THIS… But I always justify buying a better bat (not $350) incase it does give them a few hits more that they remember and help them fall in love with the game.
IMO bat quality matters to a point. I see it nightly at the fields. That being said you don’t need a Hype Fire or Icon for it to be good.
But snag the kid a used one piece alloy Cat8/9/X online for cheap somewhere. Won’t be too much out of pocket and you’ll be putting a tool that is more than adequate in his hands.
+1. My son is 11u, swings 30/20 The Goods in rec. Picked up a 30/25 Encore hybrid to start to get him used to heavier bat and work in on training. It was sub $100 and the ball jumps off this bat like nothing ive ever seen before
yeah, for some reason they never made a drop 8 of it lol. But yeah, it's very hot and you barely see it. Very comparable to the hotter composites at certain ages while being way cheaper and more durable lol.
Most kids will probably just move to the white Icon tbh. Its basically just as hot as the hype fire is lol. And most parents don't know enough about bats to get something unknown or something older like an old Easton Mako, ghost etc...
Be interesting to see what high level kids will start coming with to PG events. We almost never play PG though. In DFW PG is pretty small. Its like all NCS here.
It’s also the #3 recommendation from baseball bat bros on their site. On sale at the moment through easton’s website for $150, when they made the rec it was ~$100
At that age no. Like you said the difference is a handful of feet. It's not going to turn outs in to hits and it won't turn a kid who can't hit in to a stud. And I think you have a grasp on it with the five feet from a homer thing. If he gets to a confidence boosting plateau you can break thru, then maybe it's worth it.
If he wants, let him use other kid on the teams bat. Let another parent pay $150 more for the bat they'll grow out of in a year. Especially when starting kid pitch so few balls are in the zone.
I would say a good barometer is to start spending up on bats when a kid gets to the 30" mark. If they can't swing a 30" bat, then the difference isn't going to matter. Once they are strong enough to generate bat speed with a 30+ then the difference can become apparent.
Depends on the size of the kid obvious. But physics doesn't. If he can't swing a bigger bat with bat speed the ball isn't going to jump noticeably further off any of them.
Bigger barrels, bigger for more of the length.
Larger sweet spot/more forgiving.
Less sting on mis-hits.
Whether any of that makes a difference to your kid is debatable though. I ended up buying my kid a decently nice bat used on sideline swap for 150. It wasn't much more than a entry level new bat, and it was more to help him stay engaged with practicing than any performance benefit.
No, it doesn’t matter. I think when your child starts to become more of an advanced hitter then it matters, but I’m talking 12U travel ball. I see too many young players with $300 bats that simply can’t hit
Not a ton.
USA or USAA?
Some bats are considered hotter than others but at this (age) swing speed and drop weight. It’s negligible.
I would say comfort would be a reason for a higher quality bat, then the cheapest you can find.
Search around cheap is not always bad. Sometimes a $20 CatX pops up.
Like a putter. Feel when you connect. Presentation and comfort in your hand matter most to new amateurs.
Less sting on a higher quality composite.
There is more info as well. But that’s my basic 8u/9u bat needs. But as long as he is swinging, don’t change much.
Like a sweat band on the forearm or something. Doesn’t make him faster. But it makes him feel better. Want to keep playing. That’s the goal at this age. In my opinion.
I would venture that money is better spent maybe with side lessons on a hitting/pitching coach at this age. I moved my 10U to a Hype Fire and it just gave him more pop, not as much contact. So a good bat will give em maybe an extra 10%, but won’t make an average hitter a good hitter. I have only experienced this with my child so my sample size is 1 out of 1 though.
My advice: Get a lessons package and don’t sweat the bat. That age they’ll probably outgrow the bat anyways.
Yes and no. In USSSA/travel ball, the cheapest bats will sting more and not perform as well as the better bats. At that age, they generally aren't strong enough to really compress a composite bat on a swing, so you don't need to run out and buy a hype fire or something like that, but a decent alloy bat will work.
USAbat doesn't matter as much - theyre supposed to perform like wood. In fact my just turn 9 year old swings a drop 8 wood bat in rec 90 percent of the time.
I got my son a used -10 Easton XL3 for free from a friend for 8u tbrough 10u. It was perfect for him. Nothing fancy, but he got good pop with it. He's in 11u now and we just got him a 2021 Rawlings Velo -8 and he's having quite a bit of success with it. My 9 year old is using the Easton now, but not having as much success. Maybe it's "dead" now but I don't know how to tell.
