well pressings a fascinating subject isn't it and everyone has a different view. my personal view is that soft pressing is a nonsensical thing that only serves to give the appearance of bigger bats in the initial purchase. yes bats can be pressed too hard for sure which only serves to reduce the size of the middle of the bat. but if a bat is soft pressed what is going to happen is the mallet and ball will gradually press the bat itself. you can actually press a bat just with a mallet if you had the time patience and strength of arm to do it. the issue is with softer pressed bats is that they will find their optimum performance eventually by natural impact but lots of damage can be caused in the process. its fine for professionals who don't pay for bats if that's what they like and have great quality cricket balls to hand all the time but in the end the bat only gets to feel how a well pressed bat will feel, the difference being by the time it has pressed itself the handles and bindings will have loosened up in use. where as a well pressed bat will have a firmer feel to it until the bat has had a little use to soften up the handles and bindings.