Wood Bat Facts
Wood Grade
All of our bats are considered Pro Stock, (unless otherwise specified). This means the bat is cut from the highest grade stock with a minimum of 24” of straight grain-from the handle to the barrel. Our bats are cut from the straight grain of 100% Maine white rock maple, and yellow birch in which all our billets are hand split.
Own the #HardestWoodInTheGame today!
MAPLE CHARACTERISTICS
Maple is a very dense wood with a very tight grain, similar to layers in a laminated product. Some players believe this density makes for a harder and better performance bat. This density does make maple less likely to flake. When a maple bat does break it usually tends to snap in half rather than just splinter like ash. The heavier weight of the maple makes it difficult to make a lightweight large barrel bat. Usually if a hitter is going to use a maple bat they would use a model with a smaller barrel in order to get the bat weight to the what they desire. Remember to always hit with the label either up or down so you are using the strongest part of the bat thus minimizing the probability of breaking your bat. We place our Dove on the flat of the grain, which is the weak side of the wood. When you hit with the label either up or down, you are making contact with the bat on the strongest part of the bat.
BIRCH CHARACTERISTICS
Birch is a wood that has the hardness of maple with the flexibility of ash. Players are finding these bats perform consistently better than other woods and have a significantly lower breakage rate, enhancing hitting performance, lowering overall costs and also adding a measure of safety to the game. At Dove Tail Bat combining our knowledge of the characteristics of wood with professional players knowledge of performance, has enabled us to provide a superior bat in these birch bats. ALL DTB birch bats are also "hand boned" and ready to use out of the box! Remember to always hit with the label either up or down so you are using the strongest part of the bat thus minimizing the probability of breaking your bat. We place our Dove on the flat of the grain, which is the weak side of the wood. When you hit with the label either up or down, you are making contact with the bat on the strongest part of the bat.
The Dove Tail Difference
At Dove Tail Bat our wood is grown and harvested locally in Maine and is hand selected weekly from log yards from the highest grade available. We inspect each log for the highest quality. Next it is hand split and sawn where again each piece is inspected and only the straightest grain wood is kept for our bats. All of this happens at a Dove Tail Bat log mill where we maintain the highest level of control. This translates to Maine grown wood where the hardest maple is grown and individual inspection for the straightest grain resulting in high quality billets for each bat.
Our Finish
Gloss: Our non yellowing, clear coat finish is incredibly hard and durable. Our Gloss is a #95 sheen gloss and allows for good pine tar adhesion.
Matte: Our Matte finish is a more dull finish and gives a very natural look to the bat. When applied over a natural or unstained bat, it appears to have no finish at all! It is just as hard as either of our other finishes.
Granite Grip: Our Granite Grip is a matte or more dull finish with a ruff consistency for better grip.It is a textured finish-like a sand feel that can be applied over any stain/paint color in our line. I gives extra grip or a non slip surface and is great for handles! It does not add additional strength but some feel when added to the barrel may give additional back spin and exit velocity.
Length & Weight
LENGTH
Length and weight combine for peak performance. A longer bat gives you greater reach, allowing you to hit balls on the other side of the plate. But remember that a longer bat may be heavier, and the extra weight could slow you down. Like checking the weight, you need to swing bats of different lengths to decide what length best suits you.
WEIGHT
As a general rule, bigger, stronger players usually prefer a heavier bat for maximum power. Smaller players usually benefit from a lighter bat that allows greater bat speed. To determine the weight that’s right for you, swing a variety of bats and see how much weight you’re comfortable with. On average, most full sized bats are suggested in a -3. Our youth bats come in a standard -5 to a -6.
Preference
Maple is more dense than ash and, thus, considered harder. It is also heavier, which makes it challenging to find high grade lightweight maple for pro bats. Today’s players demand lighter weights than players of years ago, in large part because all of today’s pro players grew up as kids playing with lighter aluminum bats.
Ash was the most popular for decades, but after some players started having success hitting home runs with maple in the 1990’s more players started asking for maple bats. Years ago, much hickory was used. Hickory has many desirable bat qualities, but it is too heavy to meet the demands of today’s players who like lighter bats for the reasons noted above. The Ash Bore Beatle and other supply issues concerning ash have force us to remove this wood from our product line.
Wood Bat Life Span
Your wood bat can last from one swing to hundreds of swings. The biggest factors that determine this are 1-Where the ball hits your bat and 2-Quality of wood in the bat you buy and the care you give it.
When you are initially beginning to hit with wood bats don’t be surprised if you break quite a few! With aluminum and composite bats a missed hit taken off the handle or at the end of the bat doesn’t mean much, but with wood bats it may lead to a broken bat. Our training bat is designed to help you with this learning curve. When used in practice and with your T work, this bat will train you to hit the sweet spot more consistently by giving you an audible sound when the ball is hit incorrectly. See our You Tube video for more information. It takes some practice but with work you’ll become a more consistent hitter and will find yourself breaking fewer bats.
As you are practicing remember that how you hold your bat is very important. Make sure you are hitting with the Dove Tail Bat label either up or down so you are making contact with the strongest part of the bat. This ensures that you are hitting with the strongest wood grain for the best success.
Inexpensive bats very often are just that-cheap bats made from less than quality wood. All our bats at Dove Tail Bat Co. are made from pro stock wood with good grain quality. Be sure to store your wood bat in an area that does not expose the wood to extreme hot or cold temperature. The trunk of your car in the summer or your unheated garage in the winter can cause unnecessary stress to the wood fibers in your bat making it prone to breakage with a just slightly less than perfect hit.
Never throw your bat or hit anything other than a ball with it. Wood baseball bats are not meant to be thrown and doing so can alter the integrity of the wood, causing it to break the next time you hit a ball. In addition, taking a ball off the handle or end of the bat can have the same effect. Hitting a ball anywhere other than the sweet spot weakens the integrity of the wood and may cause your bat to break on future hits, even if it is hit properly the next time.