We wish youth baseball would return to wooden bats.

While the metal bats provide a more powerful smack of the ball, this has been hard on the young pitchers who have to increase their speeds and types of pitches to acquire strikes and outs. The argument goes that this too often wears out the arms of these talented kids.

On the hitting side, many coaches say wooden bats teach sluggers the finer points of swinging and make the kids a better hitter. Plus, the pros and semi-pros use wood and scouts say metal bats can make a young hitter appear to be a better batter than he really is, resulting in severe disappointment when they can’t make the switch to wood.

Indeed, the metal bat industry has responded by introducing new bats with a duller response that doesn’t send the baseballs so far and so fast. Many youth leagues, such as the national American Legion league, will be switching to the new metal bats next season. The NCAA already switched.

Some states with Legion leagues have switched to wood, most recently was Rhode Island. Minnesota has considered it. Many Minnesotans also know that North Dakota high school teams use wooden bats.

Not only would using wooden bats return the game to its purer origins, it would improve the game overall.

Here is an example: Remember how tennis was so popular in the 1970s, when wooden racquets were in use? Then with the changes in materials that racquets could be made out of — now graphite — the sport has seen a steep decline.

It is best to keep what works. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Baseball with wooden bats wasn’t broken. It never needed metal bats.