Among Gwynn's primary strengths was his patience in allowing the ball to reach the strike zone before starting his swing. His bats were as small as anyone used during his career, and their lightness allowed him to wait longer before committing to his swing; he was rarely fooled by a pitch. Growing up, he was not overparticular about his baseball bats, using anything that was available. Gwynn started with a 34-inch, 32-ounce aluminum bat in college. As a junior, he had to replace it as after it got dented, and came across a 32-inch, 31-ounce model that was more to his liking. At his first minor league stop at Walla Walla, the shortest bat they had was 34 inches. To Gwynn's surprise, he uncharacteristically started hitting home runs. On their first road trip to Eugene, Oregon, he acquired a couple of 32-inch bats that he could better handle. In the first 12 years of his MLB career, Gwynn used a 32½-inch, 31-ounce bat. In his final eight years, he employed a 33-inch, 30½-ounce bat. Gwynn wanted his wooden bats light like his aluminum ones in college. Instead of having the barrel of his bats shaved, as many batters do, he had them "cupped", with the end of the barrel hollowed out like the bottom of a wine bottle. His small hands required that he use thin-handled bats. His bat control made him a good hit-and-run batter, although some former teammates complained he would swing for a hit even when a player was trying to steal, depriving his teammate of a stolen base.