AboutJack Elliott Expertise I can answer all baseball training related questions. In particular, questions on hitting, pitching, instruction, strategy, and choosing the right equipment.
Experience I am former baseball player and fan of the game of baseball. I have played in high school and college and participated in MLB tryouts. My total years of baseball experience covers some 20 years.
Question QUESTION: i want to buy some wood bats for 15 16 yearold boys, arte you familiar with the quality of these?
Easton Pro Stix 110
Wood Baseball Bat - 3 Pack
Easton Wood Bat: Pro Stix M267
thanks
ANSWER: Hi Jerry,
I am not familiar with this specific brand; however, I do know a couple of things that may be of value to you. This particular bat is made of Northern Ash which is a good basic wood for baseball bats. In fact, it is the most common material used in baseball bats today. I grew up using Louisville Sluggers that were made of this wood and found them to be good bats. However, the more popular trend in baseball bats these days is to get ones made of maple wood. These bats tend to be a little more expensive, but offer greater strength. This is important when you consider how easy it is to break a wooden baseball bat.
Since you are purchasing these bats for young boys who probably aren't used to hitting with a wooden bat, you can expect that they will break a few from the very beginning regardless of the bat's quality. For this reason, it would probably be best to start them off with bats that are made of ash (like the ones you are thinking of) and after these break, move them over to maple bats where hopefully at that point they have learned to hit with the sweet spot only.
As far as brands are concerned, you can't go wrong with Easton. They have been in the business for years and make a quality product. My only advice in this area would be to go with bats that are made by an established manufacturer like Easton or Louisville Slugger and to possibly let some of the kids test out a couple of the bats to see which ones they like the best. The most basic rule about bat selection is to find one that feels good in your hands. If you feel comfortable swinging it at the store, you will also feel comfortable swinging it later.
Hope this helps,
Jack Elliott
www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com
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QUESTION: Thanks
Agree with you, just no local store here. Where i have a miss understanding now, due to the last few years of metal, now woods are trying to describe their bats on barrel sizes, and to stay with a "2 5/8th", there are fractions of an inch ,1/16th and so on 2 1/2, 2 9/16, 2 15/32, Louisville states on some 2 1/4 to 2 1/2, 2 1/4 of course gets back to LL.
I guess i have to stay with 2 5/8th for high school, or is wood over looked on that compared to the required BESR on alloys? So i could have a 2 1/2 or 2 9/16 because there are not too many listed at 2 5/8th, i see bamboo have that not many ash or maple.
In my day we just went to the bat rack in the store found your feel and out the door, like i mentioned we do not have that anymore, so i guess i have to buy a few on the net take a chance, but the barrel size bothers me.
Lastly, -3 along with the 2 5/8 on high school ,so if weights are not listed, they also on woods are overlooked?
Some will show a -1-2-3 etc, others do not.
If you do not know i will have to write the state association of high schools here to ask.
Thanks
Answer Hi Jerry,
I understand your frustration and could see how it would be difficult if you do not have a local sporting goods store. I was able to locate some additional information that should help:
1. After talking with a representative of the National Federation of State High School Associations, there appear to be only two rules regarding wooden baseball bats:
(1) they must be no longer than 36 inches and
(2) the barrel cannot be larger than 2 3/4ths.
This means you could get a slightly bigger barrel size than 2 5/8ths; however, you may not want to as 2 5/8ths is the barrel size used for aluminum bats in high school and college. Also, larger barrel sizes have a slightly slower bat speed in comparison with smaller models.
2. The negative number for each bat actually indirectly gives you the weight of the bat. Bat weight= the bat length minus this number. For instance, if the bat length is 35 and it has a -3, this means the weight is 32 ounces. I recognize your frustration in that not all wooden bats are marked and there really isn't a good work around for this except to ask the seller thru phone or email. With this said, most wooden bats weigh 32 to 36 ounces and are 34 to 36 inches in length.
Best,
Jack Elliott
www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com
