HITTING WITH WOOD

BENEFITS

Wood bats have a smaller sweet spot than that of aluminum. The sweet spot is the area of the bat where the exit factor (speed of the ball off the bat) is the greatest. The benefit to this is that it forces the hitter to have his or her hands come through the hitting zone correctly, therefore maximizing the force of contact. Many professional scouts will describe amateur players as having an aluminum bat swing. This means that, more often than not, the player is hitting the ball off the handle or end of the bat. With aluminum, many of these balls will fall in for hits, but with wood they would be outs or  broken bats. With this, scouts can get a much more accurate grade on a player using wood rather than aluminum.

Many professionals will say that the hardest adjustment to professional baseball is the switch from aluminum to wood. These days many amateur pitchers have been known to throw just as hard as professionals, but with aluminum bats all the hitter has to do is make contact. On the other hand, professionals have to make consistent contact.

Another benefit of using wood over aluminum is bat speed. Aluminum bats are anywhere from minus 3 to minus 5 (difference between length and weight). Wood bats would be no more than minus 2. Swinging a heavier bat will help to develop bat speed and with bat speed comes power.

HOW TO HIT WITH WOOD BATS

When hitting with wood bats the first thing the player must do is make sure when contact is made the label of the bat is straight up or straight down. This area of the bat is not only the hardest but also the strongest. Many amateurs are told when using aluminum bats to rotate the bat to insure maximum life of the bat. This is not true for wood.

WHY WOOD BATS BREAK

There are many reasons why wood bats break. If contact is made too close to the end or close to the handle, the bat will break. If contact is made on the wrong side the bat will break.

Weather conditions also effect wood bats. Over the years you will notice that more bats break in major league baseball at the beginning and end of the year. Many will say the players at the beginning of the year don't have their timing yet and at the end of the year are fatigued. While this may be true to a degree, the colder the temperature the more likely a wood bat will break.

Where wood bats are stored also affects longevity. For example, many amateur players will come home from a game and leave their equipment in the trunk of a car. As you know, the trunk of a car can get extremely hot. The extreme heat will dry out a wood bat and cause it to weaken.

WOOD BAT MYTHS

The biggest myth concerning wood bats regards the width of the grains. Many will say that the further apart the grains are from each other the better. This is not true. Density is what is needed in wood bats.The model and weights control the density.

Another myth is wood bats are more dangerous than aluminum because they can break. It is a known fact that more players are injured due to the velocity of the ball off aluminum bats than are injured by broken wood bats each year.