Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Does a $300 BB bat really make a difference?

They make a difference for sure,they don't jar your hands nearly as bad as a cheap bat either,most people that buy these $300 bats can use them for a season or two can sell them for around half price when it's time to upgrade,people kill me worrying about what other folks spend their money on,you don't need a $300 bat,you don't need a yeti because an igloo is better,you shouldn't drive a new truck and so on,these folks work for their $$$ so it's nobodies damn business what they spend it on

Why, you think a high dollar bat would make a difference on kill ratio?

Is there some new "Unspoken Rule" to not use another kids bat these days? In little league we probably had 15 bats laid up against the fence, just pick whichever one up you want and go.

Does a $5k deer lease improve your chances of seeing deer?

As I explained to my wife when she questioned the cost of the bats. "its the difference between a ground out and a base hit" Bats make a difference! Yes, when I played ball everybody used park equipment and we played just fine. The game and players have changed. Players are faster, stronger and better than we were. Add top equipment and its a different game.

You have a serious problem with youth ball.I've seen you post multiple times whining about this exact same thing and i dont understand it at all.If you dont wanna be involved with youth sports or get tired of seeing posts on your Facebook page about lil Jimmys homerun thats your business..delete your "friends" that you get so sick and tired of who keep posting that chit on your Facebook and move along.If us being a part of what you call an "obsessive cult" that has zero effect on you bothers you that bad then you need to take up more hobbys that keep you from worrying about what other people do.

Aside from the social pressure, which is part of everything that goes on in youth sports and other activities, ford150's example above is a big problem, IMO.

Society today wants a magic potion to make everything easier. We've been geared toward that all our lives. Our parents and grandparents worked their asses off, far as we know, and today's lifestyle for us and our generation of kids is easier, in general, as part of a largely disposable society. We want things faster, easier, cheaper and look for that "Oh, here, this will work" gizmo, tool, app or whatever to make it better.

Our son was a pretty good fielder in rec baseball but never really got it together at the plate. He just didn't. We had nice bats but not $300 Dimarinis or whatever they are. He tried some of his friends' expensive bats in the cage and ... they didn't work. They weren't a magic wand.

Lee Trevino learned to play golf hitting rocks on a terrible course with old, crappy clubs. Dimaggio learned to hit bottle caps and crappy balls in NY streets and alleys. Heck, Venus and Serena Williams grew up in Compton and probably didn't have $500 racquets when they were learning to play.

Honing skills and techniques is the basis for good athleticism. Once you develop and start advancing then, maybe, a $350 bat might help. But if you can't put the ball into play consistently with a $100 bat then shelling out another few hundred won't make a difference.

Scouts don't care what bat you use!!!!!!! If it was that big of a difference all colleges would use the same bat!

Theres ALOT of good composite bats out there and every college does use them.

Peach, not trying to be a dick, but your kid is wrong. The MLB HR record would be way over 100 today with aluminum bats & there would be 3-4 guys a year hitting over 400.

A $300 bat will hit a baseball on average ~5-10% further/harder than a $20 Walmart bat.

4-5 Years ago Alabama baseball was in an exclusive rights deal with Nike. Nike released the restriction on Alabama from using other bat manufacturers because the Nike bat was proven it would not perform... So if a major manufacturer like Nike is willing to release someone from contract restriction because their equipment is inferior how can you say the bats don't matter? From what I have seen most college teams these days are using Eastons & Demarinis. So all colleges are basically using the same bats.

Truth.

Professional softball uses composite bats also and yes there are many brands to choose from and in the hands of a player that has "honed" their skills they are worth every dime. If a kid is not that talented{some are not}but plays to have fun with friends{which is great}there is no need in a "$300" bat just let em play ball.

Once in high school all bats must adhere to bbcor standards. That means a maximum exit speed ceiling of about 87 mph. A 20$ bbcor bat will perform as well as a 500$ bbcor bat. That's a little secret the bat makers don't want anyone to know. If ur kids in high school let him pick the bat based on feel,
weight and length.....after about age 14 there no such thing as a hot bat anymore .

Yes, they add little distance. 15-20 feet in some cases.

