36 oz. vs 26 oz. bat in BP

[TWmccoy]

I did something different today in BP. I brought out the DeBeer Clincher EST. This is a bat I've had for a couple years, but seldom swing. It looks and feels like a regular Worth green EST, but the DeBeer is 36 oz. I'm pretty sure this bat is made for hitting 16" balls or some other ridiculous mush.

Anyway, I put the Clincher EST up against a Worth blue EST max, 26 oz. Clincher is CU31 alloy, while the blue EST is C405.

Let me just say, going back in forth between bats with a 10 oz weight difference was a little jarring. The Clincher is an absolute sledgehammer. I have to do everything perfectly to get a good swing with it. The bat seems to come through the zone so slowly compared to the 26 oz. After some swings with the Clincher, the blue EST felt like a toy bat.

Despite feeling like I was losing batspeed swinging such a heavy bat, the ball came off the Clincher pretty well. To get distance I had to take a big uppercut and elevate the ball with a lot of backspin. All my furthest shots were super high, well-spun fly balls. Anything hit on a line would die quickly.

Top distance with these two bats was about 350'. I was hitting C+s and .52 300s. I hit 5 350' shots with the Clincher, and more with the blue EST. Obviously the blue EST was easier to swing and get consistent distance with. However, both bats ultimately hit about the same distance.

I loved the feel of the Clincher EST. With a bat that heavy, the barrel seems to melt thorough the ball effortlessly. I also noticed that mis hits with the Clincher carried decently.

 

[baseman]

It sounds like a 30 would be about perfect for you.

 

[TWmccoy]

It sounds like a 30 would be about perfect for you.

28 is my ideal weight in games. I'll sometimes swing 30s, but 28 is the comfort zone.

BP is where I fool around and experiment. This season has sucked, and ended early. I figure I have nothing to lose by pulling out all the weird bats and swinging them now.

 

[herts9]

You're like a fine wine!

 

[nutmegs]

I did something different today in BP. I brought out the DeBeer Clincher EST. This is a bat I've had for a couple years, but seldom swing. It looks and feels like a regular Worth green EST, but the DeBeer is 36 oz. I'm pretty sure this bat is made for hitting 16" balls or some other ridiculous mush.

Anyway, I put the Clincher EST up against a Worth blue EST max, 26 oz. Clincher is CU31 alloy, while the blue EST is C405.

Let me just say, going back in forth between bats with a 10 oz weight difference was a little jarring. The Clincher is an absolute sledgehammer. I have to do everything perfectly to get a good swing with it. The bat seems to come through the zone so slowly compared to the 26 oz. After some swings with the Clincher, the blue EST felt like a toy bat.

Despite feeling like I was losing batspeed swinging such a heavy bat, the ball came off the Clincher pretty well. To get distance I had to take a big uppercut and elevate the ball with a lot of backspin. All my furthest shots were super high, well-spun fly balls. Anything hit on a line would die quickly.

Top distance with these two bats was about 350'. I was hitting C+s and .52 300s. I hit 5 350' shots with the Clincher, and more with the blue EST. Obviously the blue EST was easier to swing and get consistent distance with. However, both bats ultimately hit about the same distance.

I loved the feel of the Clincher EST. With a bat that heavy, the barrel seems to melt thorough the ball effortlessly. I also noticed that mis hits with the Clincher carried decently.

Hitting 350 with a clincher seems legit

 

[johnls722]

I did something different today in BP. I brought out the DeBeer Clincher EST. This is a bat I've had for a couple years, but seldom swing. It looks and feels like a regular Worth green EST, but the DeBeer is 36 oz. I'm pretty sure this bat is made for hitting 16" balls or some other ridiculous mush.

Anyway, I put the Clincher EST up against a Worth blue EST max, 26 oz. Clincher is CU31 alloy, while the blue EST is C405.

Let me just say, going back in forth between bats with a 10 oz weight difference was a little jarring. The Clincher is an absolute sledgehammer. I have to do everything perfectly to get a good swing with it. The bat seems to come through the zone so slowly compared to the 26 oz. After some swings with the Clincher, the blue EST felt like a toy bat.

Despite feeling like I was losing batspeed swinging such a heavy bat, the ball came off the Clincher pretty well. To get distance I had to take a big uppercut and elevate the ball with a lot of backspin. All my furthest shots were super high, well-spun fly balls. Anything hit on a line would die quickly.

