The inherent dangers of the rebounding forces engineered into metal bats makes them dangerous. Period.

We reluctantly accept that the use of alloy bats which began 40 years ago is unlikely to stop any time soon, so we provide one of these charts to help you choose by weight. Understand though, that alloys and engineering make a huge difference in the performance of metal bats. Some have different balance characteristics which render raw weight numbers meaningless. The BESR standard which is meant to control bat exit speed (hence the abbreviation) is about more than -3 weight drop (meaning the weight is 3 ounces LESS than the length). So if your league tells you it's time to move up to -3, please make sure your bat is BESR certified, not just any -3.

You will note that most youth league metal bats are -8 to -11, meaning the weight is from 8 to 11 ounces less than the length. This is based on certain assumptions about all kids of the same age being the same size. Not likely. So the first chart is suspect.

We think height and weight are a much better way to judge which is what the 3rd chart shows for wood bats.