Metal Bat Pop Ups

HC,
Usually metal bats are balanced (not end loaded like wooden bats) making them easier to swing and create higher bat speeds. My son uses an EXO which is end loaded and he can hit almost as well with a wood bat. Your son might like an end loaded aluminum bat. Try a different bat or two.

Easton are the first bats to advertise what the swing weight / (End load Vs Balance) of a bat is, Check out there web site.

Thanks. BBK, the bat in question is an EXO! What now???

Is the aluminum bat a -3 or bigger drop? Equivalent numbers don't necessarily mean a wood bat will feel the same as an aluminum bat. Could the aluminum bat, with its more balanced feel, be changing his mechanics? I'd compare the two swings with video and check.
I found this to be the case with my swing. After swinging a 35/32 wood bat for years I joined an 18u league and everybody was using aluminum bat. So, I went out and bought a high dollar 34/31 aluminum bat thinking it would help my game. No way! I realized I must have changed my swing to compensate for the different feel of the new bat. I switched back to wood after a month or so and started to hit again. A slight change can cause big problems.

That is probably exactly what happens. He still gets as many hits with the metal bat but the outs are almost all pop outs. That never happened with wood and also never happened with any of the DeMarini bats he used prior to the EXO. Maybe it's time to switch back.

My son just finished college and is now in a wood bat league. When he was younger he hit with wood all the time. he is having difficulty with wood bat. It is true that the metal he uses has even distribution, while his wood is more barrel heavy.The problem he has is making solid contact with the wood and not striking out but he is grounding out a lot. he has good bat speed,but I think he needs to go middle away on the plater and go opposite field, hes hitting a lot of groundballs to ss.
He has been a good hitter, but hes struggling with the adjustment. I almost wonfer if he should go to a top heavy bat with aluminum next year,so its not so much of an adjustment. any ideas?? Never had any probelm with wood until this summer. Hes only had 8 games so far. Hoping he makes the adjustment.

Fan of the game;

What college league is your son playing?

If you are close to Santa Rosa, I have SSK maple and ash bats. Also a 34" cage bat 36 ounce.

If he hitting to SS, his bat is "rolling" over
and he is hitting on the "upper" half of the ball.

Back off the plate, mentally place Left center field as your foul line. The swing should be a "push"
swing.

Maybe he can "chop" wood to develop the swing.

I have several trees to "chop" this week.

Bob Williams
<rwilliams@goodwillseries.org>

PS: maybe he can play in our "Marshall Brant" Invitational August 1-2-3

I take BP with wood bats (I swing 33/30) and I also use an EXO, the thing about the EXO is that the handle is very wide compared to other bats so it's possible that if he used pine tar on his wood bats or had very thin bat tape that he isn't used to the handle width.