College baseball bats are more high-tech than the bats that the pros use. The pros, you see, are behind the times with their baseball bats. Their wood relics have been out of fashion for years. Wood makes for baseball bats that are heavier, less long lasting, and less effective than their counterparts made from aluminum.

Todays best baseball bats are to be found in the college ranks. Theyre made of military grade aluminum provided by corporations like Alcoa and Kaiser. And these companies keep working on this aircraft aluminum to make it stronger, thinner, lighter, and more durable.

These aluminum alloys go by their corporate trade names or numbers, and usually by brand names too. You can sometimes find that the same trade name is marketed by different bat makers by different brand names.

If you want to see if your college baseball bats are made from one of these advanced alloys, simply look at the bat. Usually, manufacturers are so proud of the fact that theyll announce it in big bold letters on the bat. Then again, if youre bat is -11 or lighter, it is required by law not to state what kind of alloy is used in its fabrication. In any case, these lighter bats probably do not contain the stronger newer alloys. To make weight, the manufacturer probably used a lighter alloy for the thinner walls of the bat.

If you want to be able to know exactly what is in your college baseball bats, look for the grade number on them. For instance, a grade number of 7046 means that the bat is fabricated with standard aircraft aluminum, a material fit for many budget bats.

The grade 7050 means the aluminum alloy contains an amount of copper, which makes it one-third stronger than 7046. Other numbers and grades, of course, designate other alloy blends and different strengths.