Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Rez on March 28, 2021, 07:22:50 PM
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I know this will have been done to death..... but..... :D
It's not just subjectivity, it's a bit ridiculous!
Left to right: G1+, G1, G2, G3, G4. Take your pick!
(https://i.postimg.cc/PJsf8BZk/20210328-201434.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ftCQGqBH)birds in the sky wallpaper (https://suwalls.com/vector/birds-in-the-sky)
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Does that "G4" on the end have some kind of pressing crack, storm damage or stain elsewhere on the bat by any chance?
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Does that "G4" on the end have some kind of pressing crack, storm damage or stain elsewhere on the bat by any chance?
Spot on. Storm damage (although you would do well to spot it).... the rest are defect free.
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Can't make any choice like this, have to see their profile etc,
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If I was choosing a bat purely on aesthetic pleasure, the G1+ would be last on the list.
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Can't make any choice like this, have to see their profile etc,
You're missing the point.... imagine they are all your favourite profile....
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Don't know who's missing the point but I don't choose based on grains, might have to do with my arms, I've given away perfect 21 grains butterfly as that felt heavy!
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OK, so imagine they are all your favourite profile and perfect weight :-)
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G1 or the G4 (if we pretend it's not storm damaged!). I have an absolutely lovely looking H4L sub grade bat that has a few pressing cracks but otherwise it's got a very clean face and nice grains, might not last forever but it'll look good while it does!
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was on romida as planning on a visit when they reopen.
they have an interesting narrative on grading from Kookaburra (havent looked at other brands on there yet)
My understanding was that grading was mainly about aesthetics rather than performance, but they contradict themselves constantly in the below. are they saying the most attractive will perform the best?
Kookaburra Willow Grading
Kookaburra bats vary greatly in price and it’s obvious that more expensive bats will perform better than a cheaper one. Kookaburra evaluate each bat throughout the manufacturing process on the basis of how it plays or “pings” so you know what to expect from the particular grade you choose.
Most bats will have a combination of white and red wood. White wood is the more attractive part of the cleft of wood and is more responsive than the red wood. The red wood though is more durable than the white part.
Grade One: The most expensive willow and usually the most attractive blades. There may be some red wood evident on the blade and generally there will be at least 6 fairly straight grains. There may be a small knot or speck on the edge or back of the bat but the playing area should be clean.
Grade Two: Excellent quality but usually more red wood may be visible on the bat. This won’t affect the playability of the bat. Similar number of grains as a grade 1 with potentially the odd blemish or butterfly mark on the face.
Grade Three: The most extensively used grade – and certainly the most popular at Romida as it offers outstanding value for money. A grade 3 blade may have up to half the face with a tint or red wood colour but this won’t affect the playability. This grade will have about five grains on the face which might not be straight and there is likely to be some specks or butterfly marks on the face.
Grade Four: Usually over half the blade will have red wood but the playability will be good. There are often only 4 grains and will have butterfly marks and specks on the bat.
Grade Five: This is very similar to a grade 4 but will have more stain in the wood so cosmetically will not be as good.
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was on romida as planning on a visit when they reopen.
they have an interesting narrative on grading from Kookaburra (havent looked at other brands on there yet)
My understanding was that grading was mainly about aesthetics rather than performance, but they contradict themselves constantly in the below. are they saying the most attractive will perform the best?
Kookaburra Willow Grading
Kookaburra bats vary greatly in price and it’s obvious that more expensive bats will perform better than a cheaper one. Kookaburra evaluate each bat throughout the manufacturing process on the basis of how it plays or “pings” so you know what to expect from the particular grade you choose.
Most bats will have a combination of white and red wood. White wood is the more attractive part of the cleft of wood and is more responsive than the red wood. The red wood though is more durable than the white part.
Grade One: The most expensive willow and usually the most attractive blades. There may be some red wood evident on the blade and generally there will be at least 6 fairly straight grains. There may be a small knot or speck on the edge or back of the bat but the playing area should be clean.
Grade Two: Excellent quality but usually more red wood may be visible on the bat. This won’t affect the playability of the bat. Similar number of grains as a grade 1 with potentially the odd blemish or butterfly mark on the face.
Grade Three: The most extensively used grade – and certainly the most popular at Romida as it offers outstanding value for money. A grade 3 blade may have up to half the face with a tint or red wood colour but this won’t affect the playability. This grade will have about five grains on the face which might not be straight and there is likely to be some specks or butterfly marks on the face.
