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My youngest, who will be a sophmore this fall, is playing in the Valley League this summer, and despite extreme self-confidence, struggled early with the wooden bats. He seems to be getting the hang of it (at the 20 AB stage), but in talking to the team's GM of 15 years, he told me some things of interest:

1.Year in, year out, it seems to take newcomers 20-30 at bats to adjust to the wooden bats;
2.It's normal, even expected, for freshmen to struggle a bit;
3. They often see guys return their second year, clearly stronger and better.

While we talked, he pointed out a guy currently hitting around .400; he said his freshman year, he never hit a ball to the left side of the infield and his few hits were normally "find a hole grounders". My older son told me of a Valley League teammate that went 0 for his first 30 with the wooden bat...but was drafted this year (3 years later) in the 15th round.

Moral of the story: if they're young and struggling with wood, they're far from alone. Playing 6-7 days a week, on teams full of talented players from all over the country, hitting with wood and fielding daily, is a very very good thing.
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hokie - good topic...

One adjustment I can throw out there is how close to the plate the batter may stand. They have been complaining on ESPN how many college hitters are hit by pitches nowadays. These kids with their aluminum bats are standing inches off the plate and daring pitchers to throw inside. They can often fist base hits with aluminum (and without penalty) if the ball is thrown inside.

When they get into the summer leagues, they'll find the pitchers are now living on the inside part of the plate with much success. My son has had several bats sawed in half already this summer and I mentioned to him that perhaps he needs to make an adjustment Smile

You'll see many era's well below 2.00 in the summertime and many batting averages approaching the Mendoza line. Someone needs to make an adjustment and it seems to me it is mainly the hitters.
Yep, my kiddo struggled some too, but once he got use to it, he really likes the wood bats. He also has been hit by pitches twice already - once pretty badly - hopefully he will make an adjustment too.

Our radio announcers were discussing this after one game and how some of these kids have never used a wood bat before college summer league. It definitely takes some getting use to...

One advantage we had is that our summer select league in high school always scheduled one or two wood bat tournaments, so wood bats weren't completely foreign to our son.
We have a summer wood bat league in our town and I have noticed many of the same things. Batters that crowd the plate and/or use a lot of arms and hands in their swing instead of using the body effectively seem to struggle. Any hitches that are in a swing are usually brought out immediately.

Some batters are able to make the adjustment in a few games and hit well with wood while others seem to make a small initial improvement but top out after that.

I guess that is why quality pro scouts are so important to a club, being able to look at a swing and determine if it can carry over to wood.
Last edited by Michael'sDad
My son is about 10+ games into the season in the Great Lakes League. While he has practiced quite a bit with wood, this is the first full summer playing with wood.

So far he has had good success (currently batting .346) this summer. He has attibuted it to 2 factors; first he said the pitching is very good and the second is that he has changed his approach.

Coming out of a D3 program he said that for the most part the pitchers are throwing harder. He said that he is using the pitchers velocity to generate hits by focusing on hitting up the middle of going opposite field.

My son is a big strong kid that has traditionally hit for power. He said this summer the coaches a preaching "small ball." With this he is focusing on putting the ball up the middle or going oppo.

He did say that he has been jammed a couple of times and as a result has developed a bruise on his top hand thumb.
From a pitcher's mom perspective I can definetly tell you my son's ERA was superb last summer until the hitters got used to wood bats.

CD gives good advice on adjusting, stay AWAY from the inside of the plate. Big Grin

ILVBB,
Most likely the coaches will go from small ball to allowing the hitters to swing for the fences after hitters begin making adjustments that will have more impact on the game.
Some coaches are more into the W than others in the summer season. I know my son had told us his coach from last summer was not all about winning.
Last edited by TPM
quote:
Originally posted by observer44:
.
Wierd...

...Mine went on a tear for his first 10 games...

...maybe too far from the plate late in he college season...
44

Big Grin

I have seen some HS and college smashers go to "I can't hit anything with wood" during the summer season and some who can't hit well with aluminum crush the ball in summer. It's about making adjustments and those that can get attention.
I've watched the summer NWL baseball closely for the last 5 years and see where averages on a whole are dropping at least 50 points on average from their college numbers. It takes time, stubborness, and good coaching to make yourself a good wood hitter. Right here we are talking about the better college players and I don't think those resources/attitude are out there for John Q Public in younger Leagues to make the wood transition, and that's a shame.
Last edited by rz1
The more the guys swing the wood the better they get. It takes some time to get used to it. To me the better your swing is with wood the even better it will be with metal. HS hitters should swing the wood all year long. Wood has a smaller sweet spot. Failure to swing properly will result in immediate feedback. Metal bats will allow for sucess even when you are long or hook around the baseball. If you want to improve your swing and become a better metal bat hitter then swing the wood often , very often.
i was something like 1 for my first 13 last summer then went like 8 for my next 20. Some guys hit under 100 for the first half and then in the 2nd half hit over 300.

It definatly takes some time getting used to so dont panic if you start slow. Just make sure you're seeing the ball well and swinging at good pitches and the hits will come.
TR,
the thread started with regard to the collegiate summer league (Valley League) and my response was based on the college spring league. From the 20 or so games I saw there were plenty of sliders. The coaches at Illinois stated that the Big 10 is a fastball /slider league.

With regard to HS you are 100% coorect, I have seen ( 0 ). I was reading from the top.
Last edited by Coach Merc
Coach May I agree.

The hs should practice with wood a lot.
My boys practice with wood exclusively year around and they are very comfortable with it. They do well in the wood tournaments.
I enjoy the wood tournaments more than alum. With alum. every kid on the team can hit it 350+. Not so with wood. Rather than stepping up to the plate and try yacking a laser to the wall they have to concentrate on moving runners, hitting to the proper field side, bunting etc..

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