WOod at the cages?

I personally love using a wood bat when I take BP. I don't know what your strength level is, but when I started hitting with a wood bat 2 years ago, it put a little dip in my swing. That little dip caused my average to go down a little but I felt I was swinging much harder. I have since gotten stronger and fixed the dip, and my average has sky-rocketed. I hit the ball pretty consistently, and when I do get out, it is usually on a solid hit right at someone.

The wood bat that I swing is a Mizuno, and I absolutly love it. It has a lot of pop, and was much cheaper than the DeMarini compoiste bat (only $60). If you are only going to use the bat at the cage I wouldn't spend the money on something that expensive. If you start playing on a team that plays in wood bat games, then I would get it, but not now.

So long story short, your logic makes sense about the sweeat and you shouldn't get the expensive bat.

Kjam32

you will learn a "wood bat" swing. you will learn to hit the ball on a real sweet spot improving performance and you will get stronger since most are very topheavy. I use and it got me to hit harder and stay more consistant.

quote:

Originally posted by kjam32:

So long story short, your logic makes sense about the sweeat and you shouldn't get the expensive bat.

Kjam32

Awesome man, thanks a lot for your input. Is it the Mizuno classic? If it is, I will purchase it in all black.

quote:

Originally posted by LHP2140:

Awesome man, thanks a lot for your input. Is it the Mizuno classic? If it is, I will purchase it in all black.

Yeah, the one I have is the Mizuno classic. I just absolutly love it. It has so much pop for a wood bat at the price level. I take mine in the Cherry, but that's just because it goes with my teams colors. lol.

Good luck with your hitting,

Kjam32

p.s. When I put "sweeat" I meant to put "sweat spot" I guess I mixed the two together. My bad.

If you can feel the weight of the bat head in the swing then you are 'carrying' the bat through the zone.

Try to swing the bat so that the bat head is set in motion and then just guide your hands, and thus the bat, to the ball.

A bat head properly set in motion would become almost weightless.

quote:

Originally posted by CAVPRIDE_UKNOW:
you will learn a "wood bat" swing. you will learn to hit the ball on a real sweet spot improving performance and you will get stronger since most are very topheavy. I use and it got me to hit harder and stay more consistant.

That's exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks bro

quote:

Originally posted by kjam32:

quote:

Originally posted by LHP2140:

Awesome man, thanks a lot for your input. Is it the Mizuno classic? If it is, I will purchase it in all black.

Yeah, the one I have is the Mizuno classic. I just absolutly love it. It has so much pop for a wood bat at the price level. I take mine in the Cherry, but that's just because it goes with my teams colors. lol.

Good luck with your hitting,

Kjam32

p.s. When I put "sweeat" I meant to put "sweat spot" I guess I mixed the two together. My bad.

I knew what you meant. Thanks for the help. I'm going to go with black even though it doesn't match my school or summer team. It's pretty neutral anyway. Do you tape the handle or use pine tar or both?

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
If you can feel the weight of the bat head in the swing then you are 'carrying' the bat through the zone.

Try to swing the bat so that the bat head is set in motion and then just guide your hands, and thus the bat, to the ball.

A bat head properly set in motion would become almost weightless.

I will keep this in mind when I get it. Thanks

Majority of breaks on a wood bat are on the handle. Try the Mizuno Bamboo bat or maybe the Brett Bros. bats for longer life. L. Slugger TPX Composite is a good long lasting wood bat as well.

quote:

Originally posted by LHP2140:
I knew what you meant. Thanks for the help. I'm going to go with black even though it doesn't match my school or summer team. It's pretty neutral anyway. Do you tape the handle or use pine tar or both?

I do a little of both. I usually put a bit of tape right on the knob, just to make it a little thicker. Then I will put on the pine tar, not a whole lot, but enough. After that I do a criss-cross pattern up the bat. It ends up looking pretty awesome, not to mention it feels great too. I also usually put a thin strip of tape (only about a centimeter thick) right where I should put my fingers on a bunt. I don't know why I do it, maybe its just the comfort of knowing it's there.

Just the way I do things,

Kjam32

Wood bats are the only way to go, if you ask me. I have a bunch of great custom turned bats from Andre at NYStixs that were really cheap ($40-45 each) and outstanding quality with all custom colors, weights, and sizes. They aren't legal for use in the MLB since he doesn't have certification, but that doesn't mean you can't use them in amateur leagues or to take batting practice!

