Three Reasons to Train With Wood Bats
Considering swinging a wood bat as part of your youth training? Here are possible benefits…
A common question we receive from parents and players is when and why to swing with a wood bat. You see many high school and college hitters use wood bats in their training regimen…so why do they do it?
The main downside to hitting with wood is that it can break on any given swing if you hit the ball incorrectly (especially in a Colorado spring). This makes many players and parents shy away from using wood, because it can get expensive if your player breaks several of them! However, you don’t need to get a fancy expensive wood bat to get the benefits of swinging wood. There are many modest options that will work great for your training. Hitting with wood bats can be a good idea for a variety of reasons.
Here are three reasons to consider using wood:
1. Weight
First off, wood bats are typically heavier than metal bats, so it will benefit the hitter to swing a heavier bat, and will increase their swing strength when used regularly. At first, it will feel like a player’s swing is slow, but over time, they will develop the strength to handle it. The weight in a wood bat is also at the barrel (where the wood is) while the weight in a metal bat is more loaded towards the handle - creating a “whipping” effect. When they go back to their metal bat, it will feel light to them and make them stronger and quicker!
2. Gaining a feel for the barrel
Another benefit to hitting with wood is the smaller sweet spot on the bat. Wood bats have a much smaller “sweet spot” to make good contact on the barrel which will give you instant feedback! Because of that, your hitter will gain a better feel of where they need to be making contact on the barrel. Most metal bats have a much larger sweet spot, which gives the hitter more forgiveness. If they train to hit the sweet spot more often on the wood bat it will increase their rate of barreling up balls when switching back to metal. Simply put, swinging with wood in practice is a good test of the kind of consistent contact your hitter is making. The barrel doesn’t lie!
3. Train for the next level!
As you or your player advances in age and skill, if the possibility of playing in college or beyond becomes apparent, odds are your player will play in a wood bat league at some point…perhaps even professionally! We see many players come into high school without ever swinging a wood bat before, and there is an adjustment period there (and usually some broken bats, too!). On the softball side of things, you don’t see many (if ANY) games or tournaments played with wood…but training with wood will still benefit softball players. On the baseball side of things, many fall and summer tournaments at the high school level are wood bat only. If your player gets used to training with wood prior to high school, they will be ahead of the game!
Plus, you just can’t beat the sound of the crack of a bat! Consider these benefits and have your player mix in some swings with a wood bat and you should see positive results!
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