When is it time to step up my equipment

Hi Alois and Jeff,

I follow this section very often and I always note that when giving advice about selecting equipment, you always mention learning the strokes first before upgrading to faster equipment. Which makes a lot of sense. 

My problem is that I don't quite know what you mean by "learning the strokes". Does it mean you can hit a million balls hard without making a mistake? Or does it simply mean being able to do the correct movement consistently?

I'm happy with my setup, but I think it would be great if you gave us more concrete guidelines. Some kind of test that helps people figure out when they're ready to move onto a faster bat.

I know it's hard to do and not exactly scientific, but I think it would be beneficial and you guys would save a lot of time answering questions about bats for beginners. 

Interested to hear your thoughts!

Sean

Hi Sean,

A very interesting question.

I suppose it is difficult to put a quantitative criteria on it.  Looking at your two options though, I am talking more about being able o perform the stroke correctly before moving from a pre made bat to a custom bat.

Then the steps get more grey.  It is more a feeling than a number.  The feeling I have when a bat is too slow for me is that I am playing a full stroke and the ball isn't going as fast as I need it to gain the advantage I am looking for.  So in this case it is more a matter of being able to hit the ball with a full swing at full pace and getting them on 'too consistently'.

Conversely, if you are hitting touch strokes like the short push or serving and you don't have control of them, your bat is probably too fast.

Let me know if this helps or if I have confused you more.