What are the advantages and disadvantages of aluminum baseball bats and wood bats?
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at
12:48 pm
Also why do they usually only allow aluminum bats in children’s organized play.
Aluminum bats (not actually made of aluminum) are used for youth play because wood bats are usually too heavy for most kids to swing. The lighter weight metal makes the bat easier to swing and kids can hit the ball much harder and farther.
They do pose a problem because as they are made better and better to hit the ball harder and faster, there is less reaction time for the fielders, and many kids have been killed/injured by balls hit from aluminum bats. They actually use aluminum bats all the way up through college, although I’m fairly certain that wood bats are allowed in college and high school.
The main problems with wood bats are that they’re heavy and they can break fairly easily. I usually play with a metal bat, but I hit with a wood bat a lot too, because wood is the traditional bat of the game.
Aluminum bats are lighter and therefore a person can generate more bat speed which gives you more power. If major leaguers used them just put 8 guys in the outfield cause they will kill the ball. Kids use them to give them a chance to get around on the ball.
wood bats are allowed at every level of play from my understanding, its just that its harder for most kids to make solid contact with the aluminum bat due to the weight and lenght rations aren’t as favorable for youths.
The true wood bats the pro’s use are just as good as most aluminum bats you’ll see at the high school and college levels.
Aluminum bats are more durable and cost effective since they don’t break like wood. But, they can be dangerous as they have a higher exit speed. There is a controversy as to whether aluminum is more dangerous than wood. I believe aluminum is more dangerous after reading a study by some researchers at Brown University. So, I encourage my son to use wood and will encourage other boys to use wood when I coach this year (9-10 year olds). Even if it’s not conclusive, I don’t see why we should risk it.
the thing w/ aluminum bats are that everyone that hits a pitch( even if its a bad one) can hit a homerun every time and thats not fair to the game of baseball. wood bats are better because you can enjoy the game more and you wont have 100 points a game.
Goodness! Sometimes I wonder if the people answering these questions have ever played baseball. WOOD BATS IN THE PROS ARE NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS ALUMINUM BATS AND THAT IS WHY THE PROS CAN’T USE THEM!!
Sorry, alright, aluminum bats are much lighter than wood bats (someone got that part right). Aluminum bats have a much larger sweet spot than wood bats do. In an aluminum bat, the sweet spot is sometimes up to 5-7 inches or so while on a wooden bat, the sweet spot is maybe 2-3 inches. In an aluminum bat, the elastic properties allow much more give in the wall and then the wall bounces back into place giving the bat a TON more "pop".
Children use aluminum bats because of the reasons above. They are lighter, easier to hit the sweet spot, and more "pop". It takes a lot of skill to use a wooden bat as aluminum bats are much more livlier than wood. If pros used aluminum, you would see a ton more home runs and the balls would be flying off of the bats at a much, much greater speed.
Aluminum bats are lighter, and thus easier to swing. Aluminum lasts longer than wood since they don’t break, except in extreme conditions. A youth league will use aluminum because its more cost effective. Two or three aluminum bats can last a whole team an entire season. Wood bats, especially inexpensive ones will break quickly.
Aluminum would be too dangerous for pros to use since their strength is so much greater than other players. Pitchers and third basemen would get injured much more often if balls were hit with aluminum.
I play adult baseball and love the sound of the wood, but unless all the other players are willing to give up their aluminum, I can’t give up the advantage that it gives compared to wood.