Little League Baseball maintains rules designed to ensure safety and fairness in youth baseball competition. Standards are also set for equipment used in Little League play. Although rules sometimes vary in accordance to local sanctioning bodies, most bats used in youth baseball games adhere to official Little League equipment restrictions.
Dimensions
Little League bats are designed to be used by players ages of 7 to 12. According to Youth Baseball Basics, official restrictions do not allow a bat to measure greater than 33 inches in length. Bats can be as short as 28 inches to accommodate smaller players. A bat's barrel, its thickest section, is restricted to a measurement of 2 1/4 inches in diameter.
Weight
A bat's official weight is noted by its weight drop, which is determined by the difference between its height and weight. This is expressed in a negative number that is embossed directly onto the bat. For example, a bat that measures 33 inches long with a -3 weight drop weighs 29 oz. According to BaseballCorner.com, weight drops vary among equipment brands and bat models. Little League restrictions state that players ages 7 to 10 must use bats that weigh 16 to 20 oz. Players who are 11 or 12 years old can use bats that weigh up to 23 oz.
Wood
Wood bats have long gone out of favor in youth baseball, mostly due to expense and safety issues. Wood bats can wear down with use, and thus require frequent replacement. They also have the potential to break and splinter upon contact with the ball, which can result in flying pieces that may injure players, officials and spectators. The official Little League rules do not prohibit the use of wood bats in regulation play, but many local Little League sanctioning bodies do not allow wood bats to be used in their games.
Nonwood
Nonwood bats, which are usually made of aluminum, are common in Little League play, but their use remains controversial. Concerns have been voiced that the ball comes off a nonwood bat faster than it comes off a wood bat, which can lead to pitchers and fielders being injured by extremely fast line drives. Little League Online maintains that technology has allowed manufacturers of nonwood bats to adjust their power, making them just as safe as traditional wood bats. Little League restrictions state all nonwood bats used in sanctioned games must be labeled by the manufacturer with as having a bat performance factor of 1.15 or less.
Pine Tar Use
Pine tar is a sticky substance that Major League Baseball players use to improve their grips on wood bats. Official Little League rules do not prohibit the use of pine tar by players using wood bats, and thus rules vary with local sanctioning bodies. In professional baseball, the darkness of pine tar has been used to disguise bats that have been illegally tampered with to improve performance. There is much less concern regarding this type of cheating at the Little League level. Therefore, many local leagues allow the use of pine tar to help young players maintain good grips on their bats.
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