Which new bat for My 11 Year old Club Ball son?

[lightning dad]

I have been looking for a month or so and doing some research and found this site very useful. My son has outgrown his Blue Catalyst 29/19. His younger brother, 10 years old, had a green TPX that we had to return because it cracked, as did 3 of his teammates. I want to move my older son to a drop 8.5 or 9 because he is a decent size kid 5'0" 105 lbs with pretty good bat speed. Here is my list so far. The new EXO 30/21.5, the new virus 30/22 or the Plasma 30/22. What are your thoughts? any help would be appreciated.

[dear ol dad]

All the bats you have mentioned are solid. The Exo in my opinion you can not go wrong. I have never seen a Combat in use any where at any time here in California. If you are considering a composite you may want to look at the CF3 it is a -8

Good Luck

[dsore1218]

Exo if you are going alloy. Virus or CF3 in the weights you describe. Plasma is a step behind in some people's opinions.

Those are generalities as I have only dealt with -3 and -5 for a few years now.

[lightning dad]

thanks for the help with my son's bat. What are strengths and weaknesses or pros/cons for alloy vs. composite?

[dsore1218]

There is a lot of information out there and if you enjoy getting technical, then you can go to http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/bats.html and read why composites will be the way to go at some point.

Alloys are proven. They keep trying to improve the different components. Basically you want a strong alloy that allows you to get the bat walls as thin as possible so they act like a trampoline when the ball strikes the bat.

Composites are formed out of carbon fiber, fiberglass, etc. Composites allow the bat maker more options to make a bat swing lighter or heavier, they can change the balance point, they break in and get really hot.

For an 11 yr old boy, it is going to come down to what feels the best, what gives him the best contol, etc. Don't worry too much about alloy vs. composite right now, find what allows him the best shot at the plate.