How to Use Wood Bats

Using wood bats to hit baseballs creates the classic crack of the bat sound. Practicing with a wood bat improves hitting skills. It takes more strength to swing a wood bat than a lighter aluminum bat. It also takes a greater degree of precision to hit well with a wood bat because it has a smaller "sweet spot," or vibration-free impact area on the barrel. Aluminum bats are also known to deliver hits at greater speed than wood. After players learn to hit well with wood bats, they have a much easier time using aluminum baseball bats with larger hitting surfaces that swing easier and drive balls faster.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Athletic tape Batting gloves Batting helmet Baseballs Pitcher, pitching machine or baseball tee

How to Use Wood Bats

1. Select the right wood bat for your size and strength. Stand the bat on the end of the barrel next to one of your legs. The ideal bat stands at a height between the top of your inseam and your waist. Swing the bat to make sure it is light enough to hold and swing without being controlled by its weight.

2. Tape the handle. Wrap athletic tape around the handle in an overlapping spiral. Start from the knob at the end and cover 12 to 15 inches of the handle.

3. Wear batting gloves. Batting causes blisters on unprotected hands, especially between the thumbs and forefingers. Batting gloves increase bat grip and protect the hands of sliding base runners.

4. Find the sweet spot on the barrel. Hold the wood bat you plan to use with the facing up or down. Hit the upper barrel with another bat until you find the spot that doesn't cause the wood bat to vibrate. If you can't find the sweet spot with the logo facing up, turn the bat so the logo faces down.

5. Wear a batting helmet anytime you plan to hit a ball. Stray foul balls and wild pitches hurt wherever they hit your body, but they can be especially damaging to the head.

6. Stand ready to swing. Right-handed players should stand in the batters box beside home plate behind the third base line with your left shoulder toward the pitcher and your feet a shoulder's width apart. Grip the bat handle with your left hand just over the knob and your right hand above it with the pinkie resting on the left hand's forefinger. Bring the bat barrel over your right shoulder with your left elbow pointing forward and the right elbow pointed down. Turn your head to the left to watch the pitch coming. Left-handed players should line up behind the first base line and follow opposing directions.

7. Swing the bat. Step toward the pitcher with your lead foot and swing from the hips, twisting your trunk to turn your upper body toward center field. Pull the bat with your lower hand as you push with your upper hand. Swing the barrel down across your body so it's level at your waist and allows your wrists to cross each other, bringing the upper hand in front of the lower as you follow through with the motion and bring the barrel up over your lead shoulder.

8. Hit the ball. This is considered the most difficult skill to master in any sport. Make contact with an incoming pitch as you swing, placing the sweet spot of the barrel against the ball. Practice swinging early or late to drive the ball to chosen location on the field. Get more tips on hitting from Major League sluggers at Baseball Corner dot com. A link is provided in the "Resources" section below.

References

• Batting physics from the University of Sydney
• Bat sound comparisons from Kettering University
• Bat materials compared by Brown University

Resources

• Batting tips from big league hitters at Baseball Corner

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