Fastpitch Softball Bats, Softball Gloves, Fielding Face Masks and Coaching DVDs
Last Update: 11/29/2012
This site provides information regarding Fastpitch Softball Bats for 2011, 2012 & 2013 Fastpitch Softball Gloves, Protective Face Masks and Coaching DVDs and more.
Check out The Coach’s Dugout – Information & The Coach’s Review on new products for Fastpitch Softball Players, Coaches and Parents:
TheGluv: The Revolutionary Softball Pant for Women
MotionPro!: Video Software for Batting Stance/Swing Analysis
GameChanger: The Best Real-Time Scorekeeping Phone App
2011, 2012 & 2013 Fastpitch Softball Bats
- Includes Information and Reviews of 77 Fastpitch Softball Bats from 2011, 2012 & 2013 that cost $100 or more. For each Fastpitch Softball Bat, The Coach provides his own Review as well as manufacturer information and 1,600+ Reviews and evaluations by players, coaches and parents. Information about the selection and care of Fastpitch Softball Bats is also provided. Finally, the Top Rankings of the Best Fastpitch Softball Bats (2011, 2012 and 2013 models) based on the 1,600+ Reviews by players, coaches and parents is included. The 77 Fastpitch Softball Bats are manufactured by these companies: Anderson Bat Company, Baden, Combat Softball, DeMarini Sports, Easton, Louisville Slugger, Mattingly Sports, Miken Sports, Mizuno, Rip-It Sports and Worth Sports. Great information for girls and women fastpitch softball players and coaches.
2012 Fastpitch Softball Gloves
- Includes information and reviews on 106 Fastpitch Softball Gloves, Catcher’s Mitts and First Baseman Mitts as well as The Coach’s Ranking of the Best 2012 Fastpitch Softball Gloves , Catcher’s Mitts and First Baseman Mitts that cost $100+; Includes 150+ Reviews and evaluations by Players, Coaches and Parents, information about the selection and care of Fastpitch Softball Gloves and Mitts. Included are Fastpitch Softball Gloves, Catcher’s Mitts and First Baseman Mitts from Akadema, Diamond Sports, Easton, Louisville Slugger, Miken, Mizuno, Nokona, Rawlings, Wilson and Worth Sports. Great information for girls and women who play fastpitch softball.
2012 Fastpitch Softball Protective Pitcher & Infielder Face Masks
- Includes information discussing whether Fastpitch Softball Pitchers and Infielders should wear Protective Face Masks; also presented about Fastpitch Softball Face Masks for Pitchers and Infielders is manufacturer information and Reviews by Players, Coaches and Parents. Included are 2012 Fastpitch Softball Protective Face Masks from Bangerz, Battle Sports, Combat Sports, Markwort, Rip-It, Schutt, SKLZ and Worth Sports. Important information for girls and women who are fastpitch softball pitchers or infielders.
Coaching Fastpitch Softball DVDs
- Includes information and The Coach’s Reviews of the Best Fastpitch Softball Coaching DVDs available today for those who teach and coach girls and women fastpitch softball skills and strategies. Includes categories Pitching, Catching, Hitting, Bunting/Slapping, Baserunning, Fielding (Infielders & Outfielders), Practices – Drills (Indoor & Outdoor) and Building a Fastpitch Softball Program.
Let The Coach know what you think of this site by commenting below; feel free to share any improvements, ideas or criticisms.
—— Thanks, The Coach.
Thank You for giving us the ability to voice our opinions.
Coach, I appreciate your site. You present very good and timely information. Keep up the good work!
How are the ratings for fastpitch softball bats done. Obviously, they are way way way out of whack. It’s a joke to have unsuspecting parents telling coaches that a TPS mendoza for 75 bucks is better than an Easton Stealth or Synergy or several others. I am sure you don’t believe it either, so wondered how the rankings are done.
The Coach’s Response:
Mark – The general list of Top Ranked Bats are based solely on the percentage of Recommended reviews by the general public (i.e., players, parents and coaches). These general rankings are strictly sequenced by: 1) % Recommended, 2) Total Number of Reviews when the % Recommended is the same. The main Top Rankings, where The Coach adds his opinion to the submitted reviews, are reflected in these categories: Best Bats for Power Hitters, Best Bats for Slappers, Best Balanced Bats, Best End-Loaded Bats, Best Composite Bats, Best Non-Composite Bats and
Best Team Bats (primarily for 8U, 10U and 12U teams).
As you can see if you check the category Top Rankings, the Mendoza only shows up on the Best Team Bats – primarily because of their cost and durability. Note: Team Bats tend to get thrown about, used by several players on the team and generally not well taken care of so durability as well as costs are important for these bats.
