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[Akewstick]

My understanding of what makes a handle good or bad isn't the most informed, but I was under the impression that a handle with more flex in it meant more power into the ball, no?

The "HEX" handles claim to have the rubber and cane parts repositioned so as to create a stiffer handle.

Isn't the rubber bit there to CREATE flex? or is it there just so the cane doesn't snap?

Aside from all of this, has anyone properly used a slazenger with a hex handle and noticed a difference?

[Topgun]

The rubber is there to create more flex in the handle, the HEX handle is made to create less vibrations when you miss time a shot

[Topgun]

Please correct me if i am wrong

[Seniorplayer]

My understanding of what makes a handle good or bad isn't the most informed, but I was under the impression that a handle with more flex in it meant more power into the ball, no?

The "HEX" handles claim to have the rubber and cane parts repositioned so as to create a stiffer handle.

Isn't the rubber bit there to CREATE flex? or is it there just so the cane doesn't snap?

Aside from all of this, has anyone properly used a slazenger with a hex handle and noticed a difference?

An handle with more flex makes the handle more wippy but does not increase the power into the blade.
Stiffness we are led to believe creates power particuarly handles reinforced with Carbon Fibre and Titanium at the bottom of the handle which are designed  to send the power back into the blade  by increasing the amount of energy submitted to the ball on impact with the ball rather than lose it through the handle.                               

[Seniorplayer]

The rubber is there to create more flex in the handle, the HEX handle is made to create less vibrations when you miss time a shot

 Cane handles are interlaced with 2 to 4 strips of rubber to reduce the transmission of shock and vibration to the players hands.

[Akewstick]

Cane handles are interlaced with 2 to 4 strips of rubber to reduce the transmission of shock and vibration to the players hands.

To the detriment of performance though presumably?

[Seniorplayer]

To the detriment of performance though presumably?

A quality handle made of cane and rubber strips helps to provide power to the shot.

[abdulwq]

Well my experience with always CA bats handles with cork inserts is that they flex like a bitch after a season and lately all SS bats i bought have rubber inserts flex like handle is just going out......Also used the Laver Signature where the handle is quite stiff where is no flex at all and also a H4L devil with min flex.
H4L has the yellowish sort of cork inserts which i think is more common in British made bats which to me feels quite good and stiff.
I think the common conceptopn is that people feel like bat is quite pingy with a flex in handle without realising how less far the ball will travel.

[Akewstick]

I think the common conceptopn is that people feel like bat is quite pingy with a flex in handle without realising how less far the ball will travel.

This makes sense to me. I started playing 3 years ago with a kashmir willow plank and after a couple of games used someone's bloody big kookaburra and middled one I couldn't believe the difference in feeling! The way i described it was that you can't feel the ball hit the bat at all, presumable all the energy has just gone back into the ball, I wonder if people associate this feeling less of the impact with it being a better connection.

So is that correct that less flex = more power in the ball?

[edge]

So is that correct that less flex = more power in the ball?

No. Less vibration = more energy in the ball = more power. All about transfer of energy, e.g. the sweet spot of a bat is where most energy is transferred to the ball. Vibration (e.g. when you toe it) leads to increased energy loss, which is wasted energy that isn't going into the ball. This is why you don't feel much through the handle when you time one perfectly, but feel a shock through the handle when you haven't timed it. To minimise the vibration, a balance between stiffness and flex is needed - too stiff and it will vibrate too much, too flexy and you lose energy from the deformation of the handle.