5 Best Wood Youth Bats
Best Wood Youth Bats
There are many advantages to using wood bats, particularly for youths. Wood bats help players develop their skill and technique since a player must adapt to use both their arms and body to ensure a good swing. Thus, we’ve prepared a list of the best wood youth bats on the market for you.
It is commonly said that a wooden bat is prone to breaking during a hard hit, but a quality bat can send a ball straight for the fences without doing any damage to the bat itself.
Wood bats tend to have proper weighting and balancing to ensure a proper swing. In turn, youths who use a wood bat pick up greater barrel awareness, which allows youths to learn the best strike zone grasping techniques so that the player has a greater chance of hitting the ball with the sweet spot.
Of course, knowing what benefits a wooden bat provides is not enough. It is important that you also know which wood youth bats work best. The list below highlights our choices for seriously powerful and trustworthy bats.
1. Marucci JB19 Youth Maple Wood Baseball Bat
This posh and well-crafted Marucci bat combines a thick handle with a traditional barrel, ensuring the player will be in complete control. It’s one of the brand’s most balanced and fastest swinging bats, available in various sizes from 26 to 31 inches. That’s great since it enables the player to pick up the perfect size for them.
The product is made from maple, with every bat bone rubbed to ensure the ultimate wood density. The only downside is that the bat isn’t recommended for beginners – it’s best suited for players with some experience in hitting wood. However, since the bat is made with the very same specifications as the adult version of the JB19, the transition, later on, should be more seamless.
The Marucci Maple wood bat offers a 30-day warranty, so you can be confident in the quality of the materials used in manufacturing. If you’re looking for an elegant bat that will help young players refine their skills and reach their full potential, this one is a great choice.
2. Rawlings Adirondack Youth Wood Bat
Similar to the Louisville Slugger Youth 225 Bat, the Rawlings Adirondack Youth Wood Bat is also made from ash and features a nice black finish. However, this bat also boasts a laser-engraved knob for a sweeter appearance that any youth is sure to enjoy. When it comes to youth wood bats, this one is capable of withstanding the true test of time thanks to its solid construction.
The bat features a 1-inch handle that is easy for smaller hands to grasp while a medium-sized barrel ensures a greater chance of hitting a home run. The bat is available in varying sizes ranging from 27 inches to 31 inches for youths of all ages. This bat is sure to improve the swing technique of your young hitter thanks to the balanced feel that it provides.
Despite the fact that the Rawlings Adirondack Youth Wood Bat is somewhat on the thin side, it offers incredible craftsmanship. Although the ashwood ensures that the bat is lightweight, it offers enough weight to help young children develop their batting skills. Overall, this bat is a great choice for any young player looking to improve their gameplay.
3. BB-W Wooden Baseball Bat
The BB-W Wooden Baseball Bat by Barnett is perfect from the youngest of youth players to the oldest thanks to its incredible size range. Bat sizes include 24 inches, 28 inches, 30 inches, and 32 inches in length. The bat itself is constructed of quality composite wood, which offers solid swinging capabilities as well as the ability to send a baseball flying for the fences.
The bat is relatively lightweight and smaller in size compared to many other youth bats. It is approximately 2 inches in diameter at the end of the barrel, which may make it seem small in stature, but it is big enough to knock quite a few balls out of the park. A relatively thin handle makes this bat easy for young hands to hold onto while they practice so they can bring their A-game to the playing field.
BB-W Wooden Baseball Bat features a natural finish, which gives it a traditional appearance that is perfect for avid baseball fans of any age. Although the bat is small enough that it is easy to handle, it is also sturdy enough that it allows players to improve their techniques. The thin handle makes it easy for players to determine where the strike zone is so they can find the bat’s sweet spot without issues.
4. Louisville Slugger WB125YB-BW Baseball Bat
The Louisville Slugger WB125YB-BW Baseball Bat is everything a youth player could want from a contemporary-looking bat. The bat, which is made from ashwood, looks incredible with a wine-colored finish on the handle and a black finish on the barrel. Part of what makes this bat so fantastic is that it is the perfect choice for young baseball players. The bat is available in two sizes, which include a 27-inch bat weighing in at 26 ounces, and a 29-inch bat weighing 28 ounces.
