PhatMack19 said:

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PG just banned all -5's for 12u. Now we have $700 worth the bats we can't use….

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I'm in the market

PhatMack19 said:

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PG just banned all -5's for 12u. Now we have $700 worth the bats we can't use….

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I'm struggling with the rationale behind this.

Is a 12U kid swinging a -8 more or less likely to be dangerous than a kid swinging a -5? Wouldn't the -8 generate more bat speed and exit velo thus more dangerous?

I'd really have to see the math behind this to understand their position here.

PhatMack19 said:

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PG just banned all -5's for 12u. Now we have $700 worth the bats we can't use….

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My assumption is that it's just as dangerous. I bet kids of this size won't be able to generate that much more bat speed to counteract the loss in bat mass. Additionally, I don't understand why its only at 12U. Are 13 and 14 years not to be protected? It can't be the extra mound distance, I'd argue the batters have a bigger advantage bc the pitching velocity isn't blowing anybody away.

I don't think the answer is ban -5 bats entirely, ban composite bats or require USA bats. Lighter USA bats at 12/13 prior to requiring BBCOR at 14 could be a good compromise.

14U for sure needs to have every class swinging BBCOR not just 14Maj. At 13U they're either at 54' or 60'6" so I'd expect the distance to help safety with more time to react.

I do know my oldest started 12U swinging a -8 but moved to a -5 that season.

TarponChaser said:

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PhatMack19 said:

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PG just banned all -5's for 12u. Now we have $700 worth the bats we can't use….

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I'm struggling with the rationale behind this.

Is a 12U kid swinging a -8 more or less likely to be dangerous than a kid swinging a -5? Wouldn't the -8 generate more bat speed and exit velo thus more dangerous?

I'd really have to see the math behind this to understand their position here.

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I would also say that most of 12u hasn't gone through puberty while majority of 13 has. Does adding 4' on the mound with hotter bats and bigger kids, make a that much of a difference?

My kid isn't big(4'10 95lbs) but is strong with a good swing. We moved up to drop 5 last year in 11u when he kept breaking -8's. He handled the -5 fine all season even being one of the smaller kids swinging it.

So for 12u we have to go backwards to -8. I guess I'll have to buy an alloy bat if I don't want to have to buy a new bat every month or 2.

PhatMack19 said:

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TarponChaser said:

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PhatMack19 said:

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PG just banned all -5's for 12u. Now we have $700 worth the bats we can't use….

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I'm struggling with the rationale behind this.

Is a 12U kid swinging a -8 more or less likely to be dangerous than a kid swinging a -5? Wouldn't the -8 generate more bat speed and exit velo thus more dangerous?

I'd really have to see the math behind this to understand their position here.

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I would also say that most of 12u hasn't gone through puberty while majority of 13 has. Does adding 4' on the mound with hotter bats and bigger kids, make a that much of a difference?

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No clue.

It all seems counterintuitive to me. Like I said, I'd need to see a breakdown of the math/physics here.

But, I do disagree about the majority of 13U kids having gone through puberty. I'll agree that most have started but the vast number are nowhere close to being "through" puberty but maybe I'm splitting hairs. Most 12U kids going to 13U are not the Premier Banditos DeLeon.

Is using a -1 to -3 wood bat legal?

TAM85 said:

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Is using a -1 to -3 wood bat legal?

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I'm sure it is but then Mommy & Daddy don't get to see little Timmy hit cheap nukes with a hot bat.

So now they have reinstated the Hype Fire -5 for all ages, but 12U can't use any -5 bat. Defies logic in my mind. Can't wait for all the kids to break back out there Hype this year in 14U instead of swinging BBCOR. Probably worse for 13U, felt like there was a noticeable difference after the ban. I don't have a 12 year old but guessing there will be a lot of -8 alloys in use. I bet the bat speed that can be generated will probably make up the weight difference and pop of a composite.

aggielax48 said:

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So now they have reinstated the Hype Fire -5 for all ages, but 12U can't use any -5 bat. Defies logic in my mind. Can't wait for all the kids to break back out there Hype this year in 14U instead of swinging BBCOR. Probably worse for 13U, felt like there was a noticeable difference after the ban. I don't have a 12 year old but guessing there will be a lot of -8 alloys in use. I bet the bat speed that can be generated will probably make up the weight difference and pop of a composite.

