BBCOR vs. Wood

The only "real" evidence I can provide is that my 2014 prefers to hit with his wood bats vs. his BBCOR alloy. He wants to use wood for the upcoming season and will ask his coach if he can when he goes back to school this week. I can see the difference with he uses the wood bat when I pitch BP. He seems to get more consistant performance out of the wood bat.

quote:

Originally posted by IEBSBL:
…A lot of time when I post I am looking for opinion however in this case does anybody have any REAL evidence that can compare a BBCOR certified Wooden Bat with a BBCOR Bat in regards to performance.

I don’t know what you’d accept as REAL evidence, but how about this. Consider how many college coaches allow their players to use wood, and how many players do it. Why would you believe a wood bat would perform better than a wood bat, when the allowable performance for the non-wood is equal to that of the very best ML quality wood.

It seems that what a lot of coaches like yourself are having a lot of difficulty with, is understanding that not all BBCOR bats are the same, and that not all BBCOR bats will perform the same for all players. IOW, its getting to be a lot more like wood, in that its going to take more for a player to settle on the right bat for his “style”.

Up here in NorCal last year, it didn’t take too long for most coaches with good pitchers to pretty much completely neutralize the hitters who tried to use wood. There’s just not a lot of HS hitters good enough to do much with a constant barrage of pitches “in”. I scored about 50 HS games last season, and after the 1st half, I can’t remember more than 3 or 4 times I saw wood, and those were in Easter break tournament games.

I am quickly becoming a believer in Baum bats...

Goodwill Series teams recently returned from Australia. Winning 16 games.

Our 2 teams coached by pro scouts and wear the ML uniform of the Cubs and Rays. The 30 players ages 14-18 played 25 games in 15 days against the best players in the STATES of Queensland and South Australia.

Our players had 900 AB and we used the SSK wood [my son, Robert sells the bats to MLB players]. Only 5 bats were broken in the 15 days.

When I started the Area Code games in 1987, we have used wood.

Bob Williams
<www.goodwillseries.org>

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
I don’t know what you’d accept as REAL evidence, but how about this. Consider how many college coaches allow their players to use wood, and how many players do it. Why would you believe a wood bat would perform better than a wood bat, when the allowable performance for the non-wood is equal to that of the very best ML quality wood.

There are plenty of college players using wood in the JC leagues that require it (this is some of the best college baseball to see). College coaches at the D1 level require their players to use bats provided by the manufacturer that signed their bat deal. No real choice in the matter for the player or the coach.

Having said that, BBCOR rules actually allow non-wood bats to have a margin of performance that exceeds that of the "best" wood bats.

quote:

Originally posted by brute66:
There are plenty of college players using wood in the JC leagues that require it (this is some of the best college baseball to see). College coaches at the D1 level require their players to use bats provided by the manufacturer that signed their bat deal. No real choice in the matter for the player or the coach.

Are you saying every college player using non-wood is doing it because he’s forced to by his head coach, and that all head coaches require it because they have a contract deal?

quote:

Having said that, BBCOR rules actually allow non-wood bats to have a margin of performance that exceeds that of the "best" wood bats.

That’s true, which makes me wonder why it is that all the manufacturers are turning out bats that perform worse, if one listens to what everyone is saying.

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
Are you saying every college player using non-wood is doing it because he’s forced to by his head coach, and that all head coaches require it because they have a contract deal?

No, I did not say that. Try reading it again, lol.

quote:

That’s true, which makes me wonder why it is that all the manufacturers are turning out bats that perform worse, if one listens to what everyone is saying.

The only useful comparative data are BESR vs BBCOR hitting stats which are pretty clear. Anecdotes about wood performing "better" are not generally reliable.

Some, have the wood, others don't . Way back when, there was not a hitting coach, on every corner, describing the proper "way to hit". Everyone, swung the wood. You either, hit, or went home

Im with you Old School. I think I am fortunate in that my son didn't ever play with a -3 BESR, he had one two years ago but only used it in a handful of games (spring of '11). We moved to Ca at about 6 months ago and they had already switched to BBCOR out here. With all the hype and nonsense of BBCOR and its lack of performance, i decided to have him hit a wood bat all fall and winter. It seems to have paid off. He started swinging a -3 BBCOR two weeks ago and is hitting fine. I am glad i put a wood bat in his hands before we even went shopping for a BBCOR. He doesn't know any different

That all my son has hit with over the winter and that what he planing on hitting with this year.

When posters say metal vs. wood it is not really accurate. What they should say is metal or BBCOR vs. maple. The maple was not of MLB quality. We are having great success using hickory wood bats which out perform both maple and BBCOR because it is a much denser and harder wood than maple. Besides, players are finding out that hitting BBCOR in 40 degrees negates any perceived advantage. Texas recently banned heating or warming metal bats prior to using them in sanctioned games. We have high school teams that will be using hickory wood bats this high school season after having tried BBCOR in pre-season.

quote:

Originally posted by IEBSBL:
I coach in California Southern Section that used BBCOR last year. Due to the fact that BBCOR came in so late I allowed 3 players to use Wooden bats and I figured that they would go back to BBCOR this year. The 2 players that remain that were using wood want to continue to use wood. A lot of time when I post I am looking for opinion however in this case does anybody have any REAL evidence that can compare a BBCOR certified Wooden Bat with a BBCOR Bat in regards to performance.

Have these players try the Easton XL3. Swings like wood and perform great. I think they cost about $199. The power guys on our team love this bat.