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Toona
1 Posts |
 Posted - 12/19/2015 : 08:10:12
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Wondering if there are any recommendations on bats this year? Son favors his Easton wood bat over metal, but school coach wants him to swing metal.
He is a contact hitter with some power. Approx 5'9 and weights 145ish. Know alot is just preference of the individual, but again just wondering if there were any suggestions as to what bats to start the looking process with. Thanks |
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cburney
25 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2015 : 23:55:27
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When I was faced with moving to a BBCOR bat last summer, I took my son to Better Baseball to use the HitTrax. It can measure swing speed, ball exit angle, etc. Needless to say, we came with a particular bat in mind and it turned out to be the 3rd best bat for him. We also tried the most expensive BBCOR they sold for kicks and it was the worst performing bat for him.
Numbers don't lie! |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2015 : 07:21:07
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It is beyond personal preference, it has to do with the way the kid swings, if he gets his power from his arms or legs, if he is more of a power hitter or contact hitter....etc.
You need to head over to better baseball and try the hittrax program. You can swing any bat off the wall all for $20 and the machine will tell you what your son swung best with.
We were shocked by the results. My son would have slept with his Easton black and yellow drop 10 bat if I let him, when he had to go to BBCOR we were sure it would be an Easton he went with. It turned out that was what he swung the worst with, and what he swung the best with turned out to be the cheapest bat of the seven he tried!
At the time my son was 5'7, 150#'s, known to be a power hitter, and he settled with a 32/29 Rawlings 5150, the runner up was the Rawlings Velo. But everyone is different. If you are looking for a a present and you want it to be a surprise I would suggest you buy one, give it, don't let him take it out of the wrapper and go do the hittrax thing within the return policy window. Good luck! |
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bfriendly
376 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2015 : 05:41:58
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| Pretty sure my kid will keep his bat for this year, but we are definitely going to do the hittrax at Better Baseball before his next bat purchase.............BTW-the $20 will go towards the purchase if you buy the bat there. Better baseball has LOTS of good stuff so its worth checking out for ANY baseball equipment |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2015 : 11:24:35
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My kid mostly goes by what feels comfortable to him...and there's no convincing him otherwise. Although, what feels comfortable is $400...imagine that!
I usually go with it because being "comfortable in the box/feeling right" I would probably take over an extra 20 feet.
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Edited by - hshuler on 12/22/2015 14:13:24 |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2015 : 14:38:56
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quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
My kid mostly goes by what feels comfortable to him...and there's no convincing him otherwise. Although, what feels comfortable is $400...imagine that!
I usually go with it because being "comfortable in the box/feeling right" I would probably take over an extra 20 feet.
Thank goodness my kid doesn't read these boards, he'd want you to adopt him hshuler!
The hitrax report showed my son's best bat, score of 100%, was the $299 bat. His second best bat scored a 99.7%, it was $199. He looked at me and said, so number 2 it is! I patted him on the head and said "GOOD BOY!" |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2015 : 16:48:10
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| Three words for you, CaCO..."used on ebay..." |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2015 : 08:26:16
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quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
Three words for you, CaCO..."used on ebay..."
I'll buy a lot of stuff from ebay, but bats aren't one of them. I tried that once, the thing lost its pop within a month and because I didn't have a receipt nothing could be done. Never going to make that mistake again. |
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bfriendly
376 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2015 : 08:39:28
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quote:
Originally posted by hshuler
Three words for you, CaCO..."used on ebay..."
Sorry shuler, but even us on a tight budget dont want "Used" when it comes to bats.....Just not knowing if the bat was used in really cold weather, at the batting cages etc makes me want to avoid them. I DO Like "Last years" model however....on Ebay of course |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2015 : 13:20:08
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| I will let you know how it turns out. |
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techtosterone
10 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2016 : 12:38:51
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The hot bat that most of our 14U team settled on is the Marucci Cat6. My son likes it better than his previous -5 bat. He says it "feels the same" which is a great statement for a heavier bat.
We also have a Baum bat for cage work and wood bat tournaments. He had a prior cheap wood bat, that broke when a teammate used it in a game. He likes the Baum as well.
The Baum is like insurance -- you never know if you will need it, but if it lasts the equivalent of 3-4 wood bats, then it will have been worth it. The key is you never know. |
Edited by - techtosterone on 01/08/2016 14:44:07 |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 01/08/2016 : 15:12:04
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quote:
Originally posted by techtosterone
The hot bat that most of our 14U team settled on is the Marucci Cat6. My son likes it better than his previous -5 bat. He says it "feels the same" which is a great statement for a heavier bat.
We also have a Baum bat for cage work and wood bat tournaments. He had a prior cheap wood bat, that broke when a teammate used it in a game. He likes the Baum as well.
The Baum is like insurance -- you never know if you will need it, but if it lasts the equivalent of 3-4 wood bats, then it will have been worth it. The key is you never know.
I can't fathom spending $200 on a wooden bat. Plus PG seems to waffle on them...they are allowed....they are banned....they are allowed again. Sounds very weird. |
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stealyourbase
81 Posts |
Posted - 01/09/2016 : 21:34:58
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| We have one as well. They were banned all last season. He would rather swing wood over metal but HS coach is making them swing metal. Urgh!! |
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15UBaseball
27 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2016 : 15:38:07
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| I have one question on the hitracker never used it but at Better Baseball do they hit real baseball's and do they hit them off a tee or BP? I would think ball exit speed would tell me more about a bat than measurements and things like a Zepp. I dont know hittracker so maybe I am wrong but I have not been impressed with the readings on the Zepp as far as mph at impact. Tell me more we might try it out for $20 be worth it to use as another tool. |
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hshuler
1074 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2016 : 16:44:18
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| You hit real baseballs off of a tee and there is a simulator that shows trajectory and distance. |
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cburney
25 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2016 : 17:35:32
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quote:
Originally posted by 15UBaseball
I have one question on the hitracker never used it but at Better Baseball do they hit real baseball's and do they hit them off a tee or BP? I would think ball exit speed would tell me more about a bat than measurements and things like a Zepp. I dont know hittracker so maybe I am wrong but I have not been impressed with the readings on the Zepp as far as mph at impact. Tell me more we might try it out for $20 be worth it to use as another tool.
I can't recall if they were real baseballs; but it was definitely off the tee. I think pitched balls can skew your exit speed results because you have to account for the pitch velocity, etc. The HitTrax measured my son's launch angle, avg/max velocity, avg/max distance, "hard hit" avg, and line drive percentage/avg. Based on all of that, which it did show individual components, the bats are assigned a ranking from 100%. I thought it was worth $20, which they'll discount on the cost of the bat if you buy it.
You can check out HitTrax at hittraxbaseball.com. |
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15UBaseball
27 Posts |
Posted - 02/26/2016 : 13:33:11
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| If they werent using real baseball's then to me its a waste of time. Setup a radar and measure ball exit speed off a bat hitting the same baseball every time. That is going to tell you which bat out performs the other one. Especially for BBCOR. If you are talking drop 5's and 10's it doesn't matter all those bats are crazy hot anyway. |
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Topic |
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BBCOR bats recommendations
