At the end of the day any top professional will use the best tools available to them.
It’s like saying federer would have still been great using a racket out of Asda compared to the best technology allows. Or some top hair dresser would be able to give a decent cut with my kitchen scissors.
The pros bats are generally better across the board, obviously there are some exceptions to the rule.
Pros are far better players and yes they would still be pros with average bats but a top bat makes a hell of a difference.
Amen.
Are true pro bats better than a standard off the shelf bat? Yes.
Will a pro bat make me a pro batsman? No.
The benefits for an average played using a pro bat realistically, are minimal. But it cannot be disputed, there are benefits.
As for what that benefit is worth to an average player, is totally subjective. In almost all cases the difference in cost between an average and pro bat would be far better spent on coaching, as that will go that little bit further towards making you bat like a pro.
We're talking tiny percentages at the end of the day.