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[Bats_Galore]

Why would a bowed blade pick up better?

[Seniorplayer]

Aerodamics the appliance of science

[Red Ink Cricket]

Not really related to the question but more for clarity,
Uneven presses occur when bows are solely pressed into the cleft as more pressure is put on the face and not as much at the toe or handle leading to the uneven press
An even press can still exist when a bow is present if the bow is cut in for the press to follow this means you get a bow but an even press across the whole blade at the same time

Couldn't disagree more. Uneven pressing can occur when the bow is solely pressed in but it all depends on what the bat maker does or doesn't do to the cleft before hand and how he presses. I solely press the bow into my bats but they are evenly pressed. There are a couple of ways to do this without cutting the bow in. depends on the press you have, the pressing surface and any packing material you use, and at what stage in the manufacturing process you press.

[InternalTraining]

Couldn't disagree more. Uneven pressing can occur when the bow is solely pressed in but it all depends on what the bat maker does or doesn't do to the cleft before hand and how he presses. I solely press the bow into my bats but they are evenly pressed. There are a couple of ways to do this without cutting the bow in. depends on the press you have, the pressing surface and any packing material you use, and at what stage in the manufacturing process you press.

I have a bowed bat from you (@Red Ink Cricket)  and it is evenly pressed.

I have bowed bats from TK and S. Kranzbuhler and they are evenly pressed.

Why do people make such a big fuss about bowed bats and pressing!

[sarg]

I hope the aerodynamics comment was tongue in cheek

Pick your bat up as normal, then rotate the bat so the face is now facing up and see how it feels. That is a very extreme example of the principle which is really just about distribution of weight from the hands when the bat is rotated through a shot or picked up.

As I said earlier the same principle can be achieved with changing handle position in a flat blade or playing around with where the wood is left on the blade. So, a bowed or non bowed bat can feel identical when considering all factors affecting balance.

Saying a bow improves pickup is a bit like saying thick shoulders improve pickup- yes it would help get some weight near the hands but isn't the full story to balance in a bat and doesn't make sense to ignore everything else and just focus on shoulder thickness/ bow/ whatever and assume it is a magic thing required to get an awesome bat. One small bit of an overall picture.

I can see the argument for some manufacturers wanting to stick to flatter blades and getting the balance correct by other means but bows sell bats same as big edges and the myths live on.

Sorry im a sceptic.


I tried this experiment on three bats, two with round handles and one with a semi oval. Other than the semi oval bat feeling odd held the other way it made no difference at all. Two bowed, one flat. Other than changing the angle the bat deflects the ball at I don't see how there is anything a bow provides  to pickup. Balance would be worse on shots where face twists off-centre not better. Personal preference until i feel a identical bat with and without a bow.

[LDifa]

Coming to cricket late, played as a kid and restarted a few years back at 38, I have to say as straight as possible, v. v. minimal bow.  It is what you get used to and I have found I am too early on cutting with a bowed bat I was bought as a gift. My B3s have a very slight bow - my laver has none - a tennis racket has no bow!

Hand to eye coordination is everything.

[sarg]

Coming to cricket late, played as a kid and restarted a few years back at 38, I have to say as straight as possible, v. v. minimal bow.  It is what you get used to and I have found I am too early on cutting with a bowed bat I was bought as a gift. My B3s have a very slight bow - my laver has none - a tennis racket has no bow!

Hand to eye coordination is everything.

B3 with a slight bow  Human error perhaps 

[JonathanH]

Modern cricket bats have varying degrees of bow in the blade. The main reason for a bow is to improve the pick-up of bat. A noticeable bow acts as a counter-balance, raising the center of gravity of the cricket bat, thereby assisting pick-up. In other words, a bat with considerable bow and a lower middle can feel the same as a straight blade with a higher middle. It helps with control of strokes, as the players hands are positioned more in front of the ball during contact. It acts like a scoop, to produce more lofted (higher) shots, which do however run the risk of being caught.

