The main reason manufacturers use these high-tech alloys is that it allows engineers to make the youth bats with very thin walls - giving it a lot of pop.

Inexpensive aluminum bats are still made from the same element of aluminum but will have walls with greater thickness and will be heavier than the higher quality bats. Heavy bats with heavy barrels can slow down bat speed, increase "sting" produced by bat vibrations, and drop the head of the bat as it is pulled through the the strike zone.

Players who are seeking to get their baseball career off the ground need to learn how to make solid contact with a baseball. You can learn this with our without a high quality youth baseball bat, but having a properly fitted bat is a must.

In order to fit a bat to your player's hitting needs the first place to look is the length-to-weight ratio. This is the key metric to look at when buying your bat. This ratio is a negative number that tells a person the difference between the length and the height. To help understand this better, if I were to buy a bat with 42 inch length and the bat had a -9 length-to-weight ratio the bat would weigh 33 ounces.

Another important factor is the barrel diameter of your baseball bat. It is relatively obvious that the greater the diameter, the greater the hitting area of the bat. This is important for filling the strike zone with your bat. It is important to note that each baseball league has its own rules about how big the diameter of the bat can be so be sure to check with your coach or umpire before purchasing your bat.

Remember, getting the right fit on a bat for your player can be critical to their success at the plate. The right youth baseball bat could turn your average hitter into a powerful contact hitter capable of driving the ball out of the park.