Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: dilscoop on May 16, 2014, 08:09:18 AM
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Thoughts ?
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The perfect bat for me is 9/10 evenly spaced straight grains - my bat for this season has 9 and it's an absolute pinger (plus it'll last too!). Personally I don't see why someone would want to spend £300+ on a 20+ grain bat when the chances are it won't last past a few seasons...
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I'm generally in the 'less is more' club - 6-12 is fine by me. However, I can see why people get excited by 'pinstripes'. Wouldn't mind having a bash with a lavishly grained bat just to see if there is any discernible difference.
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I'm not convinced that there is a discernible difference in anything but aesthetics. Any scientists out there fancy an experiment? It would be interesting to see how density of grains affects the bat from a performance vs durability point of view. Personally, I always aim for 10-ish straight grains, no blemishes and I'm not really a fan of heartwood.
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I have never used anything with more than 9 grains, but I have a really grainy Aldred butterfly on the way so I am interested to see the difference.
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2 years back i always wanted 14 plus grains on my bats, now numbers reduced to 10. I am happy with 8 to 10 straight grains now.
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let's try to get a personal perspective on this, think back to your better bats, how many grains were they.
i think 8-12 evenly spaced is perfection
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lets try to get a personal perspective on this, think back to your better bat youve ever had, how many grains were they.
i think 8-12 evenly spaced is perfection
Couldn't agree more.
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Most my bats tend to be 6-8.
I prefer to have grains which look like they're trying to burst out the face of the bat than the number of them.
Saying that, I do like the number 12 so want 12 grains. I ignore this fancy of the number 12 and get the best feeling bat to myself.
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I honestly don't really mind, it's mostly an aesthetic thing but generally 9-14
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anything with 6 or more does the job for me
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Most my bats tend to be 6-8.
I prefer to have grains which look like they're trying to burst out the face of the bat than the number of them.
Saying that, I do like the number 12 so want 12 grains. I ignore this fancy of the number 12 and get the best feeling bat to myself.
Just to crank up the 'confuseometer', I well understand the face busting grains that seem to attract the biggest wow, but when counting grains, what about those very faint ones, that are there but make you wonder whether they officially stand as a grain or not - c'mon, we've all seen them.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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More gains tend to mean a stiffer blade which in turn means better performance but lesser grains can catch up just take a little longer.
I personally like a uncluttered face
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Bout 8 to 12 thick straight clean grains
My Jedi that had 17 grains has just expired after about 500 runs,,,ping was very nice,,bat always felt nice and soft when ball struck it, ,but, 500 runs and a few nets is a little disappointing
My new Aldred has about 12 grains and just feels epic an hopefully should last me a few seasons of hacking
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of course, the question is then 'How do we know when a bat has past it's peak?'
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My Jedi that had 17 grains has just expired after about 500 runs,,,ping was very nice,,bat always felt nice and soft when ball struck it, ,but, 500 runs and a few nets is a little disappointing
No where near enough IMO - how long did you have the bat for? That's the problem with lots of grains though, lovely ping but they don't always last (although 500 runs is very low)
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Bout 8 to 12 thick straight clean grains
My Jedi that had 17 grains has just expired after about 500 runs,,,ping was very nice,,bat always felt nice and soft when ball struck it, ,but, 500 runs and a few nets is a little disappointing
My new Aldred has about 12 grains and just feels epic an hopefully should last me a few seasons of hacking
Ha ha - sounds like me! :D :D :D :D
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The more the better (15+), I want a bat that will ping from the word go and not take half a season or even longer to open up. I find the more grains the bat has the more likely the bat is to perform early on. I understand they do not last as long, but if you look after them they should easily be able to last 1000 runs + nets.
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I probably didnt help the bat, by lending it to my son, while he was winter training at Somerset,,not a big fan of Bola balls at 80mph! But needs must
I do have another of these bats with 19 grains, but the sweet spot is tiny, so I've not used it
My Affinity spectre has 8 very thick straight grains, and that bat is just one big sweet spot !
And my sons Affinity carbine has around 15 grains,,and again that bat is something else,,with a very long middle!
I guess,,,to a certain extent, grains really don't affect bat performance
It's purely visual
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Having owned bats with various number of grains I don't think there is much of a difference, atleast not enough for someone at my level to notice. Had a 29 grainer that played well but have also had 8 grainers that played just as well, only thing in common was that these were all rated top of the line for their brands at the time.
Here are my two match bats, both are equally good but there is a difference in number of grains.
