yeah over 16 is where the problems start (ball drop off, etc.) but i never go over 14 because it gives u a lil room to spare there...also if u look at the pros setups' most of them use 14 inchers...some front players use 12s and even 10s occasionally but u hardly ever see anybody (even backmen like me) with 16 inchers on theyre guns.

and yeah i think the freak is worth it...i have owned a teardrop and an all american and ahve been very impressed with smart parts barrels...if ur gonna spend alot of money on a barrel then u could also look into the evil pipe kits...i was gonna get a freak for my timmy but decided that since the only 2 aftermarket barrels i had ever bought had been smartparts that i wanted to get some more experience with other companies and stuff and went with the pipe.  its a nice barrel but its sorta loud but on the speedball field it doesnt really matter because if ur doin it right u should be yellin to ur teammates the whole time shoutin out positions of the other team and just communicatin in general