Expert: John Priest - 4/13/2008

Question
Hi.  This question is a bit after the fact but here goes.  My son is 17.  He's 6'3" and approximately 180#.  We just bought him a new bat, 32/29.  This was after researching on line and finding a chart that suggested a 32 - 33" bat for his height.  This site recommended lighter is better. Now I'm seeing other charts that suggest 33 - 34" for his size.  He's already practiced a bit with the bat so there's no exchanging it.  The bat was quite expensive also.  His previous bat was a 32 and he did good with that.  I'm second guessing myself now and wondering if he could do great with a longer bat.  What are your thoughts, is there a big difference in that one inch at his age, height and weight?

Answer
Margaret,
Judging by his height the 32 inch bat is too short.  When picking a bat you have a couple of things to look at.
    1.  Height
    2.  Strength
    3.  Power
    5.  Bat speed
It is the hitters comfort which will choose the length of a bat.  A lighter bat may produce more bat speed but a heavier bat will produce more force on the baseball.  As long as your son has good fundamentals of hitting and is disciplined at the plate he will do fine with any size bat.  My recommendation is that your son looks into a 33 to 34 inch bat with the next purchase.  

Thank You,
John Priest
Nokona Batman
www.nokona.com