HITTING Site Map Bad Advice Skills & Instructions BASIC ADVANCED BASICS In General The Bat Grip Stance Load & Stride Swing Special Situations Bunting Illustrated Step by Step   ADVANCED Stance versus Swing Bat Angle  Bat Selection  Aluminum or wood Bat Size Bat Sizes and Age Getting Ready HITTING APPROACH  KNOW YOURSELF How do you step in the box? KNOW YOUR OPPONENT STRATEGY KNOW THE SITUATION BE A TOUGH OUT GRIP LOOSEN UP PICK IT UP LIKE AN AX KEEP LOOSE STANCE  DIG IN WEIGHT AND HANDS LOCATION IN THE BOX DEPTH Proper Hitting Goals On-Deck Preparation Stance versus Swing Bat Angle COIL STRIDE COMMON PROBLEM Keep the Front Toe Closed During the Stride Perfecting the Stride Hitting Off Your Front Leg "Squishing the Bug" Flat-Snap Hitting Finishing the Swing Seeing the Ball Plate Coverage and Forward Extension  Poor Timing Correcting a Weak Swing Lunging and Over Striding Lunging forward during stride Over Striding Staying Closed Before the Swing  Stepping Out on the Pitch The Level Swing Bunting The K Factor (The Strike factor) Trouble Shooting Your Hitting   Click Here!   Report Broken Links

Below is a rough guide for bat selection. It is simply a place to start and depends not only on the size of the player but the level of competition (better pitching may require a lighter bat). It is better to err on the light side rather than the heavy side. Today’s power hitters in the major leagues use lighter bats than power hitters of yesterday Age Weight Minimum Weight Maximum Length Minimum  Length Maximum Barrel Size 6-7 17 Ounces 19 Ounces  24 Inches  28 Inches  2 ¼ 8  19 Ounces 21 Ounces  27 Inches  30 Inches 2 ¼ 9  20 Ounces 23 Ounces 28 Inches  30 Inches 2 ¼ 10 20 Ounces 23 Ounces  28 Inches  31 Inches  2 ¼ 11 21 Ounces 24 Ounces 29 Inches  31 Inches 2 ¼ to 2 5/8 12  23 Ounces 25 Ounces  30 Inches  33 Inches  2 ¼ to 2 ¾ 13-14 23 Ounces 28 Ounces 30 Inches 33 Inches 2 ¼ to 2 ¾ 15 + 24 Ounces  30 Ounces 30 Inches 34 Inches  2 ¾ While charts determine proper size bat, which take players' height and weight into consideration. While these two factors are important, other characteristics are missing. The bat length, weight, barrel size, grip, brand, and whether the player likes to choke up on the bat are all important factors when determining whether a bat has a good feel in the players hand.       Click the button above to go back to the web page or web site you were at before coming to this page [Official Little League Rules & Regulations]   [Parents]   [Players/Kids] Learn How to: [Hit]  [Pitching]  [Infield]  [Outfield]  [Catcher]  [Baserunning]  [Coach] [Baseball Humor]  [Baseball Terminology]  [Site Map] [Sign Our Guestbook] [Privacy Statement/Disclaimer]  [Terms] Copyright © 2000 Brookside Little League, Inc. All rights reserved Brookside Little League, Inc. Indianapolis, In   Do you like what you see,  got a gripe,  would you like to see something added to this site? We would love to hear from you! jontanderson@juno.com