Baseball Bats: Why Aluminum is Better Than Wood

Baseball is considered an all American sport, but that doesn’t mean that everyone has set beliefs about how it should be played. The right material for baseball bats, for example, is not an easy topic. Some people believe that the best thing that has ever happened to the sport is the introduction of aluminum bats. This sentiment is not echoed by many though. In fact, the Major League still favors the use of wooden bats over aluminum.

There are a few studies done to find out which bat really goes the distance. In most studies, aluminum baseball bats perform better than wooden ones. It has been proven time and again that aluminum bats have a bigger sweet spot. This is the small, area on the bat that is believed to be the ideal place for the ball to hit. Long hits and home runs are usually the products of the ball hitting the bat’s sweet spot.

The main reason why aluminum baseball bats have shown better performance during studies is due to their structure. Aluminum bats are hollow, which allows them to create a trampoline effect. When the ball impacts an aluminum bat, the bat cushions and pushes it out like a spring, making it go farther. Wooden bats are solid, so it absorbs some of the ball’s kinetic energy upon impact. This means that it takes away energy the ball could have used to go farther.

Players often speak of bat weight. Technically, this is called moment-of-inertia or MOI. This has nothing to do with the bat’s actual weight, but the weight it has when swung. For example, a 30oz wooden bat will have around 60 to 70% of its weight in the barrel, making the batter feel like he is swinging around 700 lbs upon ball impact. This is much heavier than an aluminum bat, which can have an impact weight of only around 580 lbs because of the bat’s even weight distribution. Again, the difference is in structure. Even weight distribution in aluminum bats is achieved because of its hollow center.

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