What is the difference between ash and maple wood bats

Pros: Before maple bats became popular, most traditional wood bats were made of ash. Due to this flexibility ash also, tends to be more forgiving than maple when striking the baseball off the end of the bat or near the trademark. Cons: Ash also needs to be dried to a very low moisture content in order to be used for wood bats. Ash is a ring porous wood open-grain.

The properties of ash are such that the bat will continue to dry out during the life span of the bat. This will cause the grains on ash bats to flake and splinter. Hitting off the face grain the grain where to logo is placed will also cause the bat to flake and splinter. Players that are not experienced using wood bats often rotate the bat while hitting, causing them to hit balls of the face grain.

This will result in flaking and splintering and cause the bat to be less durable. For most players, roughly eight growth rings per inch in a Northern white ash bat seem to be what works best, although there are some ash bats with 15 growth rings per inch.

This is because as a general rule, the more growth rings in the wood, the stronger and denser the wood is. When it comes to breakage, the location that the breaks occur is different on ash bats than it is on maple bats. Ash bats usually break on the inside pitches, while maple bats tend to break on the outside pitches. Just like maple bats, ash bats have their pros and cons. Here are a few of them for you to consider.

Available in inch and inch lengths, this ash bat is very eye-catching with a flash design on it and a color of electric blue and black. It has the MLB ink dot on it and very balanced swing weight to it. It is also bone-rubbed to get rid of pores and make for a smoother, harder bat overall, and it has seamless decals that look great and give the bat just the right look.

In other words, this bat is both functional and very attractive, making it the perfect ash bat for everyone. In addition to all of this, the bat has a cupped end and a finish that is stronger than most finishes, giving it both a professional look and a much harder feel. The Louisville Slugger logo tells you that the bat is reliable and strong, and it comes with a day limited warranty to give you the peace of mind you deserve.

It also has an easy-to-read knob medallion embedded in the knob, and the production date is engraved right on the bat. This is why it is rated 4. After reviewing the pros and cons of each type of bat, you should be able to come up with the right one to use.

I have a wide head, which is why a regular-shaped hockey helmet hurts at my temples. But in those tests, the scientists ignored a science even more important to baseball than physics: psychology. We use what we think gives us the best chance to win. We use what gives us confidence. The X Bats Pro Stock Model 73 is one of the most popular new styles in the big leagues and their best selling bat by over any other model. Birch bats have started to carve out a place with major league players.

Birch bats want to be used, because the more impacts they experience, the denser the wood will become. The biggest difference between a maple bat and a birch bat is the flex.

Many players say that a birch bat is the perfect mix of the hardness of a maple bat and the flex of ash. B45 Baseball , who was one of the early pioneers in birch bats, has a great selection that should satisfy every type of hitter and budget. For any bat, it usually makes sense to pay a little bit more to get a better grade of wood.

Probably the primary reason is American Beech lumber is slightly heavier than European. Beech wood has a straight grain and fine, even texture which makes it an ideal candidate for turning bats. Beech also responds very well to processing in a variety of machines, responds well to evaporation treatments, and is one of the best woods to absorb shocks and blows. Sandlot Stiks out in California uses American Beech for their bats.

Everyone wants to know what are the best wood bats and what are they made of? After all the words you read to get to this point, the next line may be disappointing. There is no such thing as the best type of wood for a baseball bat, it depends.

If you are a consistent hitter who generally hits the ball on the sweet-spot then any of the bats will be just fine. Northern white ash is the most common wood bat available. It has a little flex in the bat similar to some aluminum bats which is popular because it may have a little extra whip. When using ash you need to hit with the grains. That means you want the grains of the bat to be facing the pitcher. A good indicator is to take the label on the bat and have it facing straight up in the air , or have it facing the ground.

The label is printed on top of the grains so if it is pointed up or down at contact you will be in the optimal position. This has been proven to be the strongest part of the bat for exit ball speed and overall bat durability. Maple bats exploded onto the scene about 15 years ago.

Maple is a harder, more dense wood than ash. Even though its a harder piece of wood, it still breaks pretty easily when contact is made at the end of the bat. Note about safety: The label on maple bats is stamped with the grains rather than on the top like ash. There was a MLB study done in because so many maple bats were shattering when breaking, potentially causing serious injury. The results of this study was, when baseballs are hit on top of the maple bats wood grains opposed to with the grains, like you would with ash the bat is more durable.

So for maple bats changed the location of their label, you still want the label pointing up or down at contact. They also include a ink mark that will run depending on the quality of the wood. Birch bats in my opinion have the best characteristics of maple and ash, put together in one bat.

In other words, the birch has the durability of maple with the flex of ash. Birch requires some batting practice to compress the wood and make it harder. I have taken tens of thousands of swings with all 3 types of wood.

Now I have been using these birch bats for a few years and I really like them. I feel like my birch bats get harder after every use.