How To Select Baseball Bats
To a hitter, his baseball bat means everything. Players spend countless hours deciding which baseball bat they will take to the plate with them during their next at-bat. Choose the wrong bat and, at least mentally, you might as well give up.
The batter must have supreme confidence that his choice of bat is the right tool for the job. When standing in and facing 90 miles per hour fastballs every advantage is needed in order to succeed.
I think we've all heard the stories of players packing their bats in it's own special suitcase, spending hours ensuring each bat is "battle-ready, and even going as far as sleeping with their bats to develop a "bond". Now if that doesn't say commitment I don't know what does!
So how should you go about picking the right bat for your needs?
It's pretty simple really as long as you learn to trust you body. If a bat feels uncomfortable after about 5-10 swings get rid of it. It's not the one for you. You body and swing must be in tune with the weight, length, handle size and overall balance of the baseball bat. If those factors are not comfortable to you individually then you will have a problem.
For me I needed a thin handled bat. I even went as far as ripping the leather handle off the metal bat and replacing with thin athletic tape to get the handle as thin as I possibly could. For some of my teammates this was very uncomfortable. They took the exact opposite route and added tape to their bat handles to make it thicker. To them this was comfortable.
And you know who was right? We both were. This is because we individually learned how to select a baseball bat specifically built for our needs. And we were all very successful with our chosen tools.
Ok so now that you understand how important "feel" is to selecting a bat, let's move on to technology. There are so many baseball bats to choose from nowadays it can get very confusing very fast. This is because every company claims their bat is the best. So, who do you listen to?
Again, listen to yourself! Just because the state's best player uses the Easton Stealth baseball bat, does not mean you should. The Stealth might be the best option for you, but it also may be the worst. The only way you will find out is if you try it out, preferably in a game situation. But I do realize that other people's feedback is important in selecting a bat. Just don't make it the only reason you select a particular baseball bat.
So to help you out here is our list of the top 5 bats. This list was generated from feedback of players and coaches from around the country.
1. Mattingly Baseball - The Beast
2. Easton Stealth
3. Louisville Slugger EXO
4. DeMarini Vexxum
5. Mattingly baseball - V-Grip MVP
Now go out, select the right baseball bat for you and hit missiles all over the field!
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