Metal bats seem to hold the advantage over wooden bats in nearly all categories. They are lighter, they can be swung faster, they generate more batted ball speed, they are more forgiving outside of the sweet spot and they take advantage of the "trampoline effect." Plus, they don't break. There is some debate over the safety and fairness of using a metal bat, but if you are looking strictly to hit the ball accurately and with maximum distance, you can't beat it.
Weight
Bats are sold with a "drop ratio" that lets the buyer know how the weight relates to the length of the bat. If a bat is listed at 31 inches and has a drop ratio of -3, the weight is 28 oz.. Both wooden and metal baseball bats for adult players range from 27 to 31 oz. Generally speaking, however, wooden bats are heavier, because metal baseball bats that weigh the same as wooden bats are longer, having a greater "drop ratio" than wooden bats. Speaking strictly in terms of physics, a batter who is able to generate the same batting speed and control with a heavier bat as he would with a lighter bat will be able hit the ball harder and faster.
On the other side of the weight coin, lighter bats are easier to control and make adjustments with mid-swing. A batter can begin his swing later with a metal bat than he would with a wooden bat and still have a chance of making a good hit.
It should be noted that a heavier bat will have less recoil than a lighter bat. Recoil can cause pain in a batter's hands and arms.
Speed
Metal bats have a hollow barrel, which means their distribution of mass is far different from that of solid wooden bats. Baseball bats have a center-of-mass or a balance point. This spot is usually lower on metal bats. The closer the balance point is to the handle of the bat, the easier it is to swing the bat with speed. According to the Crisco-Greenwald batting cage study published in 2000-2001, a 34-inch, 30.9-oz. wooden baseball bat can be swung on average at 67.9 mph, while a 33-inch, 29.2-oz.metal bat can be swung at 70.9 mph, giving the edge to the metal bat. This relates directly to batted ball speed. The same metal bat in the study batted the ball at 106.5 mph on average, compared to the 98.6 mph achieved by the wooden bat.
Sweet Spot
The term "sweet spot" has been used in several ways when describing baseball bats. When defined as the area on a bat where the highest percentage of batted ball speeds are achieved, it has been found that the average size of the sweet spot on wooden and metal bats is nearly identical. However, aluminum bats are more forgiving when the ball is hit outside of the sweet spot, generating greater batted ball speeds than wood.
Trampoline Effect
A ball hit by a solid wooden bat is compressed to nearly half its original diameter at the point of contact. This compression eliminates 75 percent of the moving ball's energy. Hollow metal bats compress when making contact with the moving ball, making the ball compress less and retaining much of the initial energy it had when compared to being hit with a wooden bat. Also, most of the energy temporarily stored in the metal bat during compression is returned to the ball as it leaves the bat. This is called the trampoline effect.
Breaking
Simply put, metal bats don't break, whereas wooden bats do. This tends to happen when a batter tries to hit an inside pitch that meets the middle or lower portion of the bat. Any aim of the ball will be completely disrupted by a breaking bat. This is notable in pitching strategy as pitchers move from college to the professional ranks. Colleges generally use metal bats, which work better on inside pitches, while professionals use wooden bats, which can break when hitting inside pitches. This has led to fewer professional pitchers throwing inside over the years because they train to avoid these pitches earlier in their careers.
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