What is a good wood bat

Best all-around wood bat is the Brett Dragon - BESR certified, multilaminate bamboo/maple. $59. online from Brett Bats.

We've had great success with TomCat maple bats. They're from Canada I believe their website is www.tomcatbats.com. My son had one for 2 years before he broke it. He used it everyday in practice, and in wood bat tournaments all summer and fall before breaking it. I would highly recommend.

Frank Coit
Head Coach
San Diego Prospects Basbeall Club

check out this company NYStixs.. good pricing. I used my neighbors in bp. www.nystixs.com

I have swung most wood bats, the best out there is Sam bat.

Take a look at this article.

http://amarillonet.com/stories/050504/hss_batmen.shtml

The summer team I work for Ordered 6 dozen Zorian Bats last year and they were so popular, they got 13 dozen this year. They are a little more pricey than other wood bats, but they have many model options, color options and handle options, and after hitting with them myself, I was extremely impressed. They seem to break less frequently as well, as compared to the Louisville's some of the players still use.

http://www.zorianbats.com/bats.html

i must say i would go with the X Bats... i got one last year and i must say its done some great damage on the field.. sort of costly... but worth it.. i havent snapped it yet in over a year

sam bat for sure.
worth the price!

All of the above bats are of great quality, I wouldnt mind any of my players stepping up to the plate with any of them.

But I have to be biased and list our 2 sponsors who also make quality wood bats.

Akadema
&
Viper Bats

We can sell them at a discount you if interested please PM me.

I also like Mash Bats, and Old Hickory Bats.

Mike, I talk to Don Fine almost every day, he's a great guy and knows his stuff!

Chris Flores

Gloveman, your 100% correct, Don is great, and has been great to us. Can't ask for a better product and customer service then what Viper Bats provides.

Take a look at RSP/Probats --we use them they rarely break-- our players like them immensely

www.probats.net

TR,
My son uses ProBats! He has not had 1 break yet. Great bats, great price, great customer service! BD

Have to agree with the Sam Bat... Son has used 1 for over a year, still perfect. About $90, but well worth the additional $$'s. Used in several tournaments (5-6), fallball, and now fallball again...
He'd gone thru about 3 DBat's maple in a season, never again...

I am of the opinion that a bat is only as good as the wood it is made from and the mfg. is not nearly as important as we are led to believe. Another thing I noticed is the difference in opinion as to what constitutes quality wood, especially in an ash bat. Did you know that many minor leaguers will frequently purchase their own bats because the bats provided aren’t from the best stock? That ought to tell you what the high school player will end up with.
During my son’s pro tryouts, I purchased two maple bats from Sambat out of Canada. This bat came highly recommended at that time. We weren’t as lucky with the Sambat as baseballmom’s son. One of my son’s broke within the first week and the other broke a short time later. $180.00 down the tube. I then purchased two more maple bats from Old Hickory Bat Company from Tennessee. More in the $50.00 per bat range. I was more impressed with the Old Hickory bats but again, they eventually ended up in the kindling pile within the year. Maple seems to be a softer wood and more susceptive to “denting” from the impact of the ball. Both the Sambat and Old Hickory were personalized with my son’s name but the finish on the Old Hickory Bat was far superior.
The Baum bat is a good bat but understand it is a composite bat and not a true “wood” bat. I think using the Baum bat MIGHT lead a hitter into a false sense of security because of their exceptional durability. This summer my son played at the Cape and their team used wood bats manufactured by the Barnstable Bat Company on the Cape and the SW (solid wood) Bat Company out of Richmond, VA. He said the Barnstable bat was a very good wood bat (ash). He said it was as good as any bat he had ever used. If I had it to do over again, I would stick with the ash bat and educate myself a little more on being able to determine good wood stock and go from there.
Fungo

fungo,

from learning what to look for in the wood, here's my 2 cents of knowledge...

1.grain should be as straight as possible.
every now & then you'll see a wave or ripple in the grain... this will be a weakspot, so beware.

2. grain should be wider layer & evenly spaced. This indicates to me that the tree has grown equally from year to year.

3. when hitting, label up, perpendicular to line of the ball meeting the bat.

My son is credited for my knowledge... Someone Very wise must have told him.
Or... maybe he just "lucked out" with this bat!
Anyway, it has been a "good 'un"

Maple is a hard wood, ash soft...now, that I know is fact!!

One last thing... He won't buy a "painted" bat... Natural stain or cherry stain only...so he can see the grain (and maybe a "luck" thing, too.

If you know of someone playing in the minor league system, ask them to get you one of the professional bats that they use. Only players in the professional ranks can buy these bats as they are made from the choicest hickory. You will pay $80-100 for the used ones in very good condition. The advantage of these bats are they are so dense that, but for the weight, they perform as well as aluminum

I usually dont bat with wood, but im around at all the showcases and i see what all the top hitting prospects are using, a lot of them use X-bat, then Striker Bats are popular too, mainly cus they took about 10 a piece for free at AFLAC lol, but ya, i'd have to say X-bat and Striker are the more popular wood bats with upcoming prospects.

Barnstable Bats in MA - the bat of choice for many of the teams in the Cape Cod league.

IMO the Old Hickory bats are the best on the market. They are all made from the rock hard maple and everyone (MLB, minor league players & amateurs) gets the same grade of wood. Old Hickory bat company procduced the bat that was used to win the MLB Homerun Derby last season. Keep in mind that this company does not pay the MLB players to use their products.

We used maple at our events this year

Each showcase 100 players with 15 swings each against a machine and none broke

That is 3000 swings,many by kids who never swung wood before

We also used them in team events including the World Bat Championship

We had 24 and only 2 bats broke

RSP bats from Pro Bats--we swear by them

That is why they are the official bat of College Select Baseball

a great bat that just came out that alex rodriguez and all the major league players are now starting to use are Old Hickery bats they are a great wooden back to play with

Simply the best.

Dbats

CV

Abats from upstate ny are as good as any, better price and you can get custom knobs, barrels,
names engraved ,and colors, usually in 2 to 3 weeks. they also have in stock bats without these choices of course you can get in a few days
superior bat co

a very small company in Indiana makes some good wood bats.....www.hoosierbats.com

If you have the $, sambats are def great...but these are reasonable and will last

My son loves the RSP from Pro Bats. He bought one at the College Select Event that lasted him over a year and 100's of swings. We have since ordered the model he likes and Pro Bats sends them out right away. He has broken 2 in 2 years and almost 75 wood bat games. Custom colorrs and sizes made to order, great gifts.

The mape C271 by Louisville Slugger. Hands down I think its one of the best bats you can by. It feels just like my metal bat and a ton of mlb guys use them!

X-Bat, several of my teamates have used mine and they really liked it.