I've been having a bit back trouble recently (generally fine in the daytime but as soon as lie down flat, I struggle to move without a bit of pain). I am pretty sure it's a muscular issue and been wondering if throwing a 3lb+ long blade bat at anything vaguely within hitting distance outside off stump is the cause or at least not helping the situation. The second issue is that I think bowlers have now wised up to my batting "modus operandi" so now bowl a lot straighter to me? Basically my whole approach to batting is based on just 2 shots, the aforementioned launching of the kitchen sink of anything wide of off stump and dead batting anything that is possibly hitting the wickets.
Therefore I had been thinking of downsizing in terms of the piece of timber I wield and so 3 weeks ago I popped into Mangled Bats in Easingwold (small market town between York and Thirsk on the A19) to see what Trevor had been creating. The very first bat I picked up I bought, it felt absolutely perfect and had a fantastic ping that I almost took out his dining room lights. It weighed 2.10lb including one grip amd cost me £140.
Unfortunately until today I had no opportunity to net with it so when I used it in a couple of matches, a league match (where I actually went back to using my Nixon) and a friendly this Sunday just gone (where I was simply dead batting anyhow), it felt alien in my hands. However this afternoon I went over to Stumps in Wakefield where Zak fed balls into their bowling machine for an hour and by the end I was using the new bat to play shots with confidence. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that I did also bat with my old Nixon for a while today but using this heavier bat (despite it weighing only 6oz more) really knackered me out which is the reason I went back to using the new bat. My second go with the new bat was far more productive and what this 2.10lb "Mangled" bat lacks in weight (compared to my Nixon), I feel I more than compensated in increased bat speed.
Going to try and get another session over at Stumps before Saturday which I may video.