​Wood Bats: What Barrel Size Has the Most Pop?
Don’t think of a wood bat like you would an aluminum or composite bat. When you’re shopping for a wood bat, you want to get as much “pop” out of a wood bat as you can – and, yes, there is a difference.
Think of the wood the bat is made out of: you need it to be strong and dense. But with that density comes added weight, too, making the wood bat heavier.
In theory, a big-barrel wood bat would be way heavier than a skinny-barrel wood bat, but that’s not necessarily the case…
Also, with more surface area to hit the ball with a big-barrel bat, you would think you would have more solid hits. But that’s not necessarily the case, either.
With wood baseball bats, it all comes down to the density of the wood. The more-dense a piece of wood it, the stronger it is, therefore the more “pop” it will have. Believe it or not, skinny-barrel wood bats have the most pop when all other things are considered equal.
Take two 33-inch, 30-oz. bats, but one has a skinny barrel at 2-1/4 inches in diameter and the other has a big barrel at 2-1/2 inches in diameter (as seen below)…
Think of the wood the bat is made out of: you need it to be strong and dense. But with that density comes added weight, too, making the wood bat heavier.
In theory, a big-barrel wood bat would be way heavier than a skinny-barrel wood bat, but that’s not necessarily the case…
Also, with more surface area to hit the ball with a big-barrel bat, you would think you would have more solid hits. But that’s not necessarily the case, either.
With wood baseball bats, it all comes down to the density of the wood. The more-dense a piece of wood it, the stronger it is, therefore the more “pop” it will have. Believe it or not, skinny-barrel wood bats have the most pop when all other things are considered equal.
Take two 33-inch, 30-oz. bats, but one has a skinny barrel at 2-1/4 inches in diameter and the other has a big barrel at 2-1/2 inches in diameter (as seen below)…
So Why Buy a Big Barrel Wood Bat at All?
Some guys are plenty strong enough to hit a ball 400+ feet without the added density of a skinny-barrel bat, therefore they can use a slightly less-dense piece of wood (big-barrel wood bat) and still provide plenty of power with their own strength. Guys like that may prefer the added contact area of the wider barrel diameter if they can generate their own power.
Other Benefits of a 2-1/4” Barrel Wood Bat
Not only do you get the added pop from the concentrated density of the wood in a skinny-barrel bat, you’re also training yourself to make better contact with every swing. Baseball bats don’t get any skinner than 2-1/4” in barrel diameter, so if you’re making solid contact with the skinniest bat possible, you’ll be fine. We see a lot of kids play their entire youth careers with a super-light, big-barrel aluminum bat, then they have trouble transitioning to the heavier bat requirements in high-school baseball and beyond.
Youth Wood Bats
If you’re looking for a great way to build your youth player’s swing strength and stability, get him or her a wooden, skinny-barrel bat. For youth players, the less-dense wood that we use to make the drop -5 weighted bats are perfectly fine for players under 12 years old or so. That’s still about 5 ounces heavier than a typical drop -10 game bat.
Still allow the player to use the lighter bat for games if you want, but have your youth player use the wooden bat in practice to build the proper swing mechanics and strength. Using a heavier bat earlier on will allow your player to have an easy and smooth transition to the BBCOR (drop -3) requirements in high school baseball and beyond.
Still allow the player to use the lighter bat for games if you want, but have your youth player use the wooden bat in practice to build the proper swing mechanics and strength. Using a heavier bat earlier on will allow your player to have an easy and smooth transition to the BBCOR (drop -3) requirements in high school baseball and beyond.
What about a dense piece of wood AND a big-barrel bat?
We make those! Those are generally for strength training bats for players in high school and beyond.
Basically, we take the super-dense, rock-solid maple wood billets and make them into big-barrel bats (usually a 2-1/2” barrel diameter). If you can swing that one and make solid contact regularly, you’re gonna do just fine!
Still, we recommend these as swing trainers. There’s no reason to try to step up to the plate with a guy throwing 95 MPH and try to catch up to his fastball with a 36-ounce bat. Use the heavy bat in batting practice, in the cages and in soft toss – and even in the on-deck circle – then step in the batter’s box with a regular, drop -3 skinny-barrel, solid maple bat. Again, you’ll do just fine.
Basically, we take the super-dense, rock-solid maple wood billets and make them into big-barrel bats (usually a 2-1/2” barrel diameter). If you can swing that one and make solid contact regularly, you’re gonna do just fine!
Still, we recommend these as swing trainers. There’s no reason to try to step up to the plate with a guy throwing 95 MPH and try to catch up to his fastball with a 36-ounce bat. Use the heavy bat in batting practice, in the cages and in soft toss – and even in the on-deck circle – then step in the batter’s box with a regular, drop -3 skinny-barrel, solid maple bat. Again, you’ll do just fine.