Your a smart young man. It will make you a better hitter. With wood you get instant feedback on your swing. Learning how to hit the sweetspot on wood will allow you to barrell many more balls with metal. Make sure you dont swing a wood bat that is too heavy. You dont want to get into bad habits because the bat is too heavy. But the fact is guys that swing wood alot usually have no trouble mashing with metal. Good luck to you. You have the right mentality.

Using wood in the cage is a very good idea. Our coach prefers us to use wood until february. Once feb. comes around, a lot of the team goes to metal. I tend to stay with wood throughout the season, especially if it is similar weight/balance. The freshmen tend to stick with aluminum throughout january and obviously the season, because they haven't really been seen by the coaches (maybe a few middle school games) and need to make the team.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach May:
Your a smart young man. It will make you a better hitter. With wood you get instant feedback on your swing. Learning how to hit the sweetspot on wood will allow you to barrell many more balls with metal. Make sure you dont swing a wood bat that is too heavy. You dont want to get into bad habits because the bat is too heavy. But the fact is guys that swing wood alot usually have no trouble mashing with metal. Good luck to you. You have the right mentality.

Thanks a lot, thats exactly the idea. I'm looking at -3 bats so I should be good to go.

I got a mizuno 33" maple and hit off the tee until I hit in the cage today, I was dropping my shoulder (probably because of the heavier bat) so I will concentrate on keeping weight back.

Start your swing as if if you were throwing the bat at the base in front of you. (First base for a righty, third base for a lefty)

By doing so you will put the bat head in motion and thus the bat will seem lighter.

Hold on to the bat and guide your hands to and thru the ball.

Let the bat do the work.

Dropping your shoulder is a sign that you are carrying the bat rather than swinging it.

Thanks, thats what my hitting coach said but he worded it different. I will work on it, this thread has been very helpful.

I think a lot of very good stuff has been said here and I don't want to repeat it but there are two things that were mentioned that i believe deserve elaboration.

First, wooden bats are better cold weather bats than metal for several reasons but the two main ones for me are wood bats don't sting as bad and many metal bats lose their warranty if they are used on baseballs or practice plastic balls when the temperature is below a certqain number.
Second, an unvarnished, light colored wood bat can show you exactly where you are hitting a baseball by checking out the marks where this is not available when you hit with a metal bat.

My son prefers a wooden bat in the cage and though he might only stop to check the mark on his bat one out of every 10 times, it is helpful nonetheless.

TW344

have you ever broken a wooden bat in the cages? and how frequently?

I use wood in the cages.It helps you actually hit the ball on the "sweet spot",rather than getting away with hits on the end of an aluminum bat.Its also a bit heavier so it helps with bat speed too

quote:

Originally posted by Coach May:
...With wood you get instant feedback on your swing...

Took the words out of my mouth

Yea man, get the Louisville Slugger C271 Hard Maple. No tape. No pinetar. Use a par of batting gloves and get the best grip ever. I use a 33" but I think Im moving to a 34". These bats are smaller in the barrel and handle, so you can go to a longer bat if you have to. I think this is the model Arod and Manny use, but Im not sure. I know a lot of major leaguers use it.

Ive never broken a wood bat on the handle, but if you buy the C271 Ash I have had plenty of face cracks on the barrel. I usually just hit with maple its the best way to go.

Just repeating what many already said. Wood is the way to go in the cages. My son started hitting with a wood bat a few years before hitting MS. He was able to switch from a -9 to a -3 with no problem. He is hitting the ball solid with majority of them being gap doubles and triples.

Excellent choice to go wood in the cage. Said before many many times by reader and posters in the forum its instant feed back.

On the means of price of wood bats, i would say a composite because you dont risk shatter on hitting the top of the bat or the handle. If you think about it, 125 for a baum bat that is nearly impossible to break as to a maple or an ash, your not looking for the pop from the type of wood so it seems better to make 100% sure that you wont break your bat and set you back a week of training.


But either way you cant go wrong, its baseball!

I like the dimarini composite bats. They have a lot of pop and are very durable. They also have a 3 month warranty.