Do Professional Players use Heavy or Light Bats? (2024)

FAQs

Do Professional Players use Heavy or Light Bats? ›

The answer to that question is "both," though past players tend to have used heavier bats than do today's players.

It all depends on the speed both bats are traveling. A hitter with a lighter bat who has high bat speed will hit the ball farther than the hitter who uses a heavier bat but has low bat speed. The goal for all hitters is to use the heaviest bat possible WITHOUT sacrificing bat speed.

So, using a heavier bat should result in faster hit balls, which means the hit ball will travel farther. If a player can maintain the same bat swing speed with a heavier bat, the heavier bat will produce higher batted ball velocity and an increase in distance.

As to the core question, momentum = mass X velocity. So a heavier bat moving slower can hit as far as a lighter bat moving faster. However, you want to develop batspeed.

Babe Ruth's 1921 Season

Ruth's Polo Grounds bat was different than others because of its weight. His bat weighed 44.6 ounces, which is much heavier than any bat used today. In 2023, most MLB bats don't come close to Ruth's bat weight. The average bat today weighs around 32 ounces.

The best weight is very much based on feel. If you take multiple swings and the bat feels heavy or begins to drop, then it's probably too heavy for your needs. Try holding the bat handle and extending your arm to your side. If you can't hold the bat extended for 30 to 45 seconds, the bat might be too heavy for you.

Mark McGwire used a 35oz bat to hit his 70 home runs in 1998, and Barry Bonds used a 32oz bat to hit his 73 home runs in 2001. Most of today's major league players typically use 31-35oz bats. Physicists have shown,^[3,4] from a simple collision analysis, that the optimum bat weight is between 15 and 18oz.

You can't say that it affects performance but with heavier bat there are more chances of ball travelling faster. Players who just rely on placements and timings don't need heavier bat but players whose believe in power hitting need heavier bats.

For every increase in 5 miles per hour of your bat speed, the ball will travel an additional 25 feet. Putting this all together, increasing the speed of the bat swing means you will hit the ball with higher exit velocities, have more runs, and hit the ball farther.

By regulation it may be no more than 2.75 inches (7.0 cm) in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches (1.067 m) in length. Although historically bats approaching 3 pounds (1.4 kg) were swung, today bats of 33 ounces (0.94 kg) are common, topping out at 34 to 36 ounces (0.96 to 1.02 kg).

Do certain bats make the ball go farther? ›

The biggest pro of a metal bat is that it hits the ball farther. This is a huge advantage while playing baseball. It can do this because it's lighter weight than a wooden bat and is therefore much easier for the player to swing. Just because the bat is light doesn't mean that it's not strong, though.

inch, 47 oz bat is simply amazing #Tbt. #Throwbackthursday.

According to Chandler, Judge's AJ99. 2 is a 35 inch, 33 ounce bat with no cup, which he's been swinging since April 2017. At that point he switched to a Cutch22 knob, keeping the same 1.04″ handle as he had in the past.

Mickey Mantle used a medium handle and a small to medium barrel (at 35” long and 32 ounces).

The answer to that question is "both," though past players tend to have used heavier bats than do today's players.

Light bats generally result in less shot force and less distance when you make a shot. This implies that even if you hit the ball from the center of the bat, you will have to produce extra force from your wrist to get it over the boundary. In this instance, heavier bats are preferable.

It means that if you're looking for a bat to use for self-defence, you should go with an aluminium bat! It's lighter, so you can swing it faster and hit harder, and it has a bigger sweet spot so you're more likely to make contact. Plus, it's more durable so you don't have to worry about it breaking on you.