Grade Four: Usually over half the blade will have red wood but the playability will be good. There are often only 4 grains and will have butterfly marks and specks on the bat.
Grade Five: This is very similar to a grade 4 but will have more stain in the wood so cosmetically will not be as good.
retail needs to make a case for charging more and more. By saying that the more expensive bats perform batter or look better means the price can go up. If they literally just priced all willow the same regardless then we'd either have every bat at 400+ or every bat at 150
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I appreciate that but they are a specialist shop so surely honesty is the best policy, the majority of bats they sell are G3's according to this
I would argue that there is one line which is a blatant lie ' it�s obvious that more expensive bats will perform better than a cheaper one'
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3dsports are a little more vague on it but still going with the pay more hit it further line
Willow is graded by number, from Grade 1 being the most expensive to Grade 5 being the least expensive. The thing to bear in mind is that this grading only reflects the aesthetic appearance of the bat, and not the performance. For this reason, most manufacturers carry out their own internal grading and select bats based on the performance as well as aesthetics. If you’re paying £450.00 for a top of the range bat, you’d be very unhappy if it looked fantastic but didn’t perform very well! This does also mean that some better bats (£300+) may not look amazing aesthetically, but they are graded as such for their high levels of performance.
As you increase the price of the bat, the level of performance expected should also increase, and it’s your job as a customer to decide how much you’re willing to invest against the kind of performance you expect.
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Out of all the major bat manufacturers, I have seen more G1 planks from Kookaburra than anyone else. I think their grading is all over the place.
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it makes the GM sig's look very good value
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I'm just not convinced that a better looking bat will hit the ball further.
My personal experience does seem to agree with a grainier bat being quicker to play but still I think so much of that is pressing specific as well. If you took a nice straight 12 grainer and 5 grainer from the same bat maker, I'm pretty sure the 12 grainer would play better sooner however.
The grade 1 in the pic is a good example, gave it a bit of work on the edges and toe the same as I would any bat and a few minutes on the face just to test it but other than that I was happy that the face was match ready straight away.
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It is the case in my experience that more grains will be playable quicker but not last as long as wider grains that take longer to open up but are more durable. In terms of looks, I have only really found significant blemishes to materially effect performance.
Grading has definitely changed over time though. There are bats now graded as G1s that would never have been sold as that when I first started playing. One can understand the temptation from the bat maker though that putting a different grading sticker on the same bat can add £100+ additional profit. A different sticker doesn't make any difference to the performance of the bat though had it been graded at a lower grade
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It is the case in my experience that more grains will be playable quicker but not last as long as wider grains that take longer to open up but are more durable. In terms of looks, I have only really found significant blemishes to materially effect performance.
Couldn't agree more and I think it's this rather than the performance which means a lot of them end up in the hands of sponsored players. They just want to get 6 bats, swing them around a bit before picking a favourite and then play with it. They have no interest in wandering around the house with a mallet annoying the wife :)
The fact that it is a cannon straight away is also great news for the sponsor obviously.
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I'm just not convinced that a better looking bat will hit the ball further.
My personal experience does seem to agree with a grainier bat being quicker to play but still I think so much of that is pressing specific as well. If you took a nice straight 12 grainer and 5 grainer from the same bat maker, I'm pretty sure the 12 grainer would play better sooner however.
The grade 1 in the pic is a good example, gave it a bit of work on the edges and toe the same as I would any bat and a few minutes on the face just to test it but other than that I was happy that the face was match ready straight away.
It's all in the quality of the willow and pressing, it's the bat makers who's deciding on which he's gonna give more or less attention.
I've 2x6 grains bats, one was ready to be played in after, say 30 minutes while other took ages. 1st one is harder all sapwood willow while second one is very soft all sapwood.
Both plain bats, from known batmakers.
Grains add to density
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"Grains add to density"?
What exactly do you mean and is that based on any evidence? I don't recall anyone claiming that before.
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"Grains add to density"?
What exactly do you mean and is that based on any evidence? I don't recall anyone claiming that before.
You look so surprised, Jim 😀
I read it here, on this forum and my experience has confirmed it for me.
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I have seen a few statements like this suggesting that tighter grain bats are as a rule heavier but I think you could only really make a judgement on that if you handle a large volume of clefts. As a end user who buys heavy bats, I have had both narrow and wide grains
https://www.pryzmcricket.co.uk/blogs/news/tight-grains-vs-wide-grains (https://www.pryzmcricket.co.uk/blogs/news/tight-grains-vs-wide-grains)