Looking for a wood bat.

For BP, I would recommend a composite, it will last much longer. Try the Brett Bros. Bamboo Dragon. Reasonably priced, lasts a long time.

Baum bats are good, but pretty pricey.

Texan I will second that on the Brett Bamboo bat. Also I got my son a composite Louisville Slugger that lasted a long time almost a year. If your looking for a bp wood bat and are not going to use it in a game definitely go for the bamboo or the composite. For games I really like the easton pro maple bats. But it really is a personal preference kind of thing "handle etc etc". I love to see young guys swinging the wood. It says to me they are interested in working on their swing and not trying to see how far they can hit it with a nuclear device.

what about a mizuno. I'm looking into one but im wondering about their slim design and if that matters. Seems like Scott Rolen doesn't have a problem with them though.

Wood bats are going to break. Especially the thin handle models popular today. Maybe you'll get one to last a year or two. Or maybe you'll go through three or four in a season.

If you've got the bucks, go wood rather than composite. Try the Cheasapeake Thunder maples. You can essentially customer order the bat. Great quality.

Son has used the same DeMarini maple composite for BP for about a year and a half now. Highly recommend it. Not cheap, but very durable. He left it at school when he can home at Thanksgiving. Bought a cheap regular wood bat to get him through 3-4 BP sessions over the weekend. By Sunday, the grain had completely come apart.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Suellentrop:
Seems like Scott Rolen doesn't have a problem with them though.

The pros go through quite a few bats. But more importantly, you won't get the same quality wood in the Mizuno you buy as Rolen gets.

There are different grades of wood used for bats. The best goes to the MLB and from there it works its way down. What you get in the sporting goods store is the lowest quality wood. So you can't expect to get the same bat as Rolen is using.

I ordered my son's bats from this company last summer for his collegiate league:

http://www.newyorkmaplebats.com/

They did a great job and will customize the barrel and handle for you as well. Very reasonably priced.

Since you are discussing good sources for wood bats, I'll take this opportunity to welcome a new sponsor of the Hitting forum, Bullet Bats.

I appreciate their support of the HS Baseball Web, and encourage members to support them by checking out their website (click the ad on the side of this forum). Quality maple bats for $39.95!

Welcome, Bullet Bats!

Julie

Go with what Texan said. The Brett Bros. make outstanding wood bats. I've had one of those for about a year now and I still haven't broken it.

If you are looking at Bamboo be careful on your purchase. Some are made by taking small pieces of bamboo and glued up to make a billet that is put on a lathe just like a solid wood billet. Some only do the body in bamboo and have a wood handle. We bought 2 bats on ebay that claimed to be all bamboo from Frizell bats. When the bat broke in BP you could see that the all wood handle was glued to a bamboo body. Stick to the Brett and Minzuno high quality bamboo bats.

I have had excellant success with the Brett bats as well. I have heard from several high level hitting instructors to swing a wood bat that is 1 inch longer than your aluminum bat also. I know Epstein ascribes to this idea. It has something to do with their balance and leverage concerns. Just a thought

try metalwoodbats.com

they are amazing and for 50 bucks they will replace the barrel and grip..my last bat lasted 2yrs and i hit over 20,000 balls with it easliy

I bought a Bullet Bat about 4 months back...great bat with great pop. Very quick service too...the company is great. I definitely would recommend.

Just get a bat with a warranty and you will be fine. Demarini composite has 90 days, Mizuno Bamboo has 90 days, and Brett Brothers Gobon has 120 days for all the warranties. I've sold several dozen of all of them and all have held up just fine. If they break, you will get another one.

And no, not all retailers have the lowest quality wood made. There are different levels of ash and maple. Yes, the big box retailers will carry the worst wood for around $20 - 30. If you have baseball specialty stores around you, you can find M9's, Sam bats, or level 2 maple wood bats for $70 - 110.

What about the metal wood bats? My son has had one for a while and it seems to take punishment. He also has the metal wood short stroke bat and loves it.

I have a Louisville Slugger Pro Stock Lite that I have used since August and it has held up very well. I got it for about $40 at a local store.

6 MONTH Warranty on this Composite Bat!

Combat has now revolutionized wood. We have fused our composite handle with a Patented finger jointed tri-wood barrel for improved hitting performance and durability. Our new Tri-Wood barrel combines ultra hard hickory in the hitting zone for optimal performance and durability, ash at the taper for vibration reduction, and maple at the barrel end for optimized swing weight. Combat's Tri-Wood C105 is the only wood composite bat offering a six-month warranty, double any competitors for unsurpassed performance, durability and economics.

* Patented tri-wood barrel, composite handle
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BESR APPROVED

Model Lgt Wt Drop Barrel Loading Pattern
C105-32-29-BA 32" 29 -3 2.5 Bal P72
C105-33-30-BA 33" 30 -3 2.5 Bal P72
C105-34-31-BA 34" 31 -3 2.5 Bal P72

PM ME if your interested or want more details

This is actually my dad's account, but he's watching a game, so..

anyways, i'm a highschool freshman this year, but i've been using woods for BP for a while. Currently, im using a Tomcat bat. Very good, feels really nice, lots of pop, lasts a long time. Also, you can get them in a whole bunch of custom colours.

the bat im using right now is a sapphire-blue barrel with an emerald green handle. pretty cool.

you can also get some pretty neat sizes. the one i have is a 33" 29.5oz.

here's his site. its about $75, 2-3 weeks shipping usually

http://www.tomcatbats.com/

I looked on Ebay for a Louisville Slugger M9 in the 1XX model. That's the same grade and quality of wood you will see the professionals using. Paid about 80 bucks for it off of a former minor league player. After a year of batting practice/misc. use, it still has as much pop as a good slugger aluminum bat. It takes a little searching to find one, but they're great bats.

I got a Rawling BigStick 302FM Maple. I have had it for 2 years and hasnt broke. Only set me back 58 bux. It is top heavy and it is not a gradual increase. Good bat though

www.blastbat.com

These guys offer all styles, tapers and colors for a very reasonable price.

http://www.probats.net/catalog/product_info.php?pName=m...ball-bat-model-pb273

We have used wood bats from the following companies with good success:

www.promaplebats.com
www.maxbats.com

i got the mizuno bamboo but it broke in a tournament right on the handle. that's covered right?

I have a Baum Bat.. Pricey at $125, but they are 100% customizable. Your can get weighted for BP or 33 30 for game or what ever your want.. Well worth the mula, they dont break.