14-15 odd grains on this one BR LE
(http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc453/tusharsehgal/BR%20LE/002_zpsf24d353f.jpg) (http://s1212.photobucket.com/user/tusharsehgal/media/BR%20LE/002_zpsf24d353f.jpg.html)
9-10 on the Salix
(http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc453/tusharsehgal/2014%20Kit/IMG_4113_zps8006fccc.jpg) (http://s1212.photobucket.com/user/tusharsehgal/media/2014%20Kit/IMG_4113_zps8006fccc.jpg.html)
Another one that feels just as good off the mallet and hasn't seen a ball yet is M&H which has 7 grains
(http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc453/tusharsehgal/2014%20Kit/IMG_4112_zpsaf71f013.jpg) (http://s1212.photobucket.com/user/tusharsehgal/media/2014%20Kit/IMG_4112_zpsaf71f013.jpg.html)
I think every bat is different, 2 bats with same # of grains will have different performance so its difficult to compare 2 bats with different number of grains or what number is ideal. Its all about what pleases your eyes and does it match the price tag attached to it.
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Largely it comes down to the pressing, depending on how skilled the bat maker is with their pressing makes a huge difference to the bat overall
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Mr Sehgal,,,that's a very nice collection of bats you have there!
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More grains is better performance initially and less durability. Less grains, same performance more or less after opening up, and longer durability. So it depends on patience and budget. Personally, grains don't matter, as long as there aren't to many blemishes.
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Mr Sehgal,,,that's a very nice collection of bats you have there!
Thank you sir :) it is significantly lower now from 26 in december to about 8 now. Would like to reduce a bit a more but not too bothered at the moment as all great bats.
anyways back on topic, for me anywhere from 9-15 is great but its just not all about the number of grains. You can have a really ugly looking grainy bat, they need to be pleasing to the eye.
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I always thought the more money you spent the better bat you were getting in response and performance and looks and yet it's not like that at all,
Some low end bats looks stunning and I'm sure after some work will open up and perform brilliantly,
Personally I like between 8-10 grains
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(http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r659/Simonalfie5/imagejpg13_zpsc2ba05ce.jpg) (http://s1360.photobucket.com/user/Simonalfie5/media/imagejpg13_zpsc2ba05ce.jpg.html)
This my match gun with very thing grains I so impressed with how well the thin grain bat has played
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Ha ha,,, I know that Uzi bat is awesome ,,,but that is just too nice to use???
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Simon how many bats you got this year and yes thats a looker for sure
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I always thought the more money you spent the better bat you were getting in response and performance and looks and yet it's not like that at all,
Some low end bats looks stunning and I'm sure after some work will open up and perform brilliantly,
Personally I like between 8-10 grains
It's very true I have a low end spartan and it's a real gem it's in my match kit with my Uzi pro that's how much I rate it
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I picked three top bats all with different grains but all preform very well
(http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r659/Simonalfie5/imagejpg3_zps1537ca54.jpg) (http://s1360.photobucket.com/user/Simonalfie5/media/imagejpg3_zps1537ca54.jpg.html)
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My preference is a minimum of 12 ruler straight even grains.
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How many bats with 12+ grains have some or a fair bit if Heartwood on the blade? I would say a fair few if not the majority.
Does that then mean that it could be the presence of heartwood that improves immediate performance in bats and not just plenty of grains? We then get into heartwood vs sapwood and not just grain count.
Personally I think 8-10 straight grains will do well more often than not. The key however is in the pressing, if you get that down, you can make a bat of almost any amount of grains ping! Suppose the secret lies in what a certain amount of grains means to you , when deciding how hard or soft to press that SPECIFIC blade.
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another interesting debate on grains could be light grains vs thick prominent grains. I noticed that thick grains are better.
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Never had a bat with more than 10 grains but this year im going with an 18 grainer with heartwood
My last bat was a beast, 9 grains. Mike from blank bats has seen it, not sure he used it or not
On the question of how long does a bat last ....
I think thats until its cracks badly or the face starts to fall off. I had my last bat for 3 seasons and it lasted around 4000 runs but i dont net more than 10 times a year. I do however lightly sand the face and re oil once a month. Its still going strong but the inside edge fell off.
Northern moneky ... How did you know your bat was gone after 500 runs?
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Just didn't feel right, last couple of innings
Had a good look at the toe, and it's cracked right through ,,,about halfway up the blade in length
Means I can use my Aldred now tho