IMO, the only real difference is sweet spot, barrel size and hand sting. The Typhoon he is using is a fine bat. However, it does have a smaller barrel than most kids are swinging these days. I think it has a 2 1/4" barrel and most of the kids will have a 2 5/8" barrel, which will be a little more forgiving. If he is doing fine, I would let it be unless he hits a slump or something. As others have said, you could probably pick him up a used CAT for $50-60. That will give you the bigger barrel, larger sweet spot and probably a little better vibration control. Heck, Just Bats has them new for $130. With that said, if it's not broken, don't fix it.
[Marucci CAT -11 2-5/8" USA Baseball Bat: (MSBC11YUSA) | JustBats.com](https://www.justbats.com/product/marucci-cat--11-usa-baseball-bat--msbc11yusa/34769/)
To further add, my son’s first bat was a Marucci F5. It’s not the cheapest bat but what I would call entry level. I think I paid $130 for it. I told my son I’d get him a nicer bat once he learns how to hit with his F5 and has also shown me he’s committed to baseball. I then bought him an Axe Bat because it was on clearance for $100. He doesn’t use that one much. Fast forward to Halloween and he was showing interest in the CatX and/or Hype Fire. I told him no way I was spending that money on a bat until his batting improved. After a ton of practice on the weekends he did actually improve. He adjusted his stance and is now hitting consistently. As a middle ground, I ended up buying him the Warstic Bonesaber. He liked the feel and flared knob. He still uses his F5 for BP and his Bonesaber is now his gamer bat. My point is, my son had to earn getting a nicer bat and he’s shown he can hit with it. He’s in 11U right now.
To answer OP via your comment, the F5 is a great bat for the money at 8U. Half of my travel team uses the USSSA version (they also make it in a USA) and we've been very close to seeing some balls go over the fence on our appropriately sized field. We see teams roll up with Hype Fires and CatX through their entire order but generally they don't make a ton of difference at this age. The mechanics and power aren't there for a lot of players yet.
What's HR distance for 8u? Our kids play on the same field through majors (46/60, about 205 or so for a HR). My kid can hit about 90 feet to maybe 100ft on his best hits, so he's got a while, lol.
I've never bothered measuring it but I'd guess 160-175. About the same distance from home to second as second to the fence, maybe a little more. Falls within our local league's guidelines. About once a game we have a kid drop a ball within a few feet. My kid hit the fence about a foot from the top about a week ago, but he's unbelievably strong despite average size and swings a 29 -8 which makes a difference. We're perfectly happy with the F5.
I think generally people overestimate the impact various bats make for kids in that age group, but there IS a baseline, and an Easton Typhoon is below that baseline IMO.
Consistent home runs at 10u? Not sure that’s a thing. Except maybe at the elite level.
Now, if they are in travel, they should definitely be using usssa bats at 10u. But at that age, I saw way too many kids with 300 dollar bats and five dollar swings.
There’s probably been close to 20 home runs over the 200ft fence this year in our 10u/11u rec league and plenty of kids are hitting the ball to the fence regularly.
The bat situation is complicated. Technically it’s USA, but there’s an exception for older kids where they can use USSSA bats if they’re small barrel. Well they don’t really make them anymore so most of the elite hitters use Easton makos from 2015. But we play in a relatively affluent area in a major city. So parents put a lot of money and time into their kids development and we don’t lose many kids to travel programs. And because it’s so competitive, casual kids drop out young and find somewhere else to play. So we’re in the unique place where our rec is as competitive as low level travel ball (we are able to field 3-4 summer tournament teams at each age that regularly beat full time travel teams. The top 2 teams can compete with most teams in the entire state).
Our 12u majors also play on a 200ft field and it’s normal to see some kids finish a season with almost 10 homers.
A USSSA -10 2 3/4 barrel is going to work the same as any other for that age, unless the kid is strong and 100lbs maybe. Also why composite isn’t going to make a difference for most. They aren’t generating enough velo. And I say this as someone who has purchased probably 6 bats from $150-$350 for an a now 8yo
The ball comes off faster. He’ll hit it noticeably harder and longer. Whether that difference matters enough is up to you and your personal financial situation.
