^ Ok.
As its pretty quiet on here at present, i thought I'd try to start a topic to hopefully get people engaged in discussion.
So, as the title suggests what are your thoughts on specs? Are they important? If so which ones? If so why? Are they a negative? Etc etc.
Interested as a batmaker to get people's thoughts, as it seems a lot of people now chase specs over anything else. So thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss....
They are important if they are pertinent to the batsman. If you played a lot on bouncy pitches and faced lots of short deliveries, thick edges might seems like a good idea. On slow tracks, where yorkers are the name of the game, thicker toe? It is part psychology and part suitability (of the "specs") to someone's style of play.
My go-to match bat fell into my lap by chance. It was not perfect but had a ton of ping from the get-go. I used tricks with multiple grips to make the handle fit my hands and gripping style. It turned out to have a very funny balance point that suits my style of batting. If
@marsbug was to do a shape /node percussion analysis, it would come out similar to a Newbery Blitz even though the shapes are completely different. Prior to this , I experimented with shapes, sizes, and weights without really understanding what worked for me. This is something bat owners (especially young ones) don't understand: it is through trial-and-errror that you find what works for you. A novice bat buyer simply doesn't have the technical understanding nor experience that a bat maker has and most of the time, bat makers can't be bothered to impart their knowledge to an inquisitive and aggressive new customer.
"Specs" (swing weight, node of percussion, etc.) would matter if they were standardized and explained to the customers. There is no such effort from the manufacturers. People wouldn't buy more than one bat if they knew exactly what worked for them and how to get it. Obfuscation and ignorance keeps customers coming back to buy seconds and thirds hence keeps commerce alive.
Pros rely on skill, strength, and experience to pick a bat shape/style and stick with it; they don't care about "specs" because their bats are tailor made. I suspect bat makers know exactly what they are doing for their pro but don't bother sharing all the technical details. No fuss, no muss. If a pro started talking about how a bat with certain specs elevated his game and his status from zero to hero, I think we'd get the bat buyers behind "specs". Until then, that knowledge would stay firmly with master bat makers like Laver et-al. Poor clubbies really don't stand a chance in these situations but they also don't need a finely tuned race car like an F1 driver.
My suggestion: trial-and-error. Keep borrowing friends' and acquaintances' bats until you find a shape and weight that is absolutely magical for you.
My 2 cents.
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Topic: A topic to polarise opinion.....'Specs' are they all that? (Read 10135 times)