What happens when you remove the batter from the equation? Aluminum bats often outperform wooden bats in games. But is that the bat or the player? You mount each bat on a fixed stand and aim a pitching machine at it. The machine sends balls at the same speed every time. You measure how far the ball bounces off each bat over ten trials. The aluminum and wooden bats produce nearly identical distances. Without a human swing, the bat material makes almost no difference.