Wood bats for little league

[nrweiss]

:eek: Help! My town just made a rule that becuase of the dangers of metal bats, the kids now have to use wood ones. My son, who is a very good ball player, at 9 1/2, only weighs 60lbs.! How is he suposed to swing a 20oz. bat? Could somebody please tell me who makes a light wood bat. From what I can tell the lightest drop is a -5. This kid has been using a 15oz. bat. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Cardinal22Fan]

Check out the Rawlings Youth ash bats. They are inexpensive and can be found on preatty much any site. I got one for my son, for practice, when he was about the same age as your son in a 29. It felt a little different from his metal bat but he didn't mind swinging it. Also, a little athletic tape on the handle made it more comfortable for him.

[Riverbase]

Go pick up the latest edition of "Baseball The Magazine" and take it to your "town" or park meeting. USA Baseball, the National Governing Body for the sport of baseball as designated by the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 on behalf of of the following organizations American Amateur Baseball Congress, American Legion Baseball, Dixie Baseball, League Baseball Inc, Babe Ruth Baseball, Pony Baseball, National Baseball Congress, Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA), National Police Athletic League, & T-Ball USA just released a study on Aluminum vs Wood bats and the dangers they pose. The Medical & Safety advisory committe was initiated specifically for this study in 2005. They provide safety rules to the above listed leagues. The result of the study was interesting. It concludes injuries to pitchers from batted balls are extremely rare yet occur with both wood and metal. The big one 2 of the 3 deaths in THIS DECADE, thats 10 years, occured with WOOD BATS, not metal. Most parks or towns are using a Brown University study as their reason for banning the bats however that is pointless as those bats were unrestricted. Todays bats are limited by BPF (Bat Performance Factor) or BESR (Bat Exit Speed Rating) Capping the power of todays metal bats to a certified level. The article lists numerous injuries by numbers even pitch to injury ratios and currently were at an all time low. example 32 injuries out of 331,821 BALLS HIT IN PLAY, not counting fouls etc that was the NCAA level. Their banning the bat most likely cause they don't know the facts and someone may have gotten hit and they think this is the answer. Check out the magazine it's worth it. www.baseballthemag.com or on your newsstands it's on page 38. Then check out my sons team top left picture on page 64.

[bulldog bats]

Without a doubt, balls hit from aluminum bats come off the bat faster than off wood bats, and pose a threat to players, especially kids pitching from 45 feet away (striding off the mound they actually are about 40).

Not only are the tests biased, but even taking them at face value, they prove the fact. Little League allows a BPF of 1.15. Wood bats are 1.0. Therefore, aluminum bats are 15% better (again taking the test at face value).

Also, do not forget the fact that most kid's wood bats are a 5 ounce drop, while aluminum bats are generally -7 through -13. The lighter the bat, the faster you can swing it, thus hitting the ball even harder - ask any hitting coach the most important factor in improving a hitter's power, and the answer is bat speed.

Ask any player which he would prefer to use hitting, and you know what the answer will be.

Aluminum bat companies have spent huge amounts of money trying to get around the facts.

[Riverbase]

Keep reading. Todays "Average Wood Bats" are 1.0 yet the expensive high end models can exceede 1.15 standards. Oh yea and here.

Bat testing began in 1999, with the idea of creating limits for non-wood bats that simulated the top performance of the best wood bat.

A 34-inch, 31-ounce solid ash bat, with contact measured six inches from the tip in a controlled setting, resulted in a ball exit speed of 96 mph. Dr. James Sherwood, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, conducted the test.

Sherwood then tested aluminum bats with the same "minus-3" length-to-weight ratio, using the BESR, to create a standard that limited ball exit speed up to 1 mph faster than wood.

Every model of non-wood bat used in college and high school baseball today has gone through Sherwood's lab.

Little League's stance

In light of the New York City situation, Little League of America reiterated its position on its Web site, saying it "advocates" the use of wood or non-wood bats.

"Little League International," the Web site reads, "does not accept the premise that the game will be safer if played exclusively with wood, simply because there are no facts — none at all — to support that premise.

As a result, any individual or league choosing the wood-only option must understand the choice is not being made because of any factual or scientific information."

There are no national Little League restrictions on weight-length differential, nor does it use the BESR for determining if a bat is legal. Instead, it uses the BPF. The standard wood bat's rating is 1.00. A very good wood bat's BPF is 1.15

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[PrestonT]

You should check out Carolina Clubs (www.carolinaclubs.com). My sons hitting coach grew up with the family, and Tom/Karen really are super folks to work with.

My son (7) works with a wood bat in the batting cages, but he's on the smaller side (only 51 lbs). From what I understand, LL wood bats are usually -5, but Carolina Clubs found a lighter piece of ash and made my son a -8 so the goodness here is that they will work with ya to get your son the right bat.

Good deal on the bats, and we've seen a number of MLB players on the Mets, Padres & Cardinals using Carolina Clubs in the Pro's. The bat has held up really well, you'll enjoy working with Carolina Clubs, and your son will think its super kool to have a LL bat personalized with HIS name on it ;-)

[bats48]

Wood bats help the hitter in swing follow through, pitch selection and full body use at the plate. Good wood bats will last a full season. A good usable bat shape will be minus 9 or 10. After a few sessions the weight factor is not an issue. Kids get stronger. For good wood try LVS, Pheonix, Barnstable,Rawlings,Sam etc.