Trying Wood?

I'm going back a ways in my memory bank to pull out answers about bat weight at age 12 BUT ..

2 OR 3 ounces at that age, or just about any age, is a bunch of weight difference! There also is a difference in weight distribution. Generally, wood is more head heavy while metal are more evenly distributed enabling better bat control for the younger guys.

I'd probably stick with metal as long as possible for those reasons while having him begin to train with wood when he's physically able to handle the extra weight. The biggest difference is in the forgiveness (bigger sweet spot) of metal. His son will have a "down" hitting year if he goes to wood!
Although, the sooner he begins to practice and work with wood the better hitter he will become.

Mine began using Wood for cage drills at around age 13 and exclusively for training and Summer Leagues at age 15..

When we were playing in those leagues and a player got to be 13 he went to a -8 0r -7 bat. So a 12 year old (if already a decent hitter with good mechanics) should be able to make the move and handle the additional 2 ounces.

When our kids were that age they used a "wrist roll" with a 2 pound weight which really helped their forearm and wrist/hand strength. I would encourage this training if the player was planning on making the jump.

I believe it will only help him as he continues to develop, assuming he is already an advanced player for his age. If he is marginal or average stay with metal.

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"Trying Wood?"

Ask the guy on the right. He'll give you a straight up answer.





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Hey Gotwood, that was really helpful, now I can see the difference clearly!

quote:

Originally posted by floridafan:
Hey Gotwood, that was really helpful, now I can see the difference clearly!

Well, it's obvious the "ant" "ain't" gonna know the difference.

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Glad I could help floridafan. If anyone is getting worked up about those little critters then I suggest they calm down and have a listen.

And what can I say papi? I guess that's what uncles are for.

Enough of this Public Service Announcement. Now back to our regularly scheduled program...



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Trying wood? The democrats in Chicago have been doing that for years to Gotwood4sale's patience!

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:
Trying wood? The democrats in Chicago have been doing that for years to Gotwood4sale's patience!

I would go wood if the kid can swing it correctly. It's head-heavy and the smaller sweet spot will help him to become a more focussed hitter.

In general, my son (14U) lost about 10%. He is an-opposite way line drive hitter and with metal could go 300 into the RF gap. With wood, that dropped to about 270. I switched him about a month into the season. It kind of balanced out. Although he lost a bit of average due to the sweet spot, he gained because the fielders were out farther, not realizing he had made the change. I switched him back to metal a month before playoffs.

Ithink it gave him a little more forearm strength by the end of the summer.

He can move freely between bats with a bit of a workout the day before. He likes the sound and feel off wood. He normally hits an EXO stiffer bat.

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Let me help you al322. I think Tx is really referring to corrupt politicians, from both sides of the aisle, who have collectively driven the Land of Lincoln to the very precipice of bankruptcy. We have lost a Congressional seat because of the outflow of taxpayers who have had enough.

Unfortunately the voters in Chicago and Cook Co. keep electing these sleazy fat cats. As Chicago and Cook Co. goes, so goes the entire State of Illinois. Frustrating.

And unfortunately we didn't learn our lesson. We re-elected most of them again. The Governor's plan to bail out his rear? Tripling or even quadrupling the state income tax. Spending cuts? What spending cuts? It stinks!

Is all of this very, very trying? Yes indeed!

And everyone had better pray for Rahm, the next mayor of the City of Chicago. It's going to go down in flames if hard, difficult decisions aren't made fast! And if the City of Chicago goes spinning out of control so will the entire state.

Their Sugar Daddy, the Federal Government, the one they were hoping to save them, is broke. They're not in much better shape than the State of Illinois.

It all is unsustainable...simple as that!



Back to baseball...

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Thanks for the input so far. I can see there are a couple schools of thought on this topic. To confirm my understanding, I’ll try to summarize what I’ve learned so far.

One set of responders advises to me make careful consideration of the situation prior to making any switch. Insure the Player has a fundamentally sound swing, the focus to work on his hitting and do research into a strengthening program to augment development.

The second school fears that termites may infect the barrel of a wood bat, causing the federal budget to blow out of socialist proportion and putting baseball in jeopardy of being ruined by anchor babies.



I do appreciate any and all thoughts. Please keep them coming.

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You're a good sport CABBallFan.



