Wooden Vs. Aluminum Baseball Bats

Are wood or aluminum bats better?

Aluminum bats were popularized in the 1970's, according to baseball-bats.net. Since then, they have been prevalent in both youth and adult leagues, including many high schools and colleges. The debate has raged about whether aluminum bats or wooden bats are better to use at various levels, including college and Major League Baseball.

Bat Speed

The power in a baseball swing is generated from the speed of the swing. The weight of the bat is an important factor. Because an aluminum bat is hollow, it is lighter than a similarly sized wooden bat. This results in greater bat speed and, in turn, more power generated from the aluminum bat.

Sweet Spot

The "sweet spot", is defined as the "range of locations on the bat barrel for which the highest 10 percent of batted ball speeds were obtained," according to the Cisco-Greenwald Batting Cage study. According to the study, the sweet spot on all bats, whether aluminum or wooden, were about the same size. However, a ball that struck an aluminum bat left the bat at a significantly higher speed than a ball that struck a wooden bat. In each instance, the same measurement was used to calculate bat speed.

Wooden Bats Break

When a pitched ball strikes near the handle of a wooden bat, the result is often that the bat breaks and the impact on the ball is lessened significantly. However, when an aluminum bat makes contact in the same location, it does not break. As a result, the impact on the ball is greater, and it is likely to travel farther.

References

• "range of locations on the bat barrel for which the highest 10% of batted ball speeds were obtained."
• Cisco Greenwald Study
• Baseball Bat History

Resources

• A great Web site regarding the physics of baseball bats