We use an alloy worth lithium prodigy that is more of an end loaded design that seems better for bigger, stronger kids.

Lots of folks use composites.

I happen to know of a guy that can roll them if y'all need one done!

Here's a good comparison: I get asked about fishing rods and reels by weekend and casual anglers. What's good, what do they need, they read in WhopperMaster Tour magazine that this $400-plus combo was the lightest, bestest, most sensitive rod and reel to detect a bass breathing on the worm and set the hook.

My response usually is to ask how often they fish. If it's a few times to PawPaw's farm pond then they could get by with an inexpensive combo. If they fish pretty regularly but not in tournaments and are solid with skills-knowledge, then jack it up to a little better combo maybe in the $200 or so range ... Duckett rod, Quantum rod, Lew's reel, Revo reel, whatever.

The difference is the guy who fishes religiously, in tournaments, is a guide or has aspirations to guide or tourney fish. The lower-priced rods will get you going but at some point, you'll probably want the lighter graphite and faster-smoother reel. And they all cost more because they're better. They are. A top-end G.Loomis rod is comparable to the Demarini bat and a guy who is really advanced in his skills knows the difference in that rod (or bat) and something that costs less and has more inferior components.

Same with golf clubs. You can learn to hit a golf ball with 30-year-old clubs. But if you're good -- really good -- then at some point you'll want to be measured, fitted and get the clubs for your swing speed and skills, both of which change with your age and ability.

Does a 12- or 13-year-old need a $350 bat? Probably not. Is he really, truly athletically gifted and looks like he may have a shot at a travel team or high school team (or beyond)? If so, then investing in better gear may pay off.

Is this for baseball? I know in softball all the way up to pro softball use the "hot" composite bats.

My next door neighbor is a scout for the Cleveland Indians and he claims he is far more impressed by a kid that hits the ball with a wood bat than a kid that can smash a ball with a high end $400 bat. If they make it to the pros the kid that is comfortable with a wood bat will be better off than a kid hitting composite bats his whole life.

Ha!...saying I have a serious problem with it is a massive understatement. It is the most comprehensive, all-encompassing, grossly consuming, widespread idolatry that has ever existed on the planet. Now...that better explains how I feel about it.

Next time our preacher uses some trite, harmless example of the idols in our lives during one of his sermons, I'm going to interrupt and ask for a show of hands from everyone in the room who spent more than one day this week talking about it, practicing it, buying stuff for it, going to one of the 9 different academies that have recently sprung up in our city, planned a vacation around a tournament, didn't come to church for 20 Sundays in a row last year during travel ball season, etc. You know, if we're gonna talk about inexplicably obessessive idolatry, let's just cut the crap and use an example that 400 of the 500 people in this room can relate to. Even the preacher, sir!

It's truly not a personal vendetta, but it affects me personally in that my job requires me to interact with clientele face-to-face, and literally for 9 months of the year it's just about wholly impossible to nail down any family for 30 minutes any day of the week because they're always at the ball fields. And I teach a Sunday school class of about 50 adults (ages 30-50), and I'm not fudging to say that on any Sunday during the warm months we may have 5 to 10 couples gone to tournaments. I sit before class and listen to multiple conversations about the double, triple, even quadruple headers their kids played in yesterday. What really catches my attention though is how the parents just gleam with excitement about it. I'm sorry, it's just like nothing I've ever seen. Heck, when we were kids, our parents probably didn't even come to half our games, and they were darn sure never at a practice (which we only had maybe two per week?). And my dad would've throat punched me if he thought I even had a dream about a $300 composite baseball bat???!!!...yet today we have dad's bragging and competing about who'd kid has the nicest, most expensive bat(s). Can we please stop acting like this modern day youth ball thing is normal???

I have a hard time believing this. I have played adult league softball for 10 years. Our league is ASA and all bats must adhere to the ASA certification. But I can assure you there is a big difference in a $50 Wal-Mart or Academy bat vs. a $250 Easton, Demarini, Miken, Worth. I understand there is a ceiling of performance for the bats to comply but there can still be a performance difference between a $50 and $300 bat.