Advantages And Disadvantages Of Wooden Baseball Bats And Aluminum Baseball Bats. Make Your Choice!
By: Bimol Bee
Submitted: 2011-10-15 04:43:28 | Word Count: 497
The greater number of baseball players willing to buy a new baseball or softball bat are usually asked a question what is better – a wooden baseball bat or an aluminum baseball bat? If you have such a question as well, this article will help you to find the differences between those two kinds of bats.
One of the disadvantages of the aluminum bat is that its weight has a more uniform distribution. It has less mass in the bat's barrel that makes the bat have a less effective collision with the ball. Thus, the ball leaves the bat faster if you use a heavier bat. The barrel offers an opportunity to turn the baseball around and propel it back extremely quickly. The aluminum bat's barrel has no such a wonderful effect as a wood bat does. The aluminum baseball bat can compress during the collision with the ball. It slows the ball when it comes off the bat while wood bats don't compress.
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An aluminum baseball bat is usually empty inside, while wooden baseball bats are very solid. It influences not only the bat's weight but also the center of gravity for the bat. In order to make the bat a wooden baseball bat fatter or longer, the bat must also weigh much. The aluminum bat doesn't have to be heavier as it's more flexible and gives players many options without being heavy.
So, wooden baseball bats are solid and the majority of the weight is in the barrel of the bat. Thus, the center of gravity should be further away from the hands. And the aluminum baseball bat is much more flexible, so the center of gravity may be placed closer to the hands. As the center of gravity is close to the hands, this bat has a lower swing weight. And the bat may weigh as much as a wooden bat. So, the baseball bat is easier to swing instead of the center of gravity and weight being further from the hands as you may see in a wooden bat. Thus, the player has an opportunity to have a faster swing and the ball will fly much faster. That's probably the major advantage of an aluminum bat over a wooden one.
Another advantage of the aluminum bat is that it's much more forgiving. It means that batters will be in contact with the ball and get a good hit. If a player hits the ball extremely close to the handle with a wooden bat, it will probably break. In this issue aluminum bats are better for hitting inside pitches. Many college baseball players feel it difficult to transfer to the big leagues, because they usually use aluminum bats in college. Nevertheless, professional bats are all wooden, so consequently, players have a rather hard time getting used to their weight. Now it's your turn what kind of baseball bats to choose.
