Contact Hitters Vs Power Hitters - What bat should you be using?

So you’re looking for a new bat but are unsure what to get. “Should you get an end loaded bat or a balanced one?” “What is M.O.I. on these bat descriptions?” “ What type of hitter am I?” All of these questions and more will be answered in this write-up! After reading this you should have a better understanding of what bat will fit your needs best based on what type of hitter you are. So to start out with this discussion, we need to address how to know what type of hitter you are. If you don’t know what type of hitter you are, there are a few ways of telling.

Contact Hitters and Balanced Bats:

If you're making contact with the ball often and are getting on base frequently but can't remember the last time you hit a home run or even rattled the fence, then you are without a doubt a contact hitter. Contact hitters, as the word implies, make contact with the ball frequently and get on base often. Their role in the line-up is to get on base or bring someone on third home. Simply put, you are great at hitting singles and doubles as well as putting pressure on the defense. As a contact hitter, your bat of choice should be a balanced bat. Balanced bats have a weight distribution that is evenly spread across the entire bat, from the tip of the handle to the End Cap. Balanced Bats will have a higher swing speed with the most control through the zone.

A great example of a balanced baseball bat for contact hitters is the Victus Vandal Lev3. The Victus vandal Lev3 is an ultra balanced, extremely low M.O.I. baseball bat perfect for all ages of contact hitters. 

What is M.O.I. and how does it relate to the weight distribution of my bat?

As stated above, the Victus Vandal Lev3 has an extremely LOW M.O.I. and is incredibly balanced. Without getting into a rabbit hole of physics and mathematics, M.O.I. or “mass moment-of-inertia” is the “swing weight feeling” of the bat as you’re swinging the bat across the plate. In other words, as you swing the bat, due to inertial force, however the weight distribution of that bat is, this will affect your overall swing speed. The swing speed of your bat and the M.O.I. have an inverse relationship. High M.O.I. gives a slower swing speed but with more “feeling of mass” from the end loaded weight thus providing more power to your hit. If you're familiar with centrifugal force, this concept should be fairly straightforward. Due to the additional mass at the end of the bat, centrifugal force causes the “heavier” swing feeling you will see in an end loaded bat, thus a slower overall swing speed but a more powerful hit. There is an ABUNDANCE of science and research that goes into the engineering of these bats, and their weight distribution, to provide the appropriate M.O.I. for each type of player. This logic can be applied to all segments of the diamond sports world, Fastpitch bats, Slowpitch bats as well as Baseball bats. 

Power Hitters and End loaded Bats: 

If you are the one dropping bombs on the field and hitting home runs, you are without a doubt a power hitter. Power hitters swing for the fences and are the ones to bring their teammates who are on base home. Now don't get us wrong here, we all know everyone wants to send the ball to the stratosphere but only some are capable of doing so due to their physical attributes. Power hitters are strategically placed in the line-up to bring the contact hitters home. When it comes to a power hitter to select a bat for their type of swing, they need to look for end loaded bats. As stated above with M.O.I., end loaded bats have a high M.O.I. producing a “heavier swing feel” thus more power behind that swing. Before we talk bats, note that the majority of end loaded bats for baseball will be BBCOR (-3). A good end loaded bat for power hitters (no pun intended) is the Demarini The Goods. The all new 2024 Demarini Goods is offered as a one piece alloy or a two-piece hybrid. 

In conclusion: 

To sum up the above, because there is A LOT of information here to absorb, There are two main types of hitters: Contact Hitters and Power Hitters. Depending on which one you are determines which bat you should swing. Contact hitters should be swinging a balanced bat and power hitters should be swinging an end loaded bat. The M.O.I. of those bats or “the Mass Moment of Inertia” has an inverse relationship with your swing speed and is directly correlated to the weight distribution of the bat. A high M.O.I. gives more mass to your swing but slows your swing speed down. A low M.O.I. provides faster swing speeds with more control through the zone. Here at Headbanger Sports we strive to provide the information needed so a player isn't guessing when it comes to what gear they have in their arsenal. If you’re in the market for new equipment, whether it's for Baseball, Slowpitch Softball or Fastpitch Softball, Headbanger Sports has it all! Shop Headbanger Sports today for all your Diamond Sports needs! 

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