Guidelines to Buying the Perfect Wood Bat
Determining the Bat Length
One of the better ways to selecting the right bat length is by cross-referencing your weight and height to arrive at the bat length.
| Your height (inches) | ||||||||||
| Your weight (pounds) | 36-40 | 41-44 | 45-48 | 49-52 | 53-56 | 57-60 | 61-64 | 65-68 | 69-72 | 73+ |
| Bat length | ||||||||||
| less than 60 | 26" | 27" | 28" | 29" | 29" | |||||
| 61-70 | 27" | 27" | 28" | 29" | 30" | 30" | ||||
| 71-80 | 28" | 28" | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | ||||
| 81-90 | 28" | 29" | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | 32" | |||
| 91-100 | 28" | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | 31" | 32" | |||
| 101-110 | 29" | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | 31" | 32" | |||
| 111-120 | 29" | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | 31" | 32" | |||
| 121-130 | 29" | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | 32" | 33" | 33" | ||
| 131-140 | 29" | 30" | 30" | 31" | 31" | 32" | 33" | 33" | ||
| 141-150 | 30" | 30" | 31" | 31" | 32" | 33" | 33" | |||
| 151-160 | 30" | 31" | 31" | 32" | 32" | 33" | 33" | 33" | ||
| 161-170 | 31" | 31" | 32" | 32" | 33" | 33" | 34" | |||
| 171-180 | 32" | 33" | 33" | 34" | 34" | |||||
| 180+ | 33" | 33" | 34" | 34" | ||||||
Determining the Bat Weight
1.Most baseball bats are also weighted in ounces.
2.Bats have a weight-to-length ratio, usually shown as -3, -4, -6, etc.
3.For example, a bat is 34 inches long with a -6 ratio.
4.It's weight-to-length ratio is therefore 28 ounces.
5.Selecting the proper weight depends on two factors - your strength and hitting style.
6.Choose the heaviest bat you can swing while sacrificing little speed.