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With the new BBCOR aluminum and composite bats mandated for high school and professional play, players are finding that high quality professional grade wood bats are now outperforming the BBCOR bats.

BBCOR stands for "Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution" and it focuses on how much of a trampoline effect the barrel of a bat has on a ball. Bat manufacturers now have to, in effect, "deaden" the trampoline bounce that pitched balls experience when a batter makes contact. Basically, aluminum bats will theoretically be the same as wooden bats.

Beginning in 2012, all High School baseball bats will follow in the same way, that is, they will all need at BBCOR stamp on each metal/aluminum/composite bat.

What a player now gets for his $400. is one choice of bat shape from EVERY different manufacturer, one handle style from EVERY different manufacturer, one handle thickness from EVERY different manufacturer, only three length choices and one weight choice. WOW! The monopoly is dead! Players now have a say in the equipment that suits their size, strength and game.

There have been lots of questions from players switching from aluminum to wood softball bats as to what weight to order. Most try to get a –5 since they think the bat speed is important. They are accustomed to swinging the lightest aluminum bat possible since weight and mass behind the ball does not matter with aluminum bat barrels which provide all the pop by virtue of the material used and the thin walls.

What many new players don't seem to grasp is the concept of bat weight vs. swing weight. If you take a 34 inch, 32 ounce thin handled, big barreled bat and hold it by the handle, it feels very heavy because the weight is all at the end of the bat where the wood is. If you pick the same bat up and hold it by the barrel, it suddenly feels very light. You didn't change the weight of the bat, you changed the balance. Aluminum bats feel light because the barrels are hollow and the weight is in the handle. To get the swing weight feel of an aluminum bat in a wood bat, the wood bat would need to be a -8.

The reason we make some models in -2 rather than -3 (and the truth is that no maple bats should be made as light as -3 period) is that we understand after getting feedback on tens of thousands of bats what parameters a bat model needs to both perform and hold up. Maple is a heavy, dense wood and thus far, the best performing wood for bats. However, when bats are made with billets that are too light, they perform more like ash and break more readily than ash. Maple is a less flexible wood than ash so light maple does not have the performance advantage over ash and breaks easier than ash due to it's stiffness. This is why the maple backlash in MLB has come about. Too many bat makers are making light bats they have no business making. We refuse those orders from players but other bat makers do not. We have over 300 MLB players for a reason. We know what will work for them and what won't. We won't compromise our brand and reputation to make something we know won't perform and hold up.

We find the most important thing with young players switching from metal bats to wood is to find a bat that has great balance.  Here's a little exercise to help demonstrate the concept. Pickup any adult wood bat and hold it out with one hand. It feels heavy because you can feel the weight at the end of the bat because the weight is concentrated in the barrel.  Now hold it by the barrel end. It feels much lighter. You didn't change the weight, though, you just changed the balance.   

After more than five years of testing many kinds of woods for baseball and softball bats, we are adding some additional categories from which our customers can choose. We are adding Yellow Birch, a wood that fits between maple and ash for performance, feel and longevity. We found a hickory wood that makes what we feel is a “superbat”, harder and stronger than maple with better performance and more resistance to breakage. This can really change the playing field for wood bat performance and is unique to X Bats. After testing bamboo bats for years with mixed results, we have created a bamboo bat that lives up to the promise of durability that many players seek. Lastly, we have developed a composite bat that performs better than the composite choices on the market and it has all of the durable qualities players seek in a composite wood bat without sacrificing all the performance.

We are pleased to have you follow our new X Bats Bat Blog, featuring the latest in news on wood baseball and softball bats, advancements in wood bat technology, news from the pros, advice on selecting the right wood bat and many other areas of interest to baseball and softball players of all ages.

X Bats has been making the finest professional quality wood baseball and softball bats for discerning players of all ages since 1999. As a leader in wood bat technology, we have made more maple bats than any other bat manufacturer in the 21^st century. We have learned a lot about what performs and what doesn't, what holds up to use and what doesn't, what wood and model is best for each players' age, size, style and level of play. We have players in the pros that began playing with X Bats' wood bats as youth players. We have outfitted major collegiate softball programs with the training tools to help them be successful. We have thousands of softball players at all ages and levels who enjoy success from the custom fit the choices in models, sizes and weights give them. We make bats that fit every player to enhance their performance on the field and provide value for the investment they are making in their equipment. Remember, the bat is the single piece of equipment in all of sports that has the greatest impact on a player' performance.

Company Headlines

X Bats has just launched a new website with a revolutionary bat configurator to assist players in customizing their X Bats. Check it out at /xbat-configurator/

X Bats is using the off season to test new woods and new sourcing of existing woods to increase performance and durability.

X Bats is the leading producer or youth bats with nine different models so each player can find the fit that helps his game advance to the next level. We have just introduced a line of Super Light Youth Maple baseball bats with weights as light as -8. Now every player can find a wood bat that accommodates their size and strength and level of play.

Coming Soon

X Bats has fielded so many questions ranging from parents of young players to pros on what bat is right for them. We will use our blog to answer questions on a wide range of topics related to wood species, logging and log harvesting, bat billet production, the bat production process, bat swing weights and why players choose the bats they feel help them play their best.

Your call will not be returned and your question will not be answered. That line is for placing new orders only. Please email us: CustomerService@XBats.com for any and all Customer Service issues. This is how we can help you most quickly and effectively.

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