This bat is a tad heavier than some bats that are similar in size, however, it offers incredible balance, and the weight of the bat allows players to develop some of the best swinging techniques possible. By improving their swinging technique, youths can gain a competitive edge on the field that allows them a better chance of hitting a home run.
The Louisville Slugger WB125YB-BW Baseball Bat is made of ashwood. Ash is a far more flexible wood than other, more traditionally used woods such as maple. However, the flexibility of the wood provides a more forgiving sweet spot to ensure the bat does not split when your child cracks a ball. In addition, the sound the ball makes when it connects with the bat will have your child grinning from ear to ear.
5. Louisville Slugger 2015 Youth 125 Ash Wood Tee Ball Bat
When it comes to youth wood bats, the Louisville Slugger 2015 Youth 125 Ash Wood Tee Ball Bat is where it’s at. The bat features a stunning natural finish for a more traditional baseball bat look that is sure to make any little slugger happy. The bat is constructed out of carefully selected ash lumber to ensure a solid, high-quality construction.
One benefit of this bat is that it is only 26 inches in length, which makes it the perfect bat for any young tee-ball player looking to improve their gameplay. It is a superb choice as a starter bat for even the youngest of players since it is relatively lightweight and easy to handle. Since the bat is made from ashwood, it provides enough flexibility to ensure that your young player is able to make good use of the bat’s sweet spot.
Hitting a ball and landing a home run should be no problem considering that the bat is 2 inches in diameter. A smaller-sized handle ensures that tiny hands can grasp the bat with ease. This well-made bat is a great choice if you are looking for either a good practice bat or a T-ball bat, especially considering its affordable price. Overall, there is almost no way you can go wrong when choosing this bat for young baseball players.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to do anything to the bat after I purchase it?
A lot of enthusiasts put their bats through what is called a “breaking” period, which essentially means putting it to the test by swinging it against a baseball several dozen times. If you just got your composite baseball bat out of the wrapper and it feels off, then make sure to break it. Aluminum bats don’t need this.
The general rule of thumb is to rotate the bat about a quarter whenever you hit the baseball to ensure that it strikes a different part each time. Another good piece of advice is to only use about half strength when swinging at the baseball to ensure you don’t put so much pressure into it that it cracks before reaching its full potential. After you break in the bat, then it will be significantly more sturdy.
An estimated total of between 100 to 200 hits needs to be achieved for the bat to be fully broken in.
What is the best wood for youth bats?
Regardless of whether or not you’re buying a youth bat or meant for an adult, there are 3 main types of wood that are used in the industry. The traditional choice is ashwood, since it was exclusively used throughout the world until sometime around 1998, when we started experimenting with other woods such as maple and birch. Maple has since become favored, however, due to its extreme durability.
- Ash – The father of baseball bats and the wood from which most of them used to be made. Ashwood is very flexible but features little density, ruining them after heavy use. It’s known to be less performing than maple and far more prone to breaking.
- Birch – A mix between ash and maple. A decent middle ground between flexibility and density, making birch a solid all-rounder.
- Maple – The stiffest and hardest wood commonly used in baseballs. Chosen by professionals due to its extraordinary durability.
If you’d like to find the best wood youth bats for yourself, then picking your desired type would be a wise place to start.
Final Thoughts
With so many bats available on the market, it can seem like a daunting task to try and find the right one. Fortunately, the list above will help you get started with some great starter bats for young players. Each one features its own unique benefits that your children are sure to love. Better yet, each bat listed comes at an affordable price that parents are sure to love.
There should be no reason why you should have to break the bank just to ensure that your child receives a quality youth bat to play with. Although there might not be any warranties available on the bats mentioned above, their solid build should ensure plenty of playtime without the worry of cracking and breaking.
Of course, you should keep in mind that the chances of splitting a bat are always likely with wood, but the better the build of the bat and the more solid the construction, the less likely it is that your little slugger will splinter it to pieces.
All-in-all, the bats mentioned above will provide your child with plenty of playtime both on and off the field while also improving their swinging technique thanks to their balanced weight.