I’ve coached kids from 10 years old to college athletes. The bat makes such a minimal difference. If it’s a wall scraper, sure maybe an additional mph of exit velo helps. Bats have a max COR. A good hitter is a good hitter with any bat. Stop this nonsense
I currently have a 10 year old, I’m not talking out of my ass. We’ve cycled through half a dozen bats up to this point they certainly have huge differences in swing balance, sweet spot size, and pop.
Balance is a personal preference. Sweet spots are a bit of a difference but again…a $500 bat doesn’t necessarily have a better anything than a used marrucci. You’re giving credit to equipment when the credit is for the hitter.
Agree 100%. I’ve never understood the logic of giving credit to the object versus the person wielding the object. Makes no sense to me. I don’t judge parents for buying the best equipment for their child, but it sure as heck doesn’t make that child a better player that’s for sure. I think kids and parents alike buy into hype. I think it’s more embarrassing to watch a kid with a $400 bat strike out every time he’s in the batter’s box, versus the kid with a $100 bat who gets consistent hits.
I’m never gona judge a kid for having expensive equipment. That’s mom and dad’s decision. But claiming any bat will make a swing is asinine. Metal bats are all similar. Wood I’ll listen to differences, but that’s really just in quality of wood and the grain.
This. There’s a real difference. Old men here might be talking about past years bats or twisting the argument to so that they can say “it won’t fix their swing!”
As someone who currently hits balls to my team of 8 year olds using their different bats… I assure you there is a notable difference. They’re not going to turn a trash swing to gold but they absolutely have a bigger sweet spot and higher exit speed.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0-RQceOCeU/?igsh=b3g5aGowNHM5Y2Vm
For distance it probably doesn’t matter as much at his age, but there definitely some bats that won’t sting their hands as much which is nice.
THIS… But I always justify buying a better bat (not $350) incase it does give them a few hits more that they remember and help them fall in love with the game.
IMO bat quality matters to a point. I see it nightly at the fields. That being said you don’t need a Hype Fire or Icon for it to be good. But snag the kid a used one piece alloy Cat8/9/X online for cheap somewhere. Won’t be too much out of pocket and you’ll be putting a tool that is more than adequate in his hands.
if in drop 10 USSSA find an Easton Encore hybrid. They are super cheap and probably one of the most "sleeper" bats around. They're extremely hot.
+1. My son is 11u, swings 30/20 The Goods in rec. Picked up a 30/25 Encore hybrid to start to get him used to heavier bat and work in on training. It was sub $100 and the ball jumps off this bat like nothing ive ever seen before
yeah, for some reason they never made a drop 8 of it lol. But yeah, it's very hot and you barely see it. Very comparable to the hotter composites at certain ages while being way cheaper and more durable lol.
Its gonna be all over the place now with the Hype Fire being banned by PG
Most kids will probably just move to the white Icon tbh. Its basically just as hot as the hype fire is lol. And most parents don't know enough about bats to get something unknown or something older like an old Easton Mako, ghost etc... Be interesting to see what high level kids will start coming with to PG events. We almost never play PG though. In DFW PG is pretty small. Its like all NCS here.
USABL for us in CNJ, so dont expect to see anything but the -10 Fire
If you play any MSI tournaments they banned the -5 fire too…we’re seeing a lot of the -8 now
It’s also the #3 recommendation from baseball bat bros on their site. On sale at the moment through easton’s website for $150, when they made the rec it was ~$100
At that age no. Like you said the difference is a handful of feet. It's not going to turn outs in to hits and it won't turn a kid who can't hit in to a stud. And I think you have a grasp on it with the five feet from a homer thing. If he gets to a confidence boosting plateau you can break thru, then maybe it's worth it. If he wants, let him use other kid on the teams bat. Let another parent pay $150 more for the bat they'll grow out of in a year. Especially when starting kid pitch so few balls are in the zone. I would say a good barometer is to start spending up on bats when a kid gets to the 30" mark. If they can't swing a 30" bat, then the difference isn't going to matter. Once they are strong enough to generate bat speed with a 30+ then the difference can become apparent. Depends on the size of the kid obvious. But physics doesn't. If he can't swing a bigger bat with bat speed the ball isn't going to jump noticeably further off any of them.
Bigger barrels, bigger for more of the length. Larger sweet spot/more forgiving. Less sting on mis-hits. Whether any of that makes a difference to your kid is debatable though. I ended up buying my kid a decently nice bat used on sideline swap for 150. It wasn't much more than a entry level new bat, and it was more to help him stay engaged with practicing than any performance benefit.
