Having got my fill of 2-10 to 2-11 bats and one 2-8.6 RS (which is still on the way to me), I wanted to experiment with a few heavier bats - I wanted them short blade but thick all over, so more meat in the hitting area and better pick up due to more meat higher up the blade.
I had a custom Red Ink (grade 3) made for me, 3.5 cm shorter blade with mid/low middle and I just left it to John to produce me the best bat possible. What resulted was a 2-11.8lb beauty (with anti-scuff sheet) with a 39mm edge after rounding and a 63mm spine allowing for the face camber and minimal (about 2mm) of concaving on the back. Still legal. The face only had 4 full grains and 2 partial grains but it came fully knocked in and it pings, the pressing is beautiful. Had one net session with it and the balls bit from the middle travel and the ones not hit from the middle will still get 1s and 2s if you find the gap. The back is slightly bumpy in places but who cares. What is impressive is there is no difference in pick up with the lighter 2-10 bats. I've got a fair few, so I suppose I can compare them. I picked up the bat without putting on the scale and it picked up alright, didn't notice any difference. The shorter blade was also not an issue at all once I got used to using the end of the handle as a reference rather than the top of the blade.
Then over the weekend, I went to see Paul Aldred to get a butterfly made by him. I chose the cleft, it had 2 butterfly stains in the playing area, one faint one and one bigger one, but very straight grains and about 50% heartwood. Given that Paul makes great bats, all I said to Paul was I use 2-10 to 2-11 bats, want a Silver Sovereign but a fuller profile with no concaving and a shorter blade and a very oval handle. I have other bats and so just wanted the best bat Paul could make and not put too many spec restrictions. I specifically didn't want weight to be an issue as made up my mind to do it just based on feel and balance.
Paul asked me to try the bat for balance and pick up as he kept shaving the wood, he settled for a 1/2 inch shorter blade although I asked for 1 inch shorter. What he said was that we could always take wood out of the bat but can't put it back on. So we kept going until I liked the feel and pick up of the bat and Paul finished it up. I had 3 bats that I used in matches with me for comparison for pick up. I did realise that the bat was slightly heavier than my match bats but the balance felt beautiful and I didn't want to change anything. I figured I might as well have a bat on the heavier side as I've also one sub 2.9 bat. The bat just about fit through his bat gauge, 39mm edges after rounding. After it was finished, I played a few drives and it felt beautiful and dare I say powerful and it didn't hurt the bat speed. I'm experimenting with a high, almost vertical backlift to generate more power next season and it didn't feel bad at all.
On my way out, I asked Paul to weight the bat - my jaw dropped when I saw the scale: 2lb 15.8oz, easily 4oz clear of my next heaviest bat. It didn't feel nearly as heavy and in the big scheme of things, that's 100 gm extra. So I resolved to knock it in and net all winter with it to see if I can play all my shots, particularly the cuts and pulls as driving shouldn't be too much of a problem with a heavier bat. I'm netting twice a week up to Christmas, so should be a decent run. The thick and heavy oval handles go a long way in aiding pick up.
The ping on the bat, as can be expected with all Aldred bats, especially a monster, was beautiful. I have changed my mind a bit about dead weight versus pick up. I do reserve the right to change my opinion after netting but I do believe that dead weight sticklers will miss out on otherwise absolutely great bats. If I didn't visit the shop and asked for something of a specific weight, I may have missed out on this beauty.
Just to compare - a huge profile 2-11 Phantom Illusion versus the Aldred
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Topic: Monster Aldred Butterfly and Red Ink - 2 more for the collection (Read 8332 times)