Wooden Bats vs. Metal Bats

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Hammerin'Hank

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151 posts
Nov 26, 2009 8:38 PM
Should high schools and colleges outlaw aluminum bats? What do you think?
Nov 26, 2009 8:38pm
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BlueDevil11

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1,911 posts
Nov 26, 2009 8:44 PM
I am beginning to think that colleges should outlaw aluminum bats.
Those kids are to big, strong, and talented to use those. Someone is going to get seriously hurt or killed as hard as they can hit the ball.
In high school the kids are not big enough or strong enough to get rid of aluminum bats.
Nov 26, 2009 8:44pm
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catchr22

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72 posts
Nov 26, 2009 9:03 PM
If you check the studies that have been done, I believe you will find that the majority of injuries have occurred in amateur programs. The older kids are bigger and stronger and pull the ball more often than the younger kids.
Nov 26, 2009 9:03pm
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TBone14

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6,383 posts
Nov 28, 2009 3:28 PM
College should be wooden..high school is fine how it is.
Nov 28, 2009 3:28pm
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darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Nov 28, 2009 8:28 PM
I think you need to go back to wood across the board. Metal was the great equalizer for such a long time; it was designed to give everybody a chance to be powerful and hit it a long way plus it was supposed to be cost efficient. Anybody can hit with metal; when you break out the wood, you find out who can really hit; wood changes your pitch selection/plate discipline, there's certain pitches you can't swing at because the bat will break.
Nov 28, 2009 8:28pm
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catchr22

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72 posts
Nov 28, 2009 8:38 PM
darby--excellent points. Anyone who doubts your observations needs to go watch summer collegiate league games. It is very enlightening and you find out who the REAL hitters are!!
Nov 28, 2009 8:38pm
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joebaseball

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247 posts
Nov 28, 2009 10:15 PM
darbypitcher22 wrote: I think you need to go back to wood across the board. Metal was the great equalizer for such a long time; it was designed to give everybody a chance to be powerful and hit it a long way plus it was supposed to be cost efficient. Anybody can hit with metal; when you break out the wood, you find out who can really hit; wood changes your pitch selection/plate discipline, there's certain pitches you can't swing at because the bat will break.
Typical pitcher speaking... j/k

From a coaching perspective it makes you more aware of playing small ball and manufacturing runs and not sitting back and waiting for the the long ball.

Back when I was a JR. in college it was just before the BESR was introduced and I was swinging a 34/29 the next year they introduced the BESR and I dropped back to a 33/30 but my JR. year I remember more pitchers hit with come-backers then ever.
Nov 28, 2009 10:15pm
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catchr22

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72 posts
Nov 29, 2009 8:26 AM
Joe--the extra weight controls the hands. If players do not know how to properly use their hands, they will not hit with wood. You can't sweep it and you can't pull it through the zone. From a coaching perspective, it shows who knows how to teach hitting!!
Nov 29, 2009 8:26am
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joebaseball

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247 posts
Nov 29, 2009 4:00 PM
catchr22 wrote: Joe--the extra weight controls the hands. If players do not know how to properly use their hands, they will not hit with wood. You can't sweep it and you can't pull it through the zone. From a coaching perspective, it shows who knows how to teach hitting!!
I agree that the extra weight does control the hands. My point about small ball is the ball that may carry over the outfielder's head with metal is now is a routine flyout with wood. You tend to see much lower scoring games with wood.
Nov 29, 2009 4:00pm
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catchr22

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72 posts
Nov 29, 2009 4:09 PM
Very true!!
Nov 29, 2009 4:09pm
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Hammerin'Hank

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151 posts
Nov 29, 2009 8:02 PM
Great comments on here...keep them coming.

