Wooden Bats

Wood is the only way to go. You might break a few in the beginning but eventually you will learn what good pitches to swing at are. Wood bats let you learn how to hit. The transition to metal after swinging wood all winter should feel like you have a light ball-mashing weapon in your hand. Hoosier Bats are always my favorite, talk to Dave Cook.

Keep working hard,
Justin Stringer
Do It Right Baseball
Lane Tech Baseball
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Train with wood bats all the time. It not only will strengthen muscles that are utilized only during the actual swing, but it has a self correcting nature as well. WHen the kids swing incorrectly or at a bad ball, they will know---especially during those cold March practices.

any word on wood bats being accepted for catholic league play this year?

Wood bats fit in well in a program designed to increase overall bat speed. Generally, training with overweight (such as wooden) bats, then underweight (such as youth alloy) bats provides the kind of varied resistance that will improve overall speed and power.

There are even a few bat-weight-adjustment systems on the market to work on this--though we have not used them. One item that is a good training device is the Akadema Barbell Bat (http://www.akademapro.com/woodbats.html). The Barbell bat is HEAVY and works well when doing tee work.

A word of caution: when using wooden bats, a batter's muscles tire more quickly than with lighter bats. When muscles tire, mechanics begin to suffer. There is never an advantage to taking more swings with poor mechanics becuase of tired muscles. Also, bat speed and power are important measures only if one makes contact with the ball.

We have used wooden bats primarily because they have a smaller sweet spot(about 50%less) so it is more difficult to get a good hit. The theory is the hitter has to be more skilled to get a better hit, so when the batter switches to the metal bat he has the advantage of a larger sweet spot and so the hits hopefully come easier.
The heavier wooden bat is a problem for the smaller players especially when they are younger and still developing their swing so we go with their lighter metal bats.
The Brett Brothers Bat Company will sell you a wooden bat with a 90 day warranty so check them out.
They are also reps for bamboo bats which are claimed to be more durable because of the laminated construction but I have no experience with them yet.

If you're a pro prospect, by all means learn to hit with wood.

If you're a high school player and they don't use wood anywhere, use the metal bats.

You put up better numbers with metal bats and no one really cares about wood except if you are a pro prospect.

Most showcases for the high school player require that they take their batting practice with wood . Its a good idea to get used to wood by working out with it as much as possible . My kid actually prefers wood anytime hes working out in the cage . I think he enjoys listening to the crack of the bat versus the ping .

As long as the player is strong enough to use wood while working out , then i dont believe there is any downside to it. You cant cheat with it and it can only help your swing become better. No big deal readjusting to aluminum when its time .

ive had a demarnini wood bat for about at year and i havent broke it and it came with a warranty so i really enjoyed it. And i think that wood is defenitly the way to go in the off season. It really helps once u get back to metal.

Another thing you might consider is taping your wood bat barrel to prolong its life. Especially if your main purpose is to use it just for bp. Most players just use athletic tape.

For the most part you could start swinging a wood bat once your summer season is over. Their really is three main categories of wood bats. maple ash and composite. each have different ups and downs all depending on what you like and do not like. Also you can get deals on buying more then one bat at a time.

Pro prospect or D3 prospect....using wood is great and you will become a better hitter over time but for new users...do not stop because it doesnt make a cool sound and doesnt go as far

Use wood all fall and winter right up to tryouts if you are a high school player. Some still use them during hgih school for drills and then take final bp with aluminum for the game. A suggestion for where to buy them try diablo bats out of arizona, good quality maple bats that last.

We used wooden bats for the summer high school season. Our program purchased twenty bats from a company called Trinity and only broke three bats playing in over twenty games. I personally have used a company called SamBat. Many big league guys use sam bats now and the company gained prominence when Bonds started using them.

My son trains with a Baum Bat in the offseason. He uses a heavy, 33/33 both for tee work, soft toss and hitting live. He'll go down to his metal 33/30 for the HS season and then will use wood exclusively this summer.

My suggestion would be to find yourself a good maple or two and use it for Fall ball and for all your indoor workouts throughout the Winter right up to Spring time tryouts. For pitching machine cages I would suggest to get a composite, most batting cage operators frown on wood...

Personally, I think all high school and college players should train with wood in the off season. When I was in college I wouldn't pick up an aluminum bat until game time, used wood in the cage and BP; when I picked up the aluminum again it felt like I was swinging nothing and made a huge difference. Good way to become a great hitter.

Also, a composite is a good way to go, same feel and don't usually break.