My son has just been invited to the 2004 AreaCode tryouts at Blaire field in Long Beach,CA. He like most everyone else is using a metal bat.Is it ok to start working with wood now or should we wait till his season is over?

Wood bats in our opinion should be a part of every batting practice and scrimmage. Wood helps hitters realize the flaws in their swing as well as helps them refine it. Smaller sweet spot, around 4 inches as compared to 10 on some aluminum bats makes them have to work on their hitting mechanics. The inside pitch with wood is much tougher to hit solidly than with aluminum for kids that haven't swung wood very much. Wood will also make them stronger, bat speed with aluminum is easier to attain, and many kids don't understand that with wood they have maintain their batspeed through he ball to generate pop more than with aluminum. Aluminum has a tendency to make below average hitters above average just through technology not through better swing mechanics.

So to sum it up, in our opinion, there's never a bad time to start hitting with wood. It can only make you a better hitter.

Frank Coit
Head Coach
San Diego Prospects Baseball Club

My son works out with Jim Doyle, who used to be on the Varsity staff at La Quinta. Jim has had him swinging wood almost exclusively in the batting cage since he was 12-13.

As Matatordad said, it does teach better discipline with mechanics because of the smaller sweet spot. It also helps develop wrist and forearm strength, and overall helps develop quicker hand speed.

My son is now 16, and his main practice bat is a 34" -1.5 wood. Switching to his 33" -3 alum bat in games has been completely seamless. He's learned how to be fast with his wood, and REALLY fast with his metal bat. It's given him enormous confidence when someone tries to bust him inside with a heater ... he just thinks "Oh yeah ..." They usually try to pitch him away after that.

Glad to hear your son's long-term success with Jim. My 11 Yr. worked with him for several months last Fall, only using wood. He'd never swung a wood bat before. The wood bat, plus the re-tool on the mechanics has dramatically improved his quickness, and that also has really helped him hit offspeed and curves, as he now trusts his quickness on the fastball, so he's not loading up, then lunging. My son will gladly go back to train with him again next Fall.

I'm going to get of on a tangent and add my two cents worth. First of all, swinging wood is not the cure all for batting problems. Switching to wood only does a couple of things. Wood has a very small sweet spot when compared to aluminum. This small sweet spot is less forgiving and therefore magnifies the less than perfect results from a poorly hit baseball. Wood will only indicate (not solve) problems in the swing. The outcome depends on what the coach/parent/player does about it. If a player is late on a pitch or gets out on his front foot or gets fooled by the CB, I don’t care what bat he’s swinging. Sometimes we get caught up in the techno hype of hybrid wood bats from maple trees on the eastern coast of Canada, radar guns, and silicone impregnated leather batting gloves, and forget about the basics that makes a better ballplayer (hard work and proper instructions). One of the most effective hitting aid my son used was a broken broomstick and golf sized whiffle balls.
Wood in itself won’t MAKE you a better hitter, but if you understand the concept of wood, using it should point out some of your weaknesses. I say hit with wood all the time EXCEPT when you’re trying to win a ball game and then use the newest, best, and most expensive aluminum bat you can find.
Fungo

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broken broomstick and golf sized whiffle balls.

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Beenthere.

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the newest, best, and most expensive aluminum bat you can find.

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Doing that.