Although wood baseball bats are still required in the professional leagues, high-tech bats are bearing used by youth, high school and college teams across America and the globe. During the 1980's, aluminum bats became very popular for several reasons. One reason was that they were stronger than wood bats, and it was harder to break an aluminum bat. Second, hitting a ball below the barrel of an aluminum bat did not sting as bad as a wooden bat. And another reason why people switched to aluminum bats when they came out was because they could produce bigger hits, which is what every batter is looking for. The reason why professional teams did not switch to aluminum bats was because they would make the relative distance to the fences a lot shorter. Yes, batting statistics would better than ever, but then teams would have to go and build new stadiums to make to game more challenging.
The Louisville Slugger company has recently come out with new technology that is once again far-more advanced then anything out on the market. The has named the new bats with this technology Air Attack. What Air Attack consists of is air pressure that has been loaded inside a double-wall chamber, creating what they claim as "the first air-powered baseball bat." When a pitched ball strikes the bat, the air pressure in the bat is supposed to act like a "spring" which will provide "better performance." Louisville Slugger also claims that the Air Attack will provide more "pop" off the bat, a larger sweet-spot, quicker bat speed, enhanced durability, and a more "solid feel" to produce "solid hits."
Another technical baseball bat being manufactured is the Easton Reflex. The Reflex has patented Carbon Core technology that combines ultra-thin aluminum walls with carbon fiber reinforcement. The result is "an incredibly hard-hitting bat", however I feel that the more important result is the incredibly hard-hitting price--$175.00!
Now this is an intersting idea by the Baum Research and Development Company. A wood-composite bat designed to meet the requirements of the Major League Baseball rules, while outlasting a normal wood bat 200-500 times. The bat would consist of an outer shell of ash-wood, a middle layer of powder enforced resin, and a plastic core. The Baum Company claims that the bat will provide a wood-like feel, along with over 2000 hits. The bat is still being developed, but the price of the bat should be off-set by the money not spent on replacing broken bats