Last night I was working with a 12U player named Grace on her hitting. We’ve been working together for a while now and she has developed a very nice, powerful swing. But it wasn’t until last night that she really got to enjoy the fruits of her labors.

You see, her old composite bat has been on its last legs for the last few lessons. In fact, in the previous lesson she wasn’t getting much pop on the ball at all, despite using a technically solid swing. Her dad mentioned he thought it might be cracking, and sure enough when we looked at it there was a small crack that got larger as the lesson went on. The decision was made right there for Grace to get a new bat.

And there it was last night – a brand new bat, still in the wrapper. It was an inch longer than her old bat, and I also recommended she move from a -11 to a -10, mostly because no one should use anything lighter than -10 unless they’re really small or really young (in my opinion). So now in addition to having a brand new bat, she was swinging an extra couple of ounces.

The difference was immediately noticeable. On her very first swing she drove a line drive that, had we been outside instead of in a cage, would’ve gone into a gap in left center. She continued popping them that way – even catching me in the leg once when I didn’t jump behind the protective screen right away.

There’s no doubt that Grace and her dad feel like they got their money’s worth in investing in this new bat. The same swing mechanics are delivering much better results.

Can a new bat deliver better results even without a good swing? Sure, sometimes. But when you combine today’s technology with solid fundamentals you get the kind of hits that make it fun to go to the plate.

What about you? Do you have any new bat stories to tell? Have you ever experienced that instant upgrade in the quality of hits?