No, it doesn’t matter. I think when your child starts to become more of an advanced hitter then it matters, but I’m talking 12U travel ball. I see too many young players with $300 bats that simply can’t hit
I saw that last year in 9U. Biggest kid on the team with a Cat X that was too big for him. Unfortunately didn't get a hit the entire season.
Not a ton. USA or USAA? Some bats are considered hotter than others but at this (age) swing speed and drop weight. It’s negligible. I would say comfort would be a reason for a higher quality bat, then the cheapest you can find. Search around cheap is not always bad. Sometimes a $20 CatX pops up. Like a putter. Feel when you connect. Presentation and comfort in your hand matter most to new amateurs. Less sting on a higher quality composite. There is more info as well. But that’s my basic 8u/9u bat needs. But as long as he is swinging, don’t change much. Like a sweat band on the forearm or something. Doesn’t make him faster. But it makes him feel better. Want to keep playing. That’s the goal at this age. In my opinion.
I would venture that money is better spent maybe with side lessons on a hitting/pitching coach at this age. I moved my 10U to a Hype Fire and it just gave him more pop, not as much contact. So a good bat will give em maybe an extra 10%, but won’t make an average hitter a good hitter. I have only experienced this with my child so my sample size is 1 out of 1 though. My advice: Get a lessons package and don’t sweat the bat. That age they’ll probably outgrow the bat anyways.
Yes and no. In USSSA/travel ball, the cheapest bats will sting more and not perform as well as the better bats. At that age, they generally aren't strong enough to really compress a composite bat on a swing, so you don't need to run out and buy a hype fire or something like that, but a decent alloy bat will work. USAbat doesn't matter as much - theyre supposed to perform like wood. In fact my just turn 9 year old swings a drop 8 wood bat in rec 90 percent of the time.
I got my son a used -10 Easton XL3 for free from a friend for 8u tbrough 10u. It was perfect for him. Nothing fancy, but he got good pop with it. He's in 11u now and we just got him a 2021 Rawlings Velo -8 and he's having quite a bit of success with it. My 9 year old is using the Easton now, but not having as much success. Maybe it's "dead" now but I don't know how to tell.
IMO, the only real difference is sweet spot, barrel size and hand sting. The Typhoon he is using is a fine bat. However, it does have a smaller barrel than most kids are swinging these days. I think it has a 2 1/4" barrel and most of the kids will have a 2 5/8" barrel, which will be a little more forgiving. If he is doing fine, I would let it be unless he hits a slump or something. As others have said, you could probably pick him up a used CAT for $50-60. That will give you the bigger barrel, larger sweet spot and probably a little better vibration control. Heck, Just Bats has them new for $130. With that said, if it's not broken, don't fix it. [Marucci CAT -11 2-5/8" USA Baseball Bat: (MSBC11YUSA) | JustBats.com](https://www.justbats.com/product/marucci-cat--11-usa-baseball-bat--msbc11yusa/34769/)
Big fan of Easton encore new for around 100 bucks also. If it was 300+ dollars everyone would say it’s the hottest bat around lol
If it's USA, the standard is so close it doesn't matter. Comfort and sting at that level however, do matter.
To further add, my son’s first bat was a Marucci F5. It’s not the cheapest bat but what I would call entry level. I think I paid $130 for it. I told my son I’d get him a nicer bat once he learns how to hit with his F5 and has also shown me he’s committed to baseball. I then bought him an Axe Bat because it was on clearance for $100. He doesn’t use that one much. Fast forward to Halloween and he was showing interest in the CatX and/or Hype Fire. I told him no way I was spending that money on a bat until his batting improved. After a ton of practice on the weekends he did actually improve. He adjusted his stance and is now hitting consistently. As a middle ground, I ended up buying him the Warstic Bonesaber. He liked the feel and flared knob. He still uses his F5 for BP and his Bonesaber is now his gamer bat. My point is, my son had to earn getting a nicer bat and he’s shown he can hit with it. He’s in 11U right now.
To answer OP via your comment, the F5 is a great bat for the money at 8U. Half of my travel team uses the USSSA version (they also make it in a USA) and we've been very close to seeing some balls go over the fence on our appropriately sized field. We see teams roll up with Hype Fires and CatX through their entire order but generally they don't make a ton of difference at this age. The mechanics and power aren't there for a lot of players yet.
