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Punishers
688 Posts |
 Posted - 06/17/2018 : 21:30:16
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Went to Alabama this weekend to help a friend run a 12u tryout. Pretty much middle school age kids. It was amazing how many kids showed up with drop 10 bats it was insane. Some even had 27 inch bats. Good size kids too. He pointed this out to me that many parents and travel ball coaches are promoting this, Smallest bat possible culture. At the end of the tryout, he spoke to the parents and told them that since the kids are in middle school, they will swing middle school bats (drop 5). I could hear nothing but grumbling from the parents like this was a bad thing. I didn't see the problem but obviously they wanted their kids to swing drop 10 bats until High School Graduation. It only makes sense, even if they do not have a middle school program. It is the size of the bat they would be swinging anyway if they were on middle school team.
Luckily I had a drop 5 bat with me and let the kids take some live BP with. Many complained that it was too heavy and struggled to get it around. There was one kid that brought his own drop 5 bat and hit pretty well. Which told me he came prepared while the others are living on small field days.
To me it just appeared that the travel ball coaches were not developing them for the future and only looking at the now for meaningless wins. Until the now becomes the future and they have to face reality.
Even though the drop 5 is set as a 1 year bat at 13u tournaments. It can only help for kids to move with the progression, unless everyone is rich enough to buy a 1 yr only bat. This is why I've always supported a drop limit per age group rather than the Cooperstown model of "you bring it, you swing it". A lot of things may be avoided, but time is surely not one of them. |
Edited by - Punishers on 06/17/2018 21:33:43 |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2018 : 07:31:53
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| Just an FYI, I would have grumbled too, but because I would want my kid to swing BBCOR, not a meaningless drop 5 bat. Bats are expensive, and I wouldn't buy a used bat due to the "was it broken in correctly" questions. |
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KentMurphy
96 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2018 : 08:59:02
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| The -5 was the hottest bat for our 12U team this season. Especially in CT. Yes, it takes a little adjustment to get to use to timing and getting your swing right, but still.... Well worth the future. |
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morrsco
55 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2018 : 09:50:10
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| Don't forget about the different lengths from the mound to home plate. I believe 12U travel ball is only 50'. The middle school teams play at 60'. The same kid may have no problem with a BBCOR at 60', but he may need a -5 or even -8 at 50'. My son played both middle school and 12U travel this year. He used a BBCOR, a -5, and a -8 at different points during the year depending on the distance and the particular rules for that game. |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2018 : 10:55:43
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quote:
Originally posted by morrsco
Don't forget about the different lengths from the mound to home plate. I believe 12U travel ball is only 50'. The middle school teams play at 60'. The same kid may have no problem with a BBCOR at 60', but he may need a -5 or even -8 at 50'. My son played both middle school and 12U travel this year. He used a BBCOR, a -5, and a -8 at different points during the year depending on the distance and the particular rules for that game.
My thoughts exactly! Time for a lot to give up on those -10 dream bombs. |
Edited by - Punishers on 06/18/2018 12:05:25 |
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T13
257 Posts |
Posted - 06/18/2018 : 15:57:53
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Lots of new medical studies are actually showing arm problems are being caused by kids swinging bats that are too heavy. BBCOR not helping pre-puberty kids become better hitters and may be hurting them physically..
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2018 : 10:12:55
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quote:
Originally posted by T13
Lots of new medical studies are actually showing arm problems are being caused by kids swinging bats that are too heavy. BBCOR not helping pre-puberty kids become better hitters and may be hurting them physically..
Can you post these studies?
With the drop 10 and drop 5 bats being relatively new inventions I'm curious as to what they tested and if they researched people who swung wood bats as children in the pre drop 10 bats. |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2018 : 15:14:38
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quote:
Originally posted by CaCO3Girl
quote:
Originally posted by T13
Lots of new medical studies are actually showing arm problems are being caused by kids swinging bats that are too heavy. BBCOR not helping pre-puberty kids become better hitters and may be hurting them physically..
Can you post these studies?
With the drop 10 and drop 5 bats being relatively new inventions I'm curious as to what they tested and if they researched people who swung wood bats as children in the pre drop 10 bats.
