Print

[Buzz]

At what point does our memory silver line the performance of our bats which leads us to be more impatient and have higher expectations of a new bat?

I have a wonderful bat - barely scored 500 runs with it, let alone 1000 and I just don't think it compares to my older bats - even the bat which I had my best ever seasons with doesn't compare in my mind - but surely I must be wrong!!

but is that my mind playing tricks on me?

John - I hope you don't mind be using this quote:

i use an MH Distinction 2010 shape and its just one big middle, i put that down to the massive spine running the entire length of the hitting area. Edges are 20mm, spine 75mm, its concaved but the back never goes below the edge.

 It broke and i have used/borrowed about 6 different bats since and they have all been noticeably inferior.

We have the knocking in question which is alluded to elsewhere - but I believe this accounts in a large part for the comically high turn over of bats on this forum (that and the stupid number of bats we own!!)

what do you all think? Do our minds play tricks on us about past performance?
I know my newer bats pick up significantly better than previous models and all are around the same weight...

[smilley792]

Does the first feelings with a bat count towards it? Does it give a placebo effect of it's greatness if you get a good score early on?


My old kahuna was a great bat, until the edge died.

I bought a gray nics oblivion, and after knocking in, my first game(not even a net) I had a quick fire 34 before being given out to a no ball(headheight Beemer).
I was adamant the bat was better and an awesome find,



When that broke, it's replacement did a winters nets, before I got 2 ducks in a pre season friendly, followed by a few fails.
I have sold that bat on since, although I did make a few fifties with it. I had decided it wasn't for me.


Now was it truly not for me? Wrong pick up? Wrong weight? Or was it merely that  because I didn't instantly score runs with it, the placebo on my brain was it wasn't for me?

[TangoWhiskey]

I can go the other way. I scored about 400 runs better last season with a bat I never really and still don't think was up to much. It's opening up a bit now but it's definitely not as good as the bat I had before it.

[jwebber86]

i used to use a big kahuna a few years ago and had my best season with it. i started playing regularly last season and just never particularly liked my new bat. i found my old one in the attic and used it in one game it has now been donated to the club kit bag.

[kal_m]

For me it's the brain. How many guys on here would prefer an SG Anchor 5000 or an RNS Unik over the L&W Reserve?Well, I believe I'll be the only weirdo. Although I've hit some massive sixers with it I never got along with the Reserve due to a simple fact that it had very little bow.I sold it and bought a Reebok (my current bat) and I absolutely love it. So for me it's psychological to some extent.

[The Palmist]

Just an excuse when you are not performing as well as you would have liked to.

[GarrettJ]

For me that MH Distinction just feels right in my hands, the handle is just perfect and everything just feels right. I think as a result the bat just feels like it has better performance (it is a very good bat though). I lent it to a lad in my team once and he said he didnt like it, so i do think that it is hard to judge performance as its a personal thing. To further emphasise the point I was personally given an old GN match bat by shivnarine chanderpaul, lets just say it was the worse bat i ever used. It felt so light and flimsy and the handle was thin .... i just couldnt get the ball off the square so i gave it to some lad for free.

I do have some serious handle OCD though. I prefer to choose a bat based on its handle than the grains. I have even contemplated removing the handle from my MH and taking it to a bat maker to get it reproduced several times over. Its 12.1cm and 13cm circumference on the top and bottom hand respectively with an oval bottom hand and i have been told a slightly oval top hand.

I always carry that MH bat with me even without an inside edge, just in case im having a seriously bad day. I think i will always carry it for the rest of my career until i can get a reliable replica (b3 cant do it, i already asked them)

[tushar sehgal]

I think some of it is our mind playing tricks on us, for e.g. you crave a meal you had a while back but when you get to eat it again especially if it has been a long time since the last time you tasted it it does not taste just as good...atleast to me it works that way...

With old bats its not just the performance of the bat but also the memories one has with it, I have hit some massive sixes with my old favorites, timed shots along the ground even though our outfield is like a jungle, new bats either don't compare till you get one that is just as good and also the fact that those moments happened over the life of the bat and not just in 1 inning and every inning there after but when judging a new one you expect it do that every time you go out to bat without considering your own form sometimes maybe??