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[Walkingcure]

Hi everyone, I recently purchased a SG Sunny Tonny and have been knocking it for the last 5 days. I oiled it twice before I started knocking and re-oiled the face very lightly after the 3rd day. The problem I'm facing is that every time I hit the face of the bat with the seam of a new ball, the face is dented. And I don't know if my knocking if compressing the wood any further.     

What am I doing wrong ?

And one more thing, how do I approach knocking the bottom face of the bat ? There's so little wood down there that I'm afraid that hard knocking will damage the bat. Same with the area near the splice.

I would really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks a lot !

[jamesisapayne]

Hello @Walkingcure and welcome to the forum. Have you got any close up pictures of the bat to share?

Sounds like a very soft piece of wood. I presume it's English Willow?

[Seniorplayer]

Just keep knocking in  till  ball seam indentations  stop marking the bat as  the bat needs further compression of its fibres.
 As for the toe the harder you make it  by knocking in the less likely it will become damaged  by the ball when  the bat is used
As for the splice area don't bash it with the mallet

[Alvaro]

Start softly with the mallet and build up the firmness of your hitting. Don't just whack hard from the start or you will dent the heck out of it.

Concentrate on toe and edges, then start to play in the bat with an old ball at practice.

[Walkingcure]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions ! And yes, it's English Willow (My first one). I'll post some pictures tomorrow 

[Walkingcure]

I apologize for getting back so late ! Here are some pictures:

[prim0pyr0]

Hi everyone, I recently purchased a SG Sunny Tonny and have been knocking it for the last 5 days. I oiled it twice before I started knocking and re-oiled the face very lightly after the 3rd day. The problem I'm facing is that every time I hit the face of the bat with the seam of a new ball, the face is dented. And I don't know if my knocking if compressing the wood any further.     

What am I doing wrong ?

And one more thing, how do I approach knocking the bottom face of the bat ? There's so little wood down there that I'm afraid that hard knocking will damage the bat. Same with the area near the splice.

I would really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks a lot !

When hitting the bottom 6"/toe hold bat so toe is facing ceiling and tilted away from you slightly. hit the toe so force is pushing fibres in and slightly in the direction out of the toe, dont hit onto the bottom edge of the toe or in a direction into the bat if you do it will split or feather the timber. Trick is doing the toe and edges well, put on a scuff sheet and play the bat in with throw downs. New ball will always leave seam marks, you dont want big craters forming tho.

[jayralh]

I apologize for getting back so late ! Here are some pictures:

That is a good looking bat. have few hours of throw downs after you knock in edges and toe.
You will know when bat is match ready

[jamesisapayne]

I've read in several different places that having vertical lines start appearing parallel to the grains is also a sign of a quality bat and yours seems to have them.

I've had a couple Millichamp and Hall bats that have done this and they were both excellent performance wise.

I think like others have said, as long as you're not getting to many seam marks the bat is ready for nets and old balls.

Looks a lovely bat, hope it goes well for you

[Walkingcure]

Thank you everyone ! I'll start with a couple of throwdown sessions before I test it in the nets with an old ball. Very excited 

[cesare_in]

Quality / weight of mallet makes a huge difference for me. I knocked a bat for a month with a light weight mallet and the first ball I tapped would leave seam mark.