Choosing a bat is one of the more important choices a hitter makes before stepping into the batter’s box. An inch either way or an ounce too heavy can throw off a hitter’s rhythm and sense of timing, perhaps even causing a player to fall helplessly into his biggest fear: a slump. Here are several points to consider before purchasing a bat, your first defense against a top-level fastball.

Steps

• Know your league’s rules. Do you use wood or metal? How big can the barrel of the bat be? Is there a certain ratio between a bat’s weight and its length that must be followed? You can find out all of these answers by consulting your league’s commissioner or perhaps your coach. Today, many of the bats even say directly on the barrel where it meets approval (example “Little League Approved”.)

• Set your budget. Bats can range anywhere from $25 to $300. Going up in cost does not necessarily translate into hits or replace hard work and practice. Technology has allowed bat manufacturers to turn baseball bats into lightweight trampolines. The micro-thin walls of today’s upper ended bats produce a trampoline-like effect, while allowing the hitter to produce more of what produces power: bat speed! The potential downside however of essentially putting steroids into bats is that dents and a lifeless bat are a reality in due time. This does not mean a week of hitting at the park or even a long season is going to sap your bat of its power. However, refrain from using your shiny new investment in batting cages, where the balls are often harder than traditional game baseballs. If a $300 wand sounds ridiculous to you, and in many respects it is, you can still purchase a high quality bat that meets your needs as a player. Particularly for the recreational baseball player, the size and weight of a bat is far more important than whether the bat has a nitrogen chamber situated inside (see many of the TPX bats).

• Pick up and feel the bat at the store. Unfortunately, there is no full-proof way or scientific method (although attempted) to measure what the right size baseball bat is best for you. There is no spot on your hip where the bat should come up to, and no rule that 9-year-olds have to use a 29-inch bat. It’s a feel more than anything, but caution yourself to a bat’s supposed feel in the store and its feel when it’s the bottom of the seventh and the winning run is in scoring position.

• Consider the weight. A bat should be light. Bat speed generates power. This holds true for a pitcher as well where arm speed is the main determinant for velocity.

• Consider the length. In addition to weight, length is equally important. Often young players opt for a long bat because they feel “I can’t reach the outside part of the plate.” However, a big bat often looks like a telephone pole in the hands of young kids and makes hitting a baseball – the hardest thing to do in sports – nearly impossible. Control and comfort is what is most desired when stepping into the batter’s box.

• Grip the bottom part of the handle with just one hand. Using just your fingers (with the exception of your thumb), hold the bat directly in front of you and lift the bat 6-8 times using only your wrist. If you have to bend your arm/elbow in order to lift the bat then it would be in your best interest to select a lighter bat.

• Buy for this season. There’s a prevailing thought out there that a young player should select a bat “he can use for a couple of years.” This appears to be a logical suggestion. The problem is that for a young player, hitting a moving object hurled at you is not easy and is often quite frustrating, leading them to quit. Buy for the now to give you the best chance for success. Baseball is tough. It is a sport that allows for athletes to fail 70% of the time—and then be given a huge contract. There are many things in baseball that a batter cannot control, such as what the pitcher is throwing, the umpire, what happens after the ball leaves my bat, etc. However, having the right equipment is one thing you can control.
   
• Practice. Remember, selecting a bat that fits you is an important step before getting into the batter's box. However, perfect practice is the only thing to enure success on the baseball field; a baseball bat is simply a bat, you provide the skill. As one Hall of Famer put it, "A bad carpenter blames his tools."

Tips & Warnings

• Pros must use wooden bats, but more powerful aluminum or other nonwood bats are preferred in amateur ball.
• Little League bats can't be more than 2 1/4 inches in diameter and 33 inches long.
• The initial cost is higher on a metal bat, but they will easily outlast other products. They don't peel or chip, and their weight and balance remain constant.
• Hitting is never easy, but when you bring the bat you like to the plate, you'll feel as if you have a fighting chance!

By Chris Fay

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