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This is what I came up with on google, which gives you some idea--

"In 2007, the Ridgefield Little League majors division switched to wood bats for the regular season. We played 106 games, including playoffs, using wood bats. During these 106 games, five balls were hit over the fence for home runs. We allowed our players to switch to metal bats for the Connecticut District 1 Little League All-Star tournament. After our first five games, and against the best pitching in the district, our players hit six home runs over the fence, including one that went approximately 300 feet.”

106 games with wood, 5 home runs
5 games with metal/comp, 6 home runs

http://skallas.wordpress.com/2...llas-and-rick-wolff/

The Power Showcase was just held in Arizona. I understand they used both wood and metal for this homerun contest. The winner hit 30 out of the park. 29 with the metal bat and 1 with wood.

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
The Power Showcase was just held in Arizona. I understand they used both wood and metal for this homerun contest. The winner hit 30 out of the park. 29 with the metal bat and 1 with wood.

Was it a metal BBCOR bat or BESR? Thanks.

I don't know

Think about it by grade level instead of age. This is similar to how my son transtioned to different waits.

6th Grade = -10 or -8
7th Grade = -5
8th Grade = -3

As for wood, I'd start him in the cage during his 7th grade year (all the way through high school). I would only have him use wood during "wood bat" tourneys or during blowout games.

typo - should have said weights and not waits

My son is only a year plus out of LL, so I’ll come out of lurking to share my experience.

If your “friend’s” son is a good hitter with strength and solid mechanics, he will be okay. The strongest hitter on my son’s team his 12 year-old season used a regular old maple SamBat, and he stayed one of the better hitters in the league. His wood bat arrived a few games into the season. Literally the first time he swung it was in a game, and the result was a line shot well over the fence. He was a solid, but not huge, kid with a very good swing and continued to hit well with wood.

On the other side of the coin, I coached a fall ball season in the league when it had decided to experiment with wood. Teams consisted of mostly lesser-developed 10 and 11 year-olds, and the results were pretty dismal. The few good 12's could still hit weak pitching hard, but not many other balls made it out of the infield, let alone to the fence. At that time (about 3 years ago) the lightest wood bat I could find was a -5 bamboo bat. A -6 or -7 bat could help that some, but probably won’t make that much difference unless the player is already a good hitter.

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Lurk no more '15 Dad! Welcome to the bright lights of the HSBBW. We look forward to more of your input.




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Thanks for all the input. For what it’s worth, I’ll let you know what I’ve processed so far. Admittedly, this is context of my son’s … err, my friend’s son’s … experiences, so it’s not be taken as a model for everyone.

From the feedback here and the conversations I’ve had in the real world, it sounds like the difference between swinging a Wood & a Metal bat in a game situation is substantial. A homerun shot off a metal bat is a fly-out off wood. A grounder that may or may not be run out off a metal is definitely a slow-slow roller back to the pitcher for an easy out at first off wood.

For my son, the “future” will come sometime this summer when the Spring season is finished and he’s aged out of Youth-Ball and jumps onto the bottom rung of the next ladder. The 12 week LL Season will be his, and his friends, moment in the sun where they’ll be the biggest boys on the diamond and the coolest kids at the snack-bar. Soon enough he’s going to feel the walls of the funnel narrowing and the persistent pressure of perform; no reason to burden him now by imposing a major leap in equipment on him.

In short, I’ll repeat the mantra: Enjoy the ride.

CABBallFan:
This season will be fun for your son. And you are right to enjoy it but not make too much of it. He and his buddies will own the small field this year, but the big field will own them next year.

gotwood:
This place is the best. Thanks for the welcome to the bright lights. I'll just keep my sunglasses on for a while.

Baseball Fan and 15 DAD'

Where do you live in California. We ordered too many size 32" SSK maple bats for Australia. The majority of our players use 33", 33.5" and 34".
We broke only 5 bats in 44 games.

If you are interested, I can sell the bats for $70.00 including shipping in California.

Bob Williams
<bobw.24@goodwillseries.org>

Bob W:

I am in the Bay Area on the Peninsula. My son has a wood bat he uses in the cage. I don't know how soon he may use one for a game/tournament, though if yours are better than the retail store grade, it is an interesting offer. It I'll PM you.