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Framingham Baseball

Bat Selection Info for Parents

NEW USA BASEBALL BAT STANDARD STARTING WITH 2018 SEASON

Effective January 1, 2018, Framingham Baseball will adopt the new "USABat" baseball bat standard that will be implemented by all major youth and amateur baseball organizations.

All bats currently accepted by Framingham Baseball will remain permissible during the 2017 season up until December 31, 2017.  Newly manufactured bats with the "USABat" label are expected to be available for purchase in the fall of 2017.

The link below to USA Baseball's web site will provide additional detail on the upcoming changes.  

http://web.usabaseball.com/article.jsp?ymd=20150807&content_id=141742668&vkey=news_usab   

Please keep this in mind if you are planning to purchase a new bat soon that you are hoping to use for a few seasons. 



Bat Selection Information for Parents

One of the common questions parents have is “What size bat should I get for my player?”  The answer will depend on his age, weight and height. We have included a link below to a sizing chart and other info for guidance from the Louisville Slugger website. In general, the bat should reach the players hip or lower and the player should be able to hold the bat out in front of him, parallel to the  ground for 5 to 10 seconds.

http://www.slugger.com/en-us/how-to-choose-a-bat
 
What does - ## printed on the bat mean?
The "drop" of a bat is the weight of the bat minus the length.

Example: Bat length is 28 inches, weight is 16 ounces; 16 – 28 = -12.  

As players get older and bigger, the drop should start to get smaller as the bats become bigger. Younger players can use bigger drops.  

For example, high school players must use a bat drop of -3 (age 14 - 15), so it makes sense to have a player age 11 or 12 use a bat drop of between -10 and -13.  The chart below shows recommended targets:
 
Age      League           Length             Weight             Maximum Drop (weight minus length)
5-6        Rookie            24" to 26"          14-16 oz            -12 or -13
6-7        Rookie/A         26" to 27"          14-17 oz            -12 or -14
7-8        A                     27" to 29"          14-17 oz            -12 or -13
9-11      Major              28" to 30"          15-19 oz            -10 or -12
10-12    Major/Inter      29" to 31"          17-30 oz            -10 or -12
13-18     Ted Williams and Babe Ruth - see below:

For Ted Williams and Babe Ruth, all bats must display a BBCOR approved label stamped on it (this label must be legible). Only minus 3 (-3) bats are allowed. Non-composite wood bats are allowed. The league will make any accommodations necessary for players who may have difficulty swinging a (-3) bat. We will review requests to use a lighter bat on a case by case basis.                         

What does BPF mean?
BPF is Bat Performance Factor in relation to a wooden bat.
 
Listed below are comments from the Little League website:
 
• More than 10 years ago, the major manufacturers of non-wood bats reached an
agreement with Little League to limit their bats to a “Bat Performance Factor” (BPF) of 1.15. … The BPF is essentially a measure of a non-wood bat’s performance (how fast the ball exits the bat when hit) in relation to a standard wood bat’s rating of 1.00. A very good wood bat’s BPF is 1.15.
 
• That means today’s best non-wood bats (usually made of aluminum) used in Little League perform statistically the same, in terms of how fast the ball exits the bat, as the best wood bats.
 
• For the last 10 years, bat manufacturers have only been producing non-wood bats for play in Little League Baseball that do not exceed the 1.15 BPF. Most of these bats are already printed with the BPF of 1.15, but beginning in 2009, all bats used in Little League Baseball must be imprinted with the BPF of 1.15.

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Framingham Baseball, Inc.

PO Box 1053 
Framingham, Massachusetts 01701

Email Us: [email protected]
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