Top distance with these two bats was about 350'. I was hitting C+s and .52 300s. I hit 5 350' shots with the Clincher, and more with the blue EST. Obviously the blue EST was easier to swing and get consistent distance with. However, both bats ultimately hit about the same distance.

I loved the feel of the Clincher EST. With a bat that heavy, the barrel seems to melt thorough the ball effortlessly. I also noticed that mis hits with the Clincher carried decently.

You still have the EST?

 

[blakcherry329]

I always use heavier bats in the Cages. I use an Easton Torpedo with a mid-weight so it's like a Cam-Wood(highly recommended) and a 28oz Worth Wicked Comp, 29oz Ultra II, or 35oz Easton SX9. I look at it as a workout so on game day my 28oz Evil Caution Wood or 26.5oz Blue-line feel like wiffleball bats.
The ball does jump off the SX9. I use it in pick up games sometimes for nostalgia. Like you said, have to focus on your technique when you swing the heavy bats.

 

[swingnmiss]

But............Doesn't swinging a heavier bat, train you muscles to swing slower? I would think, using a 24 oz bat in a cage would train your muscles to swing fast. Train them to swing with more explosion. I don't know anything though.

 

[TWmccoy]

But............Doesn't swinging a heavier bat, train you muscles to swing slower? I would think, using a 24 oz bat in a cage would train your muscles to swing fast. Train them to swing with more explosion. I don't know anything though.

Probably. I'd never swing a super heavy bat all the time. I'm not going for endurance when I swing the Clincher.

Once you train your muscles to swing a bat this heavy it makes swinging anything lighter super easy.

36 oz is obviously way too heavy for me to swing optimally. The loss of batspeed is noticeable.

 

[swingnmiss]

Probably. I'd never swing a super heavy bat all the time. I'm not going for endurance when I swing the Clincher.

Once you train your muscles to swing a bat this heavy it makes swinging anything lighter super easy.

36 oz is obviously way too heavy for me to swing optimally. The loss of batspeed is noticeable.

But..........."swing a bat this heavy it makes swinging anything lighter super easy.", is that actually true? Does it make it easier, or does it just feel easier? It may feel like you're swinging a lighter bat faster after a heavy bat, but is that actually factual? Does feel equal fact? I don't think it does. Athletes do explosive reps and not slow endurance reps for a reason............right?

 

[blakcherry329]

I swing heavy to get loose. The Torpedo with the mid weight makes you keep your hands in to get the barrel/sweet spot of the bat on the ball. 3 rounds, Then I go to a 29 or 28 for a few rounds until my form suffers. Maybe I should throw in a 26 for the last couple o' rounds?
I don't play as much slow pitch anymore, so I'm hitting baseballs in the cages. My bat speed is fine for modified or fastpitch but just OK for slow pitch, and I'm ok with that at this point in my "career".
I'd be curious to see how much bat speed is lost swinging a heavier bat.

 

[swingnmiss]

I swing heavy to get loose. The Torpedo with the mid weight makes you keep your hands in to get the barrel/sweet spot of the bat on the ball. 3 rounds, Then I go to a 29 or 28 for a few rounds until my form suffers. Maybe I should throw in a 26 for the last couple o' rounds?
I don't play as much slow pitch anymore, so I'm hitting baseballs in the cages. My bat speed is fine for modified or fastpitch but just OK for slow pitch, and I'm ok with that at this point in my "career".
I'd be curious to see how much bat speed is lost swinging a heavier bat.

I have read that using something heavy to stretch and loosen you up is a good thing, but you should never use it to mimic your swing. That using it trains your muscles to react more slowly and less explosively. One time Big D and I were out and we had our usual 27, 28 oz bats and a 36 oz Easton Black Max......... We used his Swing Speed Indicator and with our 27/28's we were around 86-87 mph, but with the Max we were around 81-82 mph. This was years ago, but this is how I recall it went.

Incidentally when I swung that Max I damn near broke my hip...........It was crazy heavy.

 

[SammyJaxxx]

When I go to the cages to get in some swings, I always hit a ton of balls with my Easton Thunderstick. It is 37 ozs.
Thunderstick

 

[blakcherry329]

When I go to the cages to get in some swings, I always hit a ton of balls with my Easton Thunderstick. It is 37 ozs.
Thunderstick

I used that in the cages, back in the day. It vibrated a little too much when hitting fast pitch softball. Definitely a good tool, imo.

 

[SammyJaxxx]

I used that in the cages, back in the day. It vibrated a little too much when hitting fast pitch softball. Definitely a good tool, imo.

You definitely cannot do a marathon session with the thunderstick. Too hard on the hands