Only thing i could find that was closely related:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445160/
Still overuse is the main cause of injuries. In Baseball, players throw more than they swing. |
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bkball
173 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2018 : 15:18:01
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| I find it hard to believe arm problems caused by heavy bats. Heck we used to heavy wood bats all our lives and we loved it. I think throwing too much and playing year round has more to do with arm problems than any size bat. Also maybe over doing it in the weight room. It is not always better to over do it, but seeing many colleges and high schools doing power lifting for baseball to me is insane. |
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T13
257 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2018 : 21:28:08
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| All these factors ...throwing, heavy bats year round, etc contribute especially pre-puberty kids. Crazy parents the biggest cause. Yeah we swung heavy bats in our day but we also ran around the neighborhood inventing games to play. No one played baseball year round! |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 06/19/2018 : 23:48:45
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quote:
Originally posted by T13
All these factors ...throwing, heavy bats year round, etc contribute especially pre-puberty kids. Crazy parents the biggest cause. Yeah we swung heavy bats in our day but we also ran around the neighborhood inventing games to play. No one played baseball year round!
I'm not with year round baseball, other sports help in different ways, but you think 5 ounces will make that big of a difference? Most kids drop 5oz or more in the toilet every morning. Injuries are unavoidable, they will happen and most kids will be bbcor age when puberty happens anyway. I haven't seen any 29" bbcor bats on the market yet and i doubt any will be produced.
My point is that, a lot of kids are not being properly developed, if they are being developed at all, by sitting on their super light bats. Then when they have to swing a -5 or bbcor on a larger field with faster pitching and see little to no success, they want to quit and the only one to blame is the coaches and parents. Look at it like this: If your kid is going to the 8th grade, why would you have him study 5th grade material? Are you helping them progress or setting them up for failure? |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2018 : 12:26:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Punishers
quote:
Originally posted by T13
All these factors ...throwing, heavy bats year round, etc contribute especially pre-puberty kids. Crazy parents the biggest cause. Yeah we swung heavy bats in our day but we also ran around the neighborhood inventing games to play. No one played baseball year round!
I'm not with year round baseball, other sports help in different ways, but you think 5 ounces will make that big of a difference? Most kids drop 5oz or more in the toilet every morning. Injuries are unavoidable, they will happen and most kids will be bbcor age when puberty happens anyway. I haven't seen any 29" bbcor bats on the market yet and i doubt any will be produced.
My point is that, a lot of kids are not being properly developed, if they are being developed at all, by sitting on their super light bats. Then when they have to swing a -5 or bbcor on a larger field with faster pitching and see little to no success, they want to quit and the only one to blame is the coaches and parents. Look at it like this: If your kid is going to the 8th grade, why would you have him study 5th grade material? Are you helping them progress or setting them up for failure?
I agree, as long as their size can take it. There was a HS freshman last year who was 5'0 and 110 pounds....yes, he could swing the BBCOR but I wouldn't have had him doing it long before that. Conversely, my son was 5'7 130#'s by 12u...he swung BBCOR in 13u. |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2018 : 09:54:03
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Went and viewed a few local 12u tryouts and all I saw was drop 10 bats. Coaches never said anything about using other drops. Many long balls were hit during coach pitch, but many do that at tryouts. I got a feeling some will try the drop 5 and go running back to grab their drop 10 bats after a few cuts.
I see there is a very big gap between current 12u and rising 12u. Most if not all of those current 12u were swinging drop 5 bats from the smallest to the largest kids. Looks like the rising 12u are hilariously and severely weaker than the current 12u. So if you are one of those parents who considers your kid to be a MAJOR level player, you should be using MAJOR level bats instead of bats for a 10u player. I see why come 13u there is a big drop off when they have to swing a real size bat and the game is not fun anymore. |
Edited by - Punishers on 06/25/2018 10:25:32 |
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Motown Dawg
2 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2018 : 12:49:25
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| 2017 zen drop 10 legal in Cooperstown |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2018 : 16:26:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Motown Dawg
2017 zen drop 10 legal in Cooperstown
Anything is legal in Cooperstown. It's an entertainment event. Shaved, Rolled, Expired, what ever. It's all allowed up there. |
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Crazyforbball
391 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2018 : 03:56:38
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| Cooperstown...if you can swing it you can bring it! HR heaven! |
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Punishers
688 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2018 : 11:23:24
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| Coming soon: Punisher Brand shirts. "-10s are for Weaklings". LOL |
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HankDunlap
16 Posts |
Posted - 08/01/2018 : 14:53:23
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I would be interested in seeing these studies as well. I normally keep on the lookout for related studies, and may have overlooked some good research, it seems.
quote:
Originally posted by T13
Lots of new medical studies are actually showing arm problems are being caused by kids swinging bats that are too heavy. BBCOR not helping pre-puberty kids become better hitters and may be hurting them physically..
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Bat Madness
