Wooden Bat tourneys for young kids??

Good points Gloveside...good job!

 

Bat Speed First and Foremost

With younger players I'm focused on developing maximum bat speed and the mechanics that will lead to consistent (hard) contact.

I prefer to err on the side of a bat that is too light.

I have no problem letting the young ones get the feel of the wood bat as long as the weight of the bat doesn't teach "compromised" mechanics and a slower swing speed through the hitting zone. I toyed with the wood bat with a student of mine (who shall go unnamed) and only recently (at age 13) has he been strong enough to swing the wood bat in a similar way to the metal.

I completely agree that the benefits of learning how to use your hands to direct the smaller sweet spot (of a wood bat) to the ball is very valuable............as long as bat speed and/or mechanics aren't compromised.

That "metal bat" swing is the result of never having mastered the use of the hands to direct the barrel accurately. The "around the ball" swing you sometimes see isn't punished with a metal bat nearly as severely as it is with wood. You don't see the weak little liner to the shortstop nor do you see pieces of the bat flying toward infielders. The wood bat is far superior when it comes to the feedback and feel of a proper swing.

As I said already....................as long as bat speed and/or mechanics aren't compromised, because without solid mechanics and high velocity bat speed your young hitter will soon be failing far too often.

Make sense?

 

Very, very good

 

Aguyyouknow,

So glad to read your comments above. For years I tried to tell youth parents (especially all-star kids and parents) to use a lighter bat and favor bat speed over bat weight and length. Yet parents and kids continue to get the bigger bats and almost seemed to be bragging about it when they got it. The kid could get away with a heavy bat in REC leagues with slower pitching but wondered why Johnny struggled with better pitching in all-stars and AAU. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

Completely agree.

Completely agree here. I believe the use of wood bats groves the swing and makes it more natural. I certainly wouldn't put a 3 lb wood bat in a kids hands to say, "only studs use wood bats." The youngsters need the lite bats so they can begin to develop their swing and CONFIDENCE.
I would use as lite a wood bat as I could get and use it sparingly.