Well once again, thanks to one and all for an interesting discussion about our Player Edition bats.
There seem to be some misconceptions about these devilishly smart products which hopefully I can shed some light on.
When we start working with a player, there is a two way dialogue between us about what the player would like in terms of bat design and what is possible in terms of technical production. With the advent of CAD/CAM as part of GM’s DXM process, in truth, if it can be drawn, we can make it.
The starting point for this dialogue is generally (a) the bat shapes we are marketing or have marketed & (b) of course, what the player is using. The bat that a player ends up with is usually somewhere between the two. Very often a player joining GM will take the opportunity of trying a different shape or tweaking what they are used to, but however long the journey is, and however many iterations we go through together, the end result is always the same – a GM DXM bat that the player favours.
Some players use our stock shapes, some don’t. For them wot don’t, the vexed question of what stickers should be used on the bat is the next discussion. There are various considerations – (a) what resemblance the Player’s bat has to a stock shape (b) shamelessly, what model we wish to promote in which territory & (c) a player preference.
Thus, a Players bat takes on the persona of a GM model.
When we work with a player, we will do whatever we can to ensure that their bat is precisely to their desire. Our role is to support the player’s performance on pitch. Our role is not to force a player to use a specific rigid design, “because it suits GM”. We view player satisfaction and success as paramount to a good relationship because of course Player Success = GM Success. This is a hard-nosed business view.
It will come as no surprise to any reader of this post that most players, affiliated to whatever brand, use Shape A (Player’s Edition) with Brand Model Labels B. The alternatives to this would be for (a) players bats to carry no model designation (not helpful or informative to the public or the trade) or (b) the brand forcing a player to only use a stock shape or (c) something more cunning that we may just have up our forearm guard.
Which brings us to September 8th and the launch of GM Player Edition bats. These bats are precise replicas of what the players use. So yes, Canners, Ravi & Samit have their own shapes. No real surprise there. Were we to introduce Player Editions of their bats, they would be precisely to their favoured designs. We just haven’t introduced such models as yet, so forgive me but I find your post unfathomable.
As to weight Peplow, a couple of comments. Controversially perhaps, my view is that weight is allowed to become far too large a part of the selection process of a bat. My observation is that the greater the talent, the less specific the player is about weight. Pick up and feel are much more important.
We don’t sell any of our bats by weight, it isn’t practical on the scale of our business to do so. We have, for many years, focussed on Pick Up Index. Player Edition bats are guaranteed to be made from the finest timber we can get – but that timber is very much a limited resource and, as much as we love each and every one of our customers, we love our players just a little bit more. So, we will not make a promise we won’t keep. We guarantee that the dimensions of a Player Edition will be to the player’s design – that fixes the volume of timber, the weight will come from that volume times the average density of the willow.
Bottom line, I don’t think any discerning player will be disappointed with a Player Edition bat.
Why, Peplow, would you want a bat of the same dimensions as a player? You may not, in which case, why ask the question? However, other folk do, so that’s why we are making them available.
Wazza, there is no argument as to the similarities between an LE bat and a Players Edition. That is a comparison of chalk and cheese, they are entirely different by virtue of their design as outlined above. The similarity is the excellence and relevance of the materials used and the cutting edge technology and craftsmanship which is integral to any GM DXM bat from Players Edition to 303.
Hope this helps folks, thanks for joining the debate
Kind regards
Edward
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Topic: GM PLAYERS BATS (Read 40290 times)