Purchasing a baseball bat

Question
Mike -

My son is 9yrs.old. He weighs about 88 lbs and is about 4'8". Can you please recommend the weight and size of a baseball bat to purchase. We have apparently purchased the wrong one(s).

He has been playing little league for 4 yrs. It seems to be a different recommendation every year! He loves the game, a decent player and I want him to have the proper equipment.

Answer
Unfortunately, the charts you sometimes find for youth bat selection are in my opinion, useless. The most important factor is a bat that the player can handle, and kids of similar size often have vast differences between the size bats they can comfortably handle to due variations in strength, bat speed, experience, hand-eye coordination, etc. I would STRONGLY recommend that your son try out some team bats at his next practice (or maybe rentals at a batting cage) to see what length & weight is best. Watch his swing carefully, and if he's struggling at all getting the bat through the hitting zone, go lighter/shorter. It's far better to err on the side of too small than too large. The most common mistake is having a young player using a bat that is too heavy, which not only sacrifices bat speed, but also causes problems with swing mechanics.

I know this probably isn't the concrete answer you were hoping for, but I really believe this is the best approach.

Mike F.