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[CricketXI]

I have been reading and listening mixed sort of comments regarding the heartwood, some prefer it some don’t.

I have seen many manufacturers grading it down and some ramping it up to limited/ players edition, which got me confused.
 I understand that grading is nothing to do with the performance and reading the comments over here I found out it’s more of a preferential thing.
As you guys have multiple bats and have experienced with all sort of willows and grades, I would like to know your thoughts which one will you prefer a G1 with 6-7 grains all sapwood or a G2 with multiple(12+) grain and 40-50 % heartwood bat, considering both are same profile & weight.

[JB]

Personal preference is for Sapwood, i do like a little streak of heartwood down an edge though

[KettonJake]

As mentioned before, there is no industry standard for grading. Some bat makers buy their willow from a merchant and the merchant will have graded it as they see it. Some bat makers then choose to grade it again themselves. Some bat makers source the tree/wood themselves and so have no merchant grading it for them. They can then grade it as they see fit, under their own criteria.

It essentially comes down to whoever is making the bat (or in the case of some brands who buy bats in and sticker them up, whoever is selling the bat) to decide what grade they want to sell it as.

What makes me chuckle is the mainly Pakistani brands who sell bats with a 'certified/guaranteed grade 1' certificate accompanying the bat. Who is doing the certifying?! The is no regulatory body out there deciding what is grade 1 and what isn't. The bat maker or the willow merchant have knocked together a piece of paper that should actually say 'in our opinion this piece of wood is grade 1'

It's a grey area and even if there was an industry standard, it would only apply to how a piece of willow looks. Grading on performance is impossible. The reality is most bats offer pretty good performance when pressed correctly, regardless of their looks. Buying a 'performance' grade bat for any sort of serious money is a good way to give a bat company a bit of extra cash for selling you a grade 3. There are plenty of less visually appealing bat options out there that can be acquired pretty cheaply, butterfly for example.

[Mfarank]

My personal experience with heartwood is that it tends to be drier and more brittle. I wouldnt want heartwood on my inside edge as inside edge tend to be at sharper angles. Outside edges tend to be more deflective and the ball flies quicker if there is heartwood so i wouldnt mind it on my outside edge. Would still keep a close eye on it though

[CricketXI]

G1 :


G2:


what if you were given above 2 choices, I prefer sapwood because of 2 reasons: 1) I have found it to be bit light in weight 2) Its less brittle.

[InternalTraining]

Heartwood.

It is an easy choice for me. More heartwood the better.

[Seniorplayer]

The sapwood one because it as more sap

[Buzz]

Get the lighter cleft...

[Biggie Smalls]

My ideal bat , grain wise , is 8-9 grains. I dont mind going between 7-10.
I dont mind a small (1 grain thickness) strip of heartwood,  but prefer all sapwood .

[enlightened]

So that's conclusive then! 

[amritpremi]

If performance, profile etc. is assumed to be same I would go for the one which costs less. if price is same then may be one with more than 25% heartwood.

[jbrommo]

I shouldn't really be picky as I'm really not that good, but sadly I am. It has to be all sapwood for me, it must be a sporting OCD issue.

[SAFC2403]

I personally think people get too hung up on bat grades and it seems a lot of the off the shelf companies now use it as a way to just charge more for a bat.

Yes the higher grades look nicer and that but at the end of the day get a bat suited to your budget.

But based on the above pics i'd definately go for the G2.