Expert: Jack Elliott - 4/4/2009

Question
My son is in his second year of t-ball and is 3'11" and 52lbs. He currently uses a 25in. 12.5oz. bat. He often complains it stings his hands, is he hitting the ball wrong or does he maybe need a larger bat. What size of bat should he be using?

Answer
Hi Holly,

A 25 inch bat does appear to be a little small for him.  Most of the charts I have seen would suggest a 27" or 28" for the length.  Here is a link to a chart you can find if you scroll down the page:
http://www.qcbaseball.com/Skills/hitting_tools1.aspx

However, you may also be right that he may be hitting the ball in the wrong spot as well.  If he is not hitting in the sweet spot or barrel end and hitting closer to his hands, this may be causing the stinging sensation.  One way to test this would be to tape record him and see where he is hitting the baseballs.  With all this said, it could be that a slightly longer bat resolves this issue as he may feel he needs to get closer to the tee than he really needs to.  I would suggest you have him borrow someone else's bat that is that length and see if that resolves the issue.  If it resolves the issue, you can decide then whether to purchase a new bat or not.  Just recognize that he will likely go through a number of bats over the years so feel free to use some discretion.  

Best,
Jack Elliott
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com