The Easton Stealth Synergy is on 4 of these categorical Top Rankings Lists: 1) Best Bats for Power Hitters, 2) Best Balanced Bats, 3) Best Balanced Bats, 4) Best Composite Bats. And the Easton Stealth Speed models are on 3 of these categorical Top Rankings Lists: The Stealth Speed (-10 model) is on the Best Balanced Bats list while the Stealth Speed (-9 model) is on the Best End-Loaded Bats list. And both models are on the Best Composite Bats list. Note: I did talk with Easton and they confirmed that the -9 model is slightly end-loaded while the -10 model is balanced.
I work rather hard to give both an unbiased view (the General Top Rankings) and my informed opinioned (the Categorical Top Rankings). Hopefully, you’ll see these aren’t a joke but taken very seriously to help players, parents and coaches.
Coach – Thanks you so much for returning my E-mail. You are such a wonderful & kind person to take so much of your time to help others learn about the game of softball. Your knowledge and reviews are so appreciated and are a Blessing to others so Thank You very much.
Howdy Coach. I practice hitting with my daughter by having her hit baseballs with an old bat. Is hitting baseballs with a fastpitch softball bat a bad idea, or bad for the bat?? Thanks!!
The Coach’s Response: Dr. Daniel A. Russell of Penn State University has studied the physics of Baseball, Fastpitch Softball and Slowpitch Softball bats. In his 2005 article, “Physics and Acoustics of Baseball & Softball Bats”, he says: “Using a softball bat to play baseball would most likely result in cracking or breaking your bat. Softball bats are not designed to withstand the forces resulting from an impact with a baseball. The performance might be really good and the ball might come off the bat pretty fast, but you would most likely break your softball bat.” You can read Dr. Russell’s entire article at: http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/bats/baseball-softball.html
I was kind of amazed that you took the time to personally respond to my “sort of pending” review of the Xeno bat which I posted on your site. That said thanks for doing what you do because I went back to the site and scoured it for more information and book-marked it for future reference.
I also posted a CF5 Insane bat review since my player has been swinging that bat for about a year now and has had a good experience with it as well. We took the new Xeno to Bats and Beyond (cages) in Rohnert Park CA last night where she works with her hitting instructor and she did very well with it off the tee, soft-toss and machine (with hard balls only!) and instantly took a major liking to it.
I will revisit the reviews next week to report on her first outing with the new Xeno. She plays FOUR games on Saturday alone (three travel games in Folsom and one rec game under the lights at night in Petaluma) so we have a bit of driving to do but hey that’s why we have a 50 MPG car!
Best Regards and keep up the GREAT work sir:
Hey coach, great website — very informative.
Coach – I can get a 2010 Easton Synge pretty cheap. Is there any difference from the 2010 to the 2011 or 2012? Thanks!
Coach: Do not change anything on your website …. Great information and sorted in the proper categories to find what you want fast …..
Hey Coach, thanks so much for the website!!!
This site is very informative, it helped me in choosing a bat for my daughter. Now in the process of finding new fielders glove. Thanks, Coach
Thank you so much for this great webite! It is very informative.
Great Website. Found Everything I Needed To Get The Right Bat For My Daughter. Love The Explanations And The Insight. I Will Be Back Over And Over Again!
I seriously love this site and am in the process of looking for a new bat. To say the least, this site and all of the coach and player reviews have helped A LOT. Thank you so much, I’ll continue browsing this awesome site!
Thank you for the information on the bats. I know how important it is to find the right bat when it comes to performance and confidence as well. It is good to know that there are people that really do care about the sport and the kids that play the sports to go out and find this kind of info and spread it to the rest of us. I truely do thank you for the info and I wish you a blessed life. Thank You.
Great site!
Wonderful site..my only suggestion would be to have archives of bat reviews from previous years.
Coach,
I love your site and look forward getting into it more. Once I look it over I will be back with another post. I think it is great that you are doing this just for the love of the game.
http://www.heybucket.com
Hey I checked out your site and thought it was great. I have a suggestion though.. Have a top 5 on balanced unbalanced bats would be useful….
www.arkansassoftball.org
Excellent website Coach. Very informative and well laid out. I will use this a resource for a long time to come.
I wish I found your website at those times when I had to purchase equipment for my daughter. The reviews and comments are all good information that can help a novice buy the right equipment. I have always purchased the equipment with information from the bat manufacturer’s websites and you never know what to expect until you get them and try them out. My daughter is now in college and the college is buying all the stuff.