Wood Bat vs. Metal Bat

I think somebody did a study maybe 8-10 years ago that found the difference was 10 feet or so -- but that was many years ago. If all the hype about bats could be believed (and of course, it can't), it would be a lot farther, but then again, it would depend on a lot of other factors like trajectory of certain types of hits, etc.

The distance thing doesn't bug me so much. If someone really nails a ball on the sweet spot, they deserve a decent hit. What I hate about metal bats is, you saw the guy off inside and he gets a blooper hit over your infielders' heads. You should be picking up splinters and getting an out, instead that guy's on base and you have a rally going.

A really strong guy can muscle a ball off the neck of the bat into the shallow outfield with a metal bat, much more often than with a wood bat. I think this has more to do with the increased batting averages than pure distance.

And some folks wonder how young pitchers get into the habit of not pitching inside! When you make it hard to get an out in there, and you have the risk of giving up a bomb, no wonder so many focus on the outer part of the plate.

THis is an interesting topic. This summer my son moves from high school to college ball. He is on 2 teams, one wood bat during the week and his weekend team in metal. SHould be an interesting look

its been my experience that if you have movement on your ball, it doesnt matter where you throw as long as your hitting your spots. Inside, outside, if there is good movement and decent velocity, its gonna be difficult to hit- with metal or wood.

Much smaller sweet spot with wood. Less margin for error with wood. You can still drive the ball with metal if you hook around a pitch etc. Wood is not as forgiving as metal. Wood brings out the flaws in a kids swing and will let you know real quick who really has power and who has metal power. Bat speed is not as citical with metal. It is vital and critical with wood.