[sarg]

Modern cricket bats have varying degrees of bow in the blade. The main reason for a bow is to improve the pick-up of bat. A noticeable bow acts as a counter-balance, raising the center of gravity of the cricket bat, thereby assisting pick-up. In other words, a bat with considerable bow and a lower middle can feel the same as a straight blade with a higher middle. It helps with control of strokes, as the players hands are positioned more in front of the ball during contact. It acts like a scoop, to produce more lofted (higher) shots, which do however run the risk of being caught.

Welcome to the forum @JonathanH. I hope you truly enjoy reading and participating in the topics discussed. Unfortunately on this topic, I differ in opinion. I cannot see how a bow can raise the centre of gravity if the point of pivot is your hands and the weight is identical to a non bowed bats at all points of the blade length. I know a big bow has never worked for me as far as control. The only thing i see is it is astetically pleasing and helps to loft balls with low bounce. Lots of wife's tales and urban myths surround many aspects of blade shaping. If it works for you and makes you confident than go for it, but not everyone will benefit and it some cases that extra angle can hinder shot control not necessarily improve it. Don't buy a bat based on bow.

[adb club cricketer]

... a tennis racket has no bow!..

Yes, but what things you look for in a tennis racket are not the same as what you look for in a cricket bat..For one, with tennis racket, we needn't worry about pickup as in a cricket bat (unless the cricket bat is feather light), and with cricket bats, obviously the goal is to get as much weight as possible with  a  good pickup or at least a usable pickup... here bow does seem to be one solution..

[JonathanH]

Welcome to the forum @JonathanH. I hope you truly enjoy reading and participating in the topics discussed. Unfortunately on this topic, I differ in opinion. I cannot see how a bow can raise the centre of gravity if the point of pivot is your hands and the weight is identical to a non bowed bats at all points of the blade length.

@sarg. Thank You! I have been playing cricket for a long time, but didn't pay much attention to profile of a cricket bat. Recently, I have started reading more about bats and my conclusion was drawn based on some articles I read about bats. I am still a novice in terms of thinking that goes behind making different bat profiles and hoping to learn from all of you in this blog.

My argument is based on the idea that the COG of a bat is near it's swell position. If a bat maker changes the swell position while increasing the bow, the COG of the bat shifts as well. As a result, the pick up of the bat will change. If you look at bat profiles like GM Paragon and GM Octane, the swell position is different and so is the face curvature. For GM Octane, bow is 2mm and swell position is low. For GM Paragon, bow is 4.5 mm and swell position is high. Again, I may be wrong in my thinking . Thanks

[JonathanH]

I think you are confusing bow and face profile on your GM example...

Oh. I thought face curvature and bow of the bat were same.

[Northern monkey]

Face curve can be cut or pressed in, that's the playing surface of the bat
Loads of vids on you tube showing this being done.

The bow of the bat is down the length of the blade, as opposed to across the face
Again this can be cut or pressed in

You will hear many many myths etc about what's better etc
Like a lot of things with cricket bats, there's no concrete proof

[JonathanH]

Face curve can be cut or pressed in, that's the playing surface of the bat
Loads of vids on you tube showing this being done.

The bow of the bat is down the length of the blade, as opposed to across the face
Again this can be cut or pressed in

You will hear many many myths etc about what's better etc
Like a lot of things with cricket bats, there's no concrete proof

Oh. Thank you for the great information!

[springbok45]

Yes, but what things you look for in a tennis racket are not the same as what you look for in a cricket bat..For one, with tennis racket, we needn't worry about pickup as in a cricket bat (unless the cricket bat is feather light), and with cricket bats, obviously the goal is to get as much weight as possible with  a  good pickup or at least a usable pickup... here bow does seem to be one solution..

Untrue, the balance of your racquet is just as important, hence manufacturers selling head light, neutral or head heavy models depending on you style of game, the use of tungsten​ tape (as mentioned in another thread) to adjust the balance further and a lot of players are even fussier over the weights they use than most batsmen dealing to the gram rather than ounce, through in frame length, head shape and beam width and the options for obsessing over are almost endless.