Watching a high school team take batting practice can be difficult. Clink….Ping…..Clink…it is all wrong. An outside fastball pulled for a double off the wall or an away breaking pitch taking deep by the average hitting middle infielder.

Crack….Crack….you know you are in the company of real baseball players. The ball hits the ash, maple or birch bat and sends and echoing sound of massive proportions into the stands. You can turn your back to home plate and listen for the ground out or the ball that leaves the yard. When you miss judge a pitch you don’t get lucky with a hard hit ball, you break your bat and get a dribbler to the mound.

Wood bats have seen more popular days, being put aside due to longevity and costs. But all great hitters swing with wood at some point in the year. Wood bats make you work; they correct bad habits, create faster bat speed and make you find the sweet spot along with preparing you for the ultimate level of baseball.

Some say it is “one of the best feelings in the world” you feel nothing. You take a hard piece of wood and swing it at a 90mph fastball and feel nothing. When your timing is off or you swing at a bad pitch you feel it, like bees or an electric shock through your hands you know that you swung at a bad pitch.    

Summer Jr College wood bat leagues and even the minor leagues are filled with players struggling to learn how to hit with wood. In a recent study it shows that players training with wood in the off-season raise their batting averages and hits by almost twenty percent. This is not saying that taking your little leaguer to the batting cages with a new wood bat will guarantee their mechanics improve, proper instruction is required. However, once the athlete is getting the proper instruction while swinging a wood bat, they will be able to identify when they make mistakes quicker.

Whether you’re a young athlete, select or high school ball player the benefits of training with a wood bat apply to everyone wanting to increase their strength, hitting mechanics and bat speed. So next time you are in the cages and you hear that sound…clink…ping…think about what you can be doing differently than the competition to take your game to the next level.