bat buying is like car buying...

It’s holiday shopping season!

Buying my kids sports things for Christmas - that I would need to get them anyway - is a time-tested strategy in the Eidem household.

“I got you guys a net for the backyard hockey rink!” 
"Thanks Dad!”

Genius. Admittedly, this worked better when they were younger. Right now I am staring at a list from my daughter that includes words like “moisturizer” and “Lululemon.” I am in trouble.

We have had a couple families reach out by email this last week looking for some help in buying bats. This is a big purchase!

Here are some resources and thoughts below from a parent who’s been in it for a few years now. Also a big shout out to my friend Chad Visger from here in River Falls. Chad helped usher some of us through this when we were first year 9u parents too!

Make Sure to Shop online first if cost is a concern
If you take them into the store, they will want the most expensive bat.

It's just the car dealership! And some places you can even test drive the bats!

It’s really great that Dick’s Sporting Goods has a place to try them out. But - shocker - not all the bats are able to be swung in the cage. So time to do your homework.

You don’t need the most expensive bat - but for baseball, look for the USSSA stamp.
Generally speaking in “pop” on a bat - how well the ball jumps off the bat - you’re going to get what you pay for. But after coaching 9u for two years and a year of 10u, I can say with confidence that the brand of bat for our hitters didn’t make a huge difference - Easton, Louisville Slugger, Marucci, etc. etc. My son has swung a mid-priced bat (Marucci F5) for the past two seasons. At least three of his teammates had the same bat.

One thing that does make a difference is the stamp - that’s in the science. For our kids in River Falls who compete in the metro baseball leagues, USSSA bats are allowed and they are "hotter". We took our 10AAA team to a tournament at the end of last summer in Hallie, Wisconsin. It required play with USA-stamped bats. Players from all teams hardly hit a ball out of the infield over the weekend. I’m not kidding. It was wild compared to what we saw the rest of the summer.

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USSSA stamp on the left, USA stamp on the right.

For older players, unfortunately for our wallets, the more expensive bats do make a difference. 
We started the 12u softball season for Abbi last year with a mid-level bat. We relented and got her an Easton Ghost mid-way through the season. It made a large difference. As kids gets stronger and can apply more force, they are able to get more out of the bat. Such a big part of hitting is confidence too. When she looked around and was the only player with an off brand bat, that was A Thing.

Bat sizing
There are many good charts out there for height, weight, and bat length. I do think this chart from Dick’s Sporting Goods, at least for the younger ages, is a little on the long side. We had a few of our bigger 10u kids prefer to stay at 28” last summer.

Above: sizing guides from Dick's Sporting Goods

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Here is another good resource for sizing from justbats.com where you can put in your players’ height and weight and it will give you a recommendation. In the type category, put in "youth" for baseball and "fastpitch" for softball..

So you don’t need the most expensive bat, but at least go mid-level…

The Kids Want to Compete - A Good Craftsman Never Blames His Tools but He Also Doesn’t Buy Tool Shop Brand

Here’s the deal - we could tell you a hot bat can’t replace a good swing. That’s true, but that’s why your kids are working on their swings all the time and we’re working with them.

The kids want to compete - and that means making sure they don’t have the cheapest tool on their belt. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight, right...So I will reiterate things like the USSSA stamp instead of USA stamp. When I was first coaching kids I thought “Let’s just work on their swings, who cares about what bat they use?” Well…I was wrong and I can admit it.

We can debate where they should all be using USA bats to force them to develop better swings to have success, but that’s just not where the world is right now.

Other Resources - and Good Luck!
If you want to jump down the rabbit hole and learn about bats, there are a ton of resources out there. Here’s a short blog post that will explain the difference between alloy, composite, one piece, and two piece bats.

Maybe my best advice is that it’s more like car buying than not. Do your research before you hit the store. The 17 year old tennis player that is filling in at the baseball/softball department for the day may not be a great resource for you!
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That same link from above for justbats.com has a really buying guide. The good part about the business end of selling an appropriately sized bat is that they want you to have a good experience. That way you come back at Christmas next year when your player hits another growth spurt!

Dick's Sporting Goods has a good buying guide for fastpitch bats too.

As with anything we tell you about here at Big Fish - please don’t hesitate to reach out when you have specific questions. Just like Chad did for me a few years ago, we’re more than happy to help!