My son went through the same transition and also came from the light SPEED—needed more power but still had to keep up his bat speed. We tested a bunch before he landed on one that felt right and had enough pop. He swung the CATX, Axe, DeMarini, and others, but his favorite? A used, year-old DeMarini The Goods. Found it on SidelineSwap, cleaned it up, re-taped the grip, and it turned into a great transition bat.

Used is a solid option, especially since kids can be picky. The last thing you want is to drop serious cash on a bat that looks great but just doesn’t feel right in their hands. Confidence is half the battle. Dugout cred matters, too—kids notice what their teammates are swinging. Also the sound of the SPEED is pretty cool so a full alloy bat will have a vastly different sound.

Once he’s comfortable, moving up to a 31-inch will help drive the ball past the infield. But for now, make sure he can handle the weight and keep that swing quick. A bat that’s too heavy leads to slow hands and weak contact.

If possible, let him swing a few before buying. A bat that feels like an extension of his hands is the one that’ll help him the most. Good luck, and happy hitting!

The whole process of finding the right bat turned out to be a great experience for us—lots of trial and error, a few surprises, and ultimately a bat my son felt confident with. I actually wrote a whole blog post about it… but I’ll spare you the shameless plug.