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Exactly my thoughts.

I'd love to see the math/physics supporting their rationale because I'd figure the excess bat speed would make up for the weight difference.

But yeah, there's going to be lots of 13U and 14U AA/AAA kids who will be using the Hype Fire -5 again. Right now it doesn't matter because my oldest just finished 14U major swinging the BBCOR and is now in HS while my youngest is starting 11U and isn't big or strong enough yet to move past the -10 since he's won't be 10 for 3 more weeks and is tall but kind of scrawny at about 5'0" but only 80#.

I saw the announcement today too and am confused....

So 12U can't use a -5, so they will all be swinging -8's, right.

And at 13u, they can swing the -5 Hype Fire. So bigger/stronger kids can use the bat that was banned because of its pop but not 12U? Doesn't make sense - am I missing something.

We are moving up to 14u and BBCOR after not being able to use the Fire much this past season.

AgBanker said:

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I saw the announcement today too and am confused....

So 12U can't use a -5, so they will all be swinging -8's, right.

And at 13u, they can swing the -5 Hype Fire. So bigger/stronger kids can use the bat that was banned because of its pop but not 12U? Doesn't make sense - am I missing something.

We are moving up to 14u and BBCOR after not being able to use the Fire much this past season.

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But 13U moves back to 54/80 and 300' fields while 12U is 50/70 and 200'ish. And lots of 13U major plays 60/90.

At least that's what seems to be the rationale from PG.

I wasn't thinking the size of the fields, in particular the distance from the hitter to the pitcher.
Thanks for the thoughts.

Interesting move by PG...

I think the 4 feet at 13U is pretty negligible. If my math is right, it only provides 5 hundredths of a second more reaction time at 60 mph. Not much and I think the concerning exit velos are quite a bit faster than that.

AgBanker said:

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I saw the announcement today too and am confused....

So 12U can't use a -5, so they will all be swinging -8's, right.

And at 13u, they can swing the -5 Hype Fire. So bigger/stronger kids can use the bat that was banned because of its pop but not 12U? Doesn't make sense - am I missing something.

We are moving up to 14u and BBCOR after not being able to use the Fire much this past season.

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Not only that, they mandate -5 at 13u major/open. So a -5 is too unsafe to use at 50 feet for 12u, but you must use a -5 at 54 feet in 13u. Not a whole lot of logic going on in these decisions.

aggielax48 said:

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I think the 4 feet at 13U is pretty negligible. If my math is right, it only provides 5 hundredths of a second more reaction time at 60 mph. Not much and I think the concerning exit velos are quite a bit faster than that.

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Yeah, I don't disagree at all. Like I said above, I want to see the data supporting this decision.

I'm highly skeptical that a 6'1" 200# 13-year old playing 12U (which is not uncommon) swinging a 32" -5 is going to generate a measurably different exit velo if they switch to a 32" -8.

Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

Or maybe PG can require USA bats below 14U (stick with the BBCOR requirement for 14U) instead of USSSA bats.

Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

Bassmaster said:

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AgBanker said:

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I saw the announcement today too and am confused....

So 12U can't use a -5, so they will all be swinging -8's, right.

And at 13u, they can swing the -5 Hype Fire. So bigger/stronger kids can use the bat that was banned because of its pop but not 12U? Doesn't make sense - am I missing something.

We are moving up to 14u and BBCOR after not being able to use the Fire much this past season.

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Not only that, they mandate -5 at 13u major/open. So a -5 is too unsafe to use at 50 feet for 12u, but you must use a -5 at 54 feet in 13u. Not a whole lot of logic going on in these decisions.

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This is exactly my point. Crazy!

agsalaska said:

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lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

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I think if they're major level players they're probably ready for that move. The top 13U major teams generally play 60/90 anyway or play up to 14AA or AAA.

Can anyone educate me on youth baseball (9u) in the Dripping Springs/ Wimberely / Budda area of Texas. We're in the process of moving there and I want to try to get ahead of the game a bit as it relates to knowing the lay of the land.

TarponChaser said:

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agsalaska said:

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lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

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I think if they're major level players they're probably ready for that move. The top 13U major teams generally play 60/90 anyway or play up to 14AA or AAA.

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Na. Not enough of them. Maybe the top of the top but there are plenty of majors players that are not ready for that move. No way.

