Types of Bats

There is a fantastic choice of baseball bats currently on the market, with something for all budgets and playing styles, from the latest high tech metal composite materials to the more traditional hardwoods.

Aluminum Alloy Bats
Aluminum bats are lightweight, incredibly strong and increase the players striking speed and power, resulting in faster, harder hits.  Low-end aluminum bats can start from as little as $30, and are long lasting and good value for money.

Composite Metal Bats
The materials used in composite bats vary, depending on the manufacturer, by the same methods are used which involves strengthening the bat with layers of fiber reinforced composite metals, to improve durability and performance.

White Ash
White Ash is a hard, durable wood and is popular for baseball bats as not only is it very strong, but also lightweight.  White ash is plentiful in Northern America, and this combined with the strong, easy to work grain keeps cost down, meaning you can buy a low-end white ash bat from around just $40.  Top end white ash bats can cost a great deal more, as they are sourced from trees that are over 50 years old for the maximum strength and durability.

Maple
Traditionally maple has been too heavy to be used successfully in baseball bats, but modern techniques have enabled manufacturers to produce much lighter maple wood, which can be used to make very strong, hard and long lasting baseball bats.  Maple bats are still generally a bit heavier than white ash, so will not suit all players and because of the specialised techniques involved in the production they are a bit more expensive, with low end maple bats starting from around $60-70.  Manufacturers are also starting to produce maple composite bats, which combine the strength of maple with less dense materials to produce lighter, less expensive bats.

Hickory
Hickory used to be the wood of choice for professional baseball players, because of its superior strength, hardness and durability but it does make very dense bats, which are just too heavy for the modern game.

Bamboo
This is a relatively new material for baseball bats, and is made by pressing strips of bamboo into short lengths, which are then used to form the bat.  Bamboo has incredibly high tensile strength (much greater than steel) and creates a hard, strong and long lasting bat, which has the added advantage of being low cost, with top quality bamboo bats starting from just $50.