Can you tell if the baseball bat is too heavy for your little guy (or little girl)? Can you tell if the bat is too short or too long? Too wide at the handle? Should it be the new "Composite Bats" or an aluminum one?

As a youth baseball coach I teach kids basebal to not only the players but the parents too. I hear these same questions all the time and do you know what I tell them? Bat weight, height, composition - it's all hype!

The truth is - baseball bats are a lucrative business. Companies pay a lot of money in marketing to get people to doubt what they currently have is not good enough. We are constantly being conditioned to believe you can't compete without the latest and greatest (and costliest). It's all Bologna!

Come on folks, what kind of bat did you have as a kid? I go back to the wood bat days and you used what was available. Sometimes we had one bat and if it was too heavy we would choke up on the handle.

The bottom line is youth baseball bat types are pretty much the same. If a bat is going to make a ball go 2 feet further - who cares - they ain't the pros! If you want to buy your kid a bat, find a bat that he uses at practice that he can handle and find out how much it weighs. Then go to buy the least inexpensive bat (at that weight).

You may be asking how do I tell if he can handle the bat or not. Well here is a REALLY, REALLY GREAT TIP for judging if a bat is too heavy. I've used this technique for 35 years and shared it over 100 times.

1. Have your child wrap the index finger and the thumb around the knob of the bat.
2. Use the hand that would be on the bottom of the bat when swinging (if the are righty it would be the left - and vice-versa)
3. Next, have them hold the bat straight out in front of them.
4. Make sure they are NOT using the whole hand to support the bat

If they can't keep the bat up (level) then the bat is too heavy.

Simple as that.

If you want some other great baseball youth tips beware of the hype!

There's a lot out there!

don't have the power to keep it level - the bat is too heavy.

You're smart people, trust yourself and use your own discretion. If you still aren't sure ask the coach - he can definitely help.

Now