BASEBALL WOOD BATS, PROS AND CONS

There are good points and bad points about wood bats and aluminum. Let's look at the aluminum bat first. It is the bat of choice for little league and on up to college ball. Why? Probably because it's lighter, is more forgiving on inside pitches than baseball wood bats. And you don't have to worry about breaking it and going out and getting another one everytime you are jammed on an inside pitch.

Let's look at the good points:

1- Lighter and easier to swing.

2- Better center of gravity point closer to the handle. 3- You can get jammed and still hit the ball with authority.

4- Has greater trampoline effect. Springing off the barrel.

5- You can create greater batspeed because of less mass.

Okay let's look at the baseball wood bat. The most common wood bat today and used by major leaguer's is the northern white ash. It is a hard wood and fairly light. It is harvested in the northern area of Pennsylvania and upstate New York.

The second choice is the rock or sugar maple. It is a very hard wood and with today's air kiln-drying techniques they are able to extract a lot of the moisture in the bat, rendering it harder and lighter. I believe this is what Barry Bond's is using today.

Let's look at advantages for a baseball wood bat:

1- More mass in the point of impact or the barrel.

2- Can teach you how to really hit the inside pitch.

Let's look at the disadvantages for a baseball wood bat:

1- Because of more mass, is heavier, and harder to generate more bat speed.

2- Can break easily, especially on inside pitches.

3- Has less trampoline effect or springing effect on ball.

4- You have to fork out more money everytime you break a bat.

What is my opinion? The wood bat hands down. I never really noticed a difference in distance or velocity of the ball coming off the bat with wood or aluminum.

I believe the aluminum bat gives you a false sense of security when dealing with the inside pitch. With wood bats, you better know how to hit the inside pitch or you will be buying yourself more bats.

Also, I have hit some of the longest home runs of my career using a wood bat. I believe its because of the mass and bat speed together. Mass and bat speed equals a very hard hit ball!

Well than, how do you get both?

In the case of Barry Bonds he was able to find a very hard maple with the moisture dried out of it. What does this do? He still has the mass in the barrel but also has the bat speed due to the bat being lighter. He swings about a 28 ounce bat compared to most major leaguer's using about a 32 ounce to 33 ounce bat. Add this formula to his great mastery of fundamentals and balance at the plate and you have the magical formula of pure power.

My recommendations for kids starting out and playing in little league is to use an aluminum bat instead of a baseball wood bat until they get their fundamentals down pat. It will save on your pocket book as well. If in batting practice they want to try a wood bat, let them. I believe the wood bat will help teach them how to get the barrel on the inside pitch better.

What is the spring board effect or trampoline effect? It is the effect of the ball against the barrel. When a ball strikes an object that doesn't give, it loses it's energy at that point. When a ball strikes an object that gives and springs back, the energy is less absorbed and the ball bounces off at a greater height or distance.

The aluminum barrel when a ball strikes it, gives a little bit due to its thin shell. The ball gives somewhat and the barrel gives somewhat, producing a springing back effect. Thus, the ball comes off the bat at a greater speed and distance.

The wood bat has more mass in the barrel. When the ball hits the barrel, it has less springing effect and does not come off the barrel with the same intensity or distance. Just a simple law of physics. However, if you can create the same bat speed with a baseball wood bat as you can with an aluminum bat, you now have the mass generated in the formula and you will have greater results. I,e, Barry Bonds. Less weight, more mass, and great mechanics.

There you have it in a nutshell. My opinions of wood versus aluminum. If you have questions please email me and I will answer them the best I can.

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