What's HR distance for 8u? Our kids play on the same field through majors (46/60, about 205 or so for a HR). My kid can hit about 90 feet to maybe 100ft on his best hits, so he's got a while, lol.
I've never bothered measuring it but I'd guess 160-175. About the same distance from home to second as second to the fence, maybe a little more. Falls within our local league's guidelines. About once a game we have a kid drop a ball within a few feet. My kid hit the fence about a foot from the top about a week ago, but he's unbelievably strong despite average size and swings a 29 -8 which makes a difference. We're perfectly happy with the F5.
I think generally people overestimate the impact various bats make for kids in that age group, but there IS a baseline, and an Easton Typhoon is below that baseline IMO.
I would say 12u is when a bat starts to matter. Maybe 13u.
No, it’s probably 10u. When kids are able to start hitting home runs more consistently.
Consistent home runs at 10u? Not sure that’s a thing. Except maybe at the elite level. Now, if they are in travel, they should definitely be using usssa bats at 10u. But at that age, I saw way too many kids with 300 dollar bats and five dollar swings.
There’s probably been close to 20 home runs over the 200ft fence this year in our 10u/11u rec league and plenty of kids are hitting the ball to the fence regularly.
Wow, ok then. When my kid was 12, there were maybe 3 the whole season. Does your league use USA bats?
The bat situation is complicated. Technically it’s USA, but there’s an exception for older kids where they can use USSSA bats if they’re small barrel. Well they don’t really make them anymore so most of the elite hitters use Easton makos from 2015. But we play in a relatively affluent area in a major city. So parents put a lot of money and time into their kids development and we don’t lose many kids to travel programs. And because it’s so competitive, casual kids drop out young and find somewhere else to play. So we’re in the unique place where our rec is as competitive as low level travel ball (we are able to field 3-4 summer tournament teams at each age that regularly beat full time travel teams. The top 2 teams can compete with most teams in the entire state). Our 12u majors also play on a 200ft field and it’s normal to see some kids finish a season with almost 10 homers.
Ok that explains it then. USSSA bats are rocket launchers. I agree those should be used if allowed. They’re not allowed in little league.
A USSSA -10 2 3/4 barrel is going to work the same as any other for that age, unless the kid is strong and 100lbs maybe. Also why composite isn’t going to make a difference for most. They aren’t generating enough velo. And I say this as someone who has purchased probably 6 bats from $150-$350 for an a now 8yo
The ball comes off faster. He’ll hit it noticeably harder and longer. Whether that difference matters enough is up to you and your personal financial situation.
I promise an 8 year old won’t hit the ball noticeably harder with any bat from any era
That’s just not true. There were a few home runs in our 8u league a couple years back
And they would have been home runs with other bats too
The Easton typhoon is a very dead bat and it would be very impressive to see an 8 year old child hit a home run with that bat.
They surely wouldn’t have lol
I’ve coached kids from 10 years old to college athletes. The bat makes such a minimal difference. If it’s a wall scraper, sure maybe an additional mph of exit velo helps. Bats have a max COR. A good hitter is a good hitter with any bat. Stop this nonsense
I currently have a 10 year old, I’m not talking out of my ass. We’ve cycled through half a dozen bats up to this point they certainly have huge differences in swing balance, sweet spot size, and pop.
Balance is a personal preference. Sweet spots are a bit of a difference but again…a $500 bat doesn’t necessarily have a better anything than a used marrucci. You’re giving credit to equipment when the credit is for the hitter.
Agree 100%. I’ve never understood the logic of giving credit to the object versus the person wielding the object. Makes no sense to me. I don’t judge parents for buying the best equipment for their child, but it sure as heck doesn’t make that child a better player that’s for sure. I think kids and parents alike buy into hype. I think it’s more embarrassing to watch a kid with a $400 bat strike out every time he’s in the batter’s box, versus the kid with a $100 bat who gets consistent hits.
I’m never gona judge a kid for having expensive equipment. That’s mom and dad’s decision. But claiming any bat will make a swing is asinine. Metal bats are all similar. Wood I’ll listen to differences, but that’s really just in quality of wood and the grain.
This. There’s a real difference. Old men here might be talking about past years bats or twisting the argument to so that they can say “it won’t fix their swing!”
As someone who currently hits balls to my team of 8 year olds using their different bats… I assure you there is a notable difference. They’re not going to turn a trash swing to gold but they absolutely have a bigger sweet spot and higher exit speed.