One drawback of going to all wooden bats would be the expense at all levels to replace the broken wooden bats. They aren't as cheap as they used to be. The way the bats are breaking in the majors, it would be quite an expense.
Nov 29, 2009 8:02pm
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darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Dec 3, 2009 3:24 PM
People are trying to get around the expense by creating Wood composites, whichIm' not a fan of either. You can still get a decent wood bat at Dick's or Sports Authority for $29.99(I know, I've done it before for tourneys while I was waiting for a Phoenix order to get done). Wood games do make you more aware of small ball and the games tend to go a little quicker and be lower scoring, which makes people at tournaments happy
Dec 3, 2009 3:24pm
T

TALKisCHEAP13

Member

54 posts
Dec 10, 2009 10:11 AM
College Wooden
High School Metal

It will take a death or two to change something.
Dec 10, 2009 10:11am
darbypitcher22's avatar

darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Dec 10, 2009 11:08 PM
Why leave metal in HS? Just change it across the board....
Dec 10, 2009 11:08pm
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Darkon

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3,476 posts
Dec 11, 2009 6:19 AM
darbypitcher22 wrote: Why leave metal in HS? Just change it across the board....
Not that I disagree but the cost has been brought up. You say you can get a decent bat for around $30. How many bat will the average team go through in a season?
Considering practice and games this number could be quite high. So the money aspect will effect alot of opinions.
Dec 11, 2009 6:19am
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darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Dec 11, 2009 8:14 AM
Well the average HS team will go through a ton of bats... I think it would go less and less the further up you go.... you've gotta know to swing with the grain facing the right way
Dec 11, 2009 8:14am
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thechosenone

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97 posts
Dec 11, 2009 3:58 PM
I think it should be wooden bats for any college. I also believe metal bats should be used in high school, but my team in the summer used wood for 3 tournaments and hit almost like metal. I don't see too much of a difference in high school.
Dec 11, 2009 3:58pm
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darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Dec 11, 2009 4:19 PM
for your average HS team, you'll see a difference. For every kid that knows how to handle it, understands the weight distribution, etc. there will be a kid who doesn't
Dec 11, 2009 4:19pm
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HitsRus

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9,206 posts
Dec 28, 2009 10:49 PM
Metal covers a multitude of sins for HS hitters. There are a lot of guys who make a season living off just putting metal squarely on candy-ass pitching. I agree 100% that wood seperates the real hitters who work on their mechanics from the good athletes that don't put the time in.
Dec 28, 2009 10:49pm
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darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Dec 28, 2009 11:41 PM
as a pitcher I think you have a completely different game plan depending on what hitters are using.... not saying you'll stay in the middle of the plate but with wood you can afford to miss up sometimes and it doesn't necessarily always hurt you. You don't have to pitch 80% of the game away(well, at least that's what most people do). I think with metal there aren't enough pitchers who utilize the inside part of the plate(well, that's baseball in general at younger levels anyways) and once you learn to pitch inside you're able to be a lot more successful
Dec 28, 2009 11:41pm
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Benny The Jet

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2,987 posts
Dec 28, 2009 11:46 PM
I think price is the biggest deterrent as far as high schools using wood. I know they have made some changes in the past as far as the medal bats are concerned in high school. I can remember between my freshman and sophomore year of HS they switched from the -5 drop and bigger barrels to the -3 drop and smaller barrels they use today. Made a huge difference, power #'s across the board dropped. I have also been next to a teammate who took a line drive foul ball off the cheek while in the dugout, broken jaw, pretty ugly seen. I'd be all for wooden bats, but the funding for most schools just isn't there I believe.
Dec 28, 2009 11:46pm
darbypitcher22's avatar

darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Dec 28, 2009 11:49 PM
^^^^^

with the wood composites(which again, i don't consider playing with wood, they're a joke), this might be changing.... 2 or 3 of those purchased since they're not supposed to break(although I've seen them break) might make people switch
Dec 28, 2009 11:49pm
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centerback

Junior Member

11 posts
Jan 2, 2010 11:48 AM
Who would pay for the wooden bats? I can see where college programs can purchase bats for each individual player, but HS teams wouldn't/couldn't do that.
Jan 2, 2010 11:48am
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darbypitcher22

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8,000 posts
Jan 2, 2010 12:58 PM
You'd obviously have to put it off on the players to buy bats. Obviously they're not great quality, but wood bats can be purchased at Dick's, Sports Authority, etc. for $30 a piece and, if used correctly can be made to last a while
Jan 2, 2010 12:58pm
C

catchr22

Member

72 posts
Jan 3, 2010 8:55 AM
A cheap wooden bat is a cheap wooden bat. Inferior wood, no balance options, lack of experience both in teaching and use and we will have a generation of front-side freddies and sweepers!!! The financial factor is a major hurdle. School finances and general economic conditions would remove a lot of players from participation. Right now, even an inexpensive metal bat is a better option than going back to wood!!
Jan 3, 2010 8:55am