I bought an Affinity Persona off Marcus at the start of this year and despite several other purchases in the mean time, nothing has come close to the performance of this bat. The downside is that Marcus told me from the outset that I may get 5 seasons use from it or I may get 1 seasons use from it and so I have started looking for the successor to the throne of Match bat. I would rather retire this bat a little early rather than see it split or crack in my hands. My Persona has 6 grains and is the king of ping so is quite a hard act to follow but being a devoted CBF'er, I will not rest until I have tried many bats on the market.....
I have dealt with Jake before and so had confidence in his ability to find me something to suit my needs. I emailed him with my requirements: 2.10-11 lbs, oval handle and must ping! I wasn't concerned with profile as I have slowly learnt that the shape of the bat has more an effect on the pick up of the bat rather then the performance or where you hit the ball on the bat. Jake sent through pics of quite a selection of his bats ranging from B&S through H4L to Slazenger and Affinity.
Jake recommended the pick of the litter was either the H4L or the Affinity Carbine Sport (as long as I didn't mind the affinity only having 5 grains) and seeing as the H4L had quite a round handle, I was delighted to go with the Carbine Sport! The three best performing bats I have ever owned have been an M&H Amplus with 6 grains, my Persona with 6 grains and now this Carbine with 5 grains! 15 grains are nice to look at but for sheer performance, don't discard a bat with only a few grains without trying them. This is definitely Grade 1 performance stuff!
I had Jake oil and knock this in for me and have given it another hour or son with the mallet and breaking in the handle over another bat handle before using her in a couple of nets sessions. This baby pings! People who have owned an Affinity will know what I am talking about when I mention the sound it makes on contact with the ball: kind of a high pitched "crack" with the handle flexing ever so slightly in your hands and the rather pleasing result of seeing the bowler ducking for cover!
The Carbines profile is fuller than a fat kids lunchbox with all the meat in the right places whilst still picking up like a dream and feeling rather wand-like. I could not be happier and feel maybe I may found the successor....
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Topic: Affinity Carbine Sport from Vitas (Read 3832 times)