****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This was purchased for a ten year old who's built like a fifteen year old. We added a Lizard Skins .5 grip and it took this bat to a different level.My son uses an Easton XL1 and the Mizuno was bought to practice and possibly use in games. All the research shows you hit farther with composites, however, I believe if someone has the power to swing a heavier bat at or near the same speed as a lighter composite, the ball will be hit just as hard or harder. This is probably true more so at Little League age where your aluminum and composite bats are much lighter than wood. Even in the composite world, the XL1 was the heavier alternative to the Mako, and as they say "mass=power". When the sweet spot is hit on this bat, the ball will come off it fast. I know many may take issue with the following statement, but I believe my son hits about the same between the two bats. Now, my son is big, he's 190 pounds and practiced with a 31 ounce last year. I don't think it would be true for a weaker kid who couldn't swing it as fast.So far, it seems like a really nice bat. We're looking forward to much more "field testing". The wood is beautiful and you can tell they pay attention to detail. I do recommend adding the grips.Each of my sons wanted to have a wooden bat in their arsenal for baseball season. To them, it is something special and unique because not many kids in our area have them. So I wanted to find one that was affordable, and that was also durable. We have had some ash bats in the past made by other manufacturers that crack and split relatively easily and quickly. This maple bat has been durable enough to use regularly at the ball field and attractive enough to display. It has gotten a lot of use this season and still looks good. The stain is a beautiful, rich color with a black logo and accents. Originally we were going to use pine tar to create a tacky grip on the handle, but we ended up getting some cool grip tape instead. It helps cushion some of the sting that can come with using a wooden bat. They chose a dark color, so the bat still looks really nice, even with the grip tape on.A gift for my son. This bat looks good and my son loves hitting with it. Nothing like a wooden bat.