If they did that 3/4 of the players would need to move down to AAA.

agsalaska said:

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TarponChaser said:

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agsalaska said:

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lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

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I think if they're major level players they're probably ready for that move. The top 13U major teams generally play 60/90 anyway or play up to 14AA or AAA.

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Na. Not enough of them. Maybe the top of the top but there are plenty of majors players that are not ready for that move. No way.

If they did that 3/4 of the players would need to move down to AAA.

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Might not be a bad thing.

TarponChaser said:

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agsalaska said:

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TarponChaser said:

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agsalaska said:

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lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

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I think if they're major level players they're probably ready for that move. The top 13U major teams generally play 60/90 anyway or play up to 14AA or AAA.

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Na. Not enough of them. Maybe the top of the top but there are plenty of majors players that are not ready for that move. No way.

If they did that 3/4 of the players would need to move down to AAA.

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Might not be a bad thing.

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I agree that the vast majority of 13u major kids are not ready for 60/90. My son is 5'1 100lbs and played 12u major this past season and had a great season. If he was required to play 60/90 at 13u major, I'd demand that his organization keep him on one of their AAA teams next season. 60/90 for him right now would just be setting him up for failure and I'm not going to do that to him. We played 13u open for our last tournament this spring at 54/80, and that seems about right for most of these kids. Outside of Banditos-Deleon, not many of the major teams in the 12u going to 13u age group have a lot of physically developed kids. Every team has a couple, and with our team, those more physical kids are no more ready to play 60/90 than my son.

This. For every 5 majors kids that are ready for 60/90 there are 25 that are physically not ready for it. That doesn't mean that they are not majors level players.

If we took every kid like Bassmaster's boy out of majors because they went 60/90 there would be like six teams left in the entire State. There is nothing good about that.

The problem is a lot of parents wouldn't be responsible enough to do that and we would end up with a bunch more trashed arms than we already have. We have already created an environment that is very difficult to navigate safely. We do not need to make it any harder.

Agreed. My son fractured his growth plate in his elbow his first ever practice r as a 12-13 year old on the big field. He just was not physically ready to do that. He was a late bloomer as far as filling out and hitting puberty. He recovered fine and ended up pitching in D3, but I look back on it and it was obvious he was not ready for the larger field. He was short and pudgy and had zero muscle mass. Just a baby.

My son went through that injury last year and I documented it here. Horrible thing for kids to go through. He has also fully recovered but we are going to be taking it REAL slow as we go. He is now 13u majors.

Glad your son fully recovered.

agsalaska said:

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lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

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Back in the good ole days before select we went from Little League at 12 to Babe Ruth 60/90 at 13. The mound backed up 14' and we had to learn to hold runners all in one year. We all made it ok, but we did only play 15-20 games a year.

TarponChaser said:

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agsalaska said:

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TarponChaser said:

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agsalaska said:

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lil99chris said:

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Quote:

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Personally, I think a better answer is to have 12U major play 54/80 instead of 50/70, have 13U major play 60/90, and then all classes of 14U need to swing BBCOR bats.

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Would like to see this take effect.

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I don't think13u kids' arms are ready for 60/90. A better answer would be to dumb the bats down instead of putting extra pressure on arms.

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I think if they're major level players they're probably ready for that move. The top 13U major teams generally play 60/90 anyway or play up to 14AA or AAA.

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Na. Not enough of them. Maybe the top of the top but there are plenty of majors players that are not ready for that move. No way.

If they did that 3/4 of the players would need to move down to AAA.

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Might not be a bad thing.

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I agree. Then those remaining majors teams would be truly select.

Cru said:

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Can anyone educate me on youth baseball (9u) in the Dripping Springs/ Wimberely / Budda area of Texas. We're in the process of moving there and I want to try to get ahead of the game a bit as it relates to knowing the lay of the land.

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A lot of PG 9u tournaments will be played at the Field Of Dreams in Dripping Springs. You are a little late for fall select, but there are always a few teams still needing a few players, and here is the resource for that:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1098014294764271

Look into DSYSA for rec options.

Also, for the best burger around, check this place out:

https://hillcountryranchpizzeria.com/

Their Bacon Supreme Burger is probably the best burger I've had.

Best places in the Austin area to look at a variety of bats?

Probably Dicks. Keep in mind most of the 2025 bats haven't dropped yet, most in the next week I believe.

What kind of bat are you looking for? Price constraints?