Wooden Bat tourneys for young kids??

A 11-yr old kid at my church was talking about a AAU wood bat tourn his team would be in. What benefit is a wood bat tournament for kids that young?

 

Prepare him for HS. Hopefully, by the time he reaches HS, they will go back to wood bats

 

I think 11 is to young. I believe around 13 or 14 then start using a wood bat. There are some big differences between a wood and metal bat and for kids that are 11 or 12, they just need to understand the fundamentals of hitting before trying to swing a wood bat.

 

My son played in one at 12. He thought it was fun and cool. I have no idea if there is any benefit or not. The reason USSSA and AAU have them is just as another hook to get teams to come to their tourneys. Parents get excited about older HS kids doing a wood bat tourney and think little Johnny needs to try it. The kids do it once, have some fun but the novelty wears off. JMO from the youth leagues.

 

OK

just as I thought. thanks.

 

Braves is right about one thing here, it would be nice if HS went to wood. Personally I think it has to start at the college level first and then trickle down.

 

Do you remember?

Do you remember when they didn't have metal bats? You either hit it with wood or you didn't hit at all. The coach brought a bag with 5 or 6 bats in it. You used what was in the bag. If somebody broke your favorite bat, you felt a little slighted, but just went and picked up another one. It was so simple then....

I also remember trying to stretch my stirrup socks so that they would be longer than everybody else's.

I remember always chewing DoubleBubble bubblegum at my LL games....about 4 or 5 pieces at once!

Last, but not least, I remember the best drink of all time was a Mountain Dew that came from the concession stand at the ballfield. It had the right kind of crushed ice and came in the waxed paper cups. The coach always bought us a drink after the game, win or lose. So cold....so good.

And...to get back on subject.....we can only HOPE that high school will go back to wooden bats. I miss the sound of a well-hit ball from a wooden bat!
Metal just ain't the same....
DDD

 

I think college should be using wood bats. The players here are bigger and better every year and its dangerous for a pitcherwith guys that big and swinging that hard.

On the opposite side. I think HS should use metal because not every guy on that team could handle a wood bat.

 

ahhh...the memories of the good ol' days

Baseball has never been the same since it's gone to metal. It's almost like pitching with super balls.

 

Any good hitting coach would recommend to his players to get a wood bat and practice at least half of the time with it. You don't have to be a HS baseball player to practice with a wood bat.

Wood bat tourneys are not novelties. They are not set up "just as another hook to get teams to come to their tourneys." Quite the contrary. There is a demand for wood bat tournaments because there are teams out there that practice with wood bats. Some use wood bats exclusively in practice. Some use wood bats only half the time in practice.


As far as youth leagues I would start at 10 or 11 with individual practice with wood bats. And that would be off a tee and a little bit of quick toss.

There are some excellent companies out there who do make wood bats for younger players. The drops are less than those you would find in metal bats but you can get some swingable bats out there.

I am a huge fan of training and playing with wood bats. I think players should swing them at least half the time.