Composite vs Aluminum vs Both vs Neither

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Next: Step #5 Finding the right swing weight

After you've narrowed down the bat choices by what is legal in your league and decided on a one or two-piece bat design, the next logical step is to decide what material you'd like the bat to be made.

I will proceed as if you know the possible materials and understand them to some extent. If you need a refresher try here on composite, aluminum and wood.

Composite bats almost always cost more than their aluminum counterparts. Bats with a combo of composite and aluminum (like a composite handle and an aluminum barrel) usually cost more than aluminum and less than full composite. 

Why some justify the extra cost in composite:

Composite Break

1- it is a fact that Composite bats (in the little leagues) do possess the ability to have greater pop than their aluminum counterparts. (Do know it takes a good 200 swings to get a composite bat in true form. Most suggest you do this on a tee, rotating the bat a quarter turn each hit). Composite fibers gain flexibility as they are worked in--this increases the trampoline effect. Some argue that a composite bat always gets hotter the more you hit it until, eventually, the bat breaks in sometimes spectacular fashion.

2- For High School and NCAA the BBCOR requirements for composite bats don't alloy the graphite fibers You may find a smoother swing for your style in a two-piece composite or appreciate the sting dampening or plate coverage in the barrel, but don't think your $399 Mako has any more pop than a Sam RMC1.

2- Aluminum bats, on the other hand, lose pop over time and are never hotter than when they are taken out of the wrapper. Aluminum bats don't break as easy as composite but imperfections in the aluminum caused by hitting baseballs negatively effect the pop in the bat. Better aluminum tends to imperfect less easily but also comes at an added cost.

2- Composite bats, which can have thinner walls than aluminum alloys, allow bat designers to orchestrate more optimal swing-weight and plate coverage. 

3- Bat designers can also tune trampoline effect more effectively with composite bats. 

4- Composite bats also tend to sting less than aluminum.

And, maybe most damning, it is not clear if new regulations on composite bats in little league will require them to have a trampoline effect no more effective than high end aluminum bats even after they are worked in. Such regulations have already made highschool and NCAA composite bats no more bouncy than wood. If you are buying composite in highschool/NCAA for the added pop you'll be disappointed.

BBCOR Certification makes this
bat bounce like Wood.

The catch-22 is that if composite bats at the little league level do show a marked propensity to increase batted ball speed compared to their aluminum counterparts then its more likey little league will move to ban them.

Conclusions

For little league, those who should consider purchasing composite barrel bats are those who (1) play a lot of baseball (maybe 75 to 100+ plate appearances a year), (2) those who already hit the ball pretty well and (3) those who intend to play for as long as possible.

If your player is in little league and you don't meet all those requirements I'd save the extra $100+ and put it towards a great glove or the mortgage payment. As well, there are plenty of aluminum barreled bats on the market with plenty of suave.

If you feel like you are right on the cusp of the composite bat craze but not quite there, I'd go for a two-piece aluminum handle composite barrel combo bat. Some models have really caught on among the little league ranks: DeMarini's Vexxum and Louisville Slugger's Vortex.

If you are not quite sure on any of it I'd go with aluminum. Better to start there and get a feel for it. It's always much more satisfying to spend money to upgrade then to spend money to downgrade.

Now that you've decided on a legal bat, with either a two or one-piece design as well as the type of material you want you are well on your way to making a decision. Just one more step: Finding the Right Swing Weight.

Next: Step #5 Finding the right swing weight

Previous: Step #3 To Piece or Not Two Piece