Wood Bat Rules

quote:

Originally posted by timmyk:
Hi I am wondering if wood bats have to be drop 3 in High School baseball?

No.

quote:

Originally posted by timmyk:
Hi I am wondering if wood bats have to be drop 3 in High School baseball?

No - and if you weigh them, you will find that many wood bats are -4/-5. Some are -0.

Find a model you like (swing test) then grab about 5 of those off the rack and ask the store manager to weigh them. If you are in a sporting goods store that is not as baseball savvy as others (sports authority), have the fishing department guy weigh them with a fish scale...

So there is no problem buying a drop 5 wood bat for my son for high school?

quote:

Originally posted by timmyk:
Hi I am wondering if wood bats have to be drop 3 in High School baseball?

Now I don’t know where the other folks got their rules, but unless NFHS has changed the rules in the last year, Rule 1-3-4 says a bat shall not weigh, numerically, more than 3 ounces less than the length of the bat. That’s a drop 3 and its not limited to non-wood.

Do yourself a favor and contact your local umpire’s assn., and ask them.

timmyk - i sent you a PM.

Per Fed rules, if it is a solid (one-piece) wood bat then it is legal. If it is a built-up or composite wood bat then it is must satisfy the same rules as non-wood bats (must have BBCOR stamp and be drop 3 or less).

Aside from the rules, you might also consider durability issues with drop 5 wood bats. They tend to break much easier because the wood is less dense.

Stats4Gnats, the rule changed two years ago (in the 2011 edition).

You can buy one if you can find one. Where can you find wood bats lighter than -3?

Well I emailed Louisville Slugger and they say their M9 wood bats range from drop 5 and lower

Timmyk

Is it ash or maple? How long was the wood seasoned before making the bat?
Jerry is correct; pro wood is never -3 ounces.
Buy a -3 and have your son "choke up" like Bonds and Ted Williams.

If you are in Escondido, August 18-19, we can discuss "making the bat".

We will have the SSK pro wood bats from Japan for the HS players at this Rays tryout
at Escondido HS in August.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by Kaizen:
Stats4Gnats, the rule changed two years ago (in the 2011 edition).

That's why there was a caveat there. I'll get the new book this afternoon. Thanx for the head's up.

timmyK,

I can't argue if Louisville told you that. The M9s are Maple and maple is even a heavier wood than ash. -5 seems almost impossible without a narrow barrel or a real deep cup. Typically they might make the handle real skinny to lighten the bat, but I've not seen any -5 maple bats. BTW, the real skinny handles are a major reason for breakage. -3 is the lightest I have seen. That said, I sure don't know it all and I sure wouldn't claim to know as much as Louisville Slugger when it comes to bats.

We actually toured the Louisvile Slugger factory and Museum last month. They took us into a vault like room that had every model ever produced. On display in the museum was the bat that Babe Ruth hit his 60th HR with. That bat looked more like +30. It had little notches around the trademark. Guess Babe would carve in a notch for every HR. There is one special machine that makes Major League players bats and spits them out in seconds. While we were there they were making bats for Joey Votto.

Anyway, pretty interesting if you're ever in Louisville.

.

And if you're ever in Whittleboro,VT...



Plan a day or two...they'll have a bat for you like no other!


"Welcome to the HSBBW timmyk!"......"Pull up a seat and stay a decade or two!"

.

The LS ash pro stock lites are about -5. As PGStaff said, maple is typically heavier.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Williams:
Timmyk

....Buy a -3 and have your son "choke up" like Bonds and Ted Williams.

Bob

Yes, Bonds would choke up on the bat.
Yes, Williams would discuss 'Be Quick With The Bat'
and would ask "How do you do that?" and answer " You choke up a little bit."

However, Ted Williams never choke up on the bat when he was hitting. Period.

So the what's the consensus for a wood drop 5 for NFHS in the 2012/13 season? Legal? My son is going into middle school, (7th grade), next year and the middle school follows the same NFHS rules as the high school. He's about 5' 1" and weighs about 95 lbs soaking wet. I looked at a 31" drop 3 BBCOR at the store and I have a hard time picturing him swinging it... He'd basically be going from a 24oz bat in little league to a 28oz bat. I've seen 29"/26oz drop 3 BBCORs online... maybe that's a better bet than a pencil thin wooden bat?

Here's the complete list of BBCOR approved bats:

http://www.mme.wsu-ssl.org/certifiedbaseballbats.aspx

You can sort by wood... You can go through and see if there's a -5 bat in there somewhere...

My opinion: He needs to swing a -3, Metal or Composite BBCOR (not wood)... Regardless of size he needs to get used to it.

Good luck..

wej68 Posted July 05, 2012 06:17 PM
So the what's the consensus for a wood drop 5 for NFHS in the 2012/13 season? Legal? My son is going into middle school, (7th grade), next year and the middle school follows the same NFHS rules as the high school. He's about 5' 1" and weighs about 95 lbs soaking wet. I looked at a 31" drop 3 BBCOR at the store and I have a hard time picturing him swinging it... He'd basically be going from a 24oz bat in little league to a 28oz bat. I've seen 29"/26oz drop 3 BBCORs online... maybe that's a better bet than a pencil thin wooden bat?[/quote]

My recommendation for a balanced bat choices for 1st time BBCOR users- 30" 27 oz. or 31" 28 oz.

*High value to price choices-

2012 Louisville Slugger TPX Vertex BBCOR: $99.99
2012 Rawlings Plasma BBCOR $109.99


*Moderately price choices-

2012 Louisville Slugger TPX Z-1000 BBCOR: $199.99
2012 Rawlings 5150 Alloy BBCOR: $199.99


*Higher end choices-

2011 Easton Omen BBCOR: $219.99
2012 DeMarini CF5 BBCOR: $249.99
2012 Easton S1 BBCOR: $399.00

* These bats in many cases can be purchased for less then retail by a savvy intranet shopper.

quote:

Originally posted by wej68:
So the what's the consensus for a wood drop 5 for NFHS in the 2012/13 season? Legal? My son is going into middle school, (7th grade), next year and the middle school follows the same NFHS rules as the high school. He's about 5' 1" and weighs about 95 lbs soaking wet. I looked at a 31" drop 3 BBCOR at the store and I have a hard time picturing him swinging it... He'd basically be going from a 24oz bat in little league to a 28oz bat. I've seen 29"/26oz drop 3 BBCORs online... maybe that's a better bet than a pencil thin wooden bat?

Don’t go breaking the bank, that’s for sure. He is going to grow out of it before you know it. Check out the LS Pro Stock lite (ash). It is usually less than -3 and it is 30 bucks. If he can hit with that, he will do just fine. No need to spend a ton on a BBCOR bat that he 1. doesn’t need for another 2 years and 2. he will grow out of sooner than you think. You said the middle school follows the same NFHS rules as the high school, are you SURE that applies to the bat size as well? May want to double check that one.

Thanks guys. I did email the 7th grade coach and he confirmed the bat rules are the same for the 7th grade team as the high school. He suggested wood too and to not go overboard on the $. I think I'll just get a cheap, 30", -3 wood or BBCOR bat for the off-season and just let him get used to it, (just in the cage). Hopefully he hits his growth spurt before the 8th grade season!

Now I need to start worrying about switching him from the LL 46' pitching distance to 60.5'...