I don't understand how bigger edges / profile can add to performance of a bat. Isn't the density or mass the defining factor rather than the volume?
There is swing weight, bat mass, density in the hitting area. It all gets a bit techie… but here goes for a couple of routes for you!!!!
Volume is related to density lets look at grains for an example on performance to answer this question
Older trees are more stable but not as strong as middle-aged trees. Younger trees move more and are not ready to use. Tight grain is what some people prefer, but the grain can be too tight because it will start to lose strength at some point.
As trees grow in one season, they grow faster from spring through summer and more slowly from fall through winter. That is what we see in tree rings. Tighter grain means less space in fast-growing fibre. This space in looser grain is where the moisture stays, which is why tighter grain is more stable than looser grain. Density is also heavier in tighter grain. The increased density means that the wood is stronger. Therefore makes a bat come to life but die’s earlier….
Heartwood is just wood that has lost its sap as it moves out through growth therefore brittle it is also denser….
Ok looking at it on density perspective then tighter grains will make for stiffers blade on the outset but it would mean faults develop quickly… It also means, as you probably know, more weight for the same given volume…
Performace of bats is related to a number of things and wood mass in the hitting area is one of them.
Ok cricket bat performanceThere are a few ways of looking at why a cricket bat performs and a few schools of thought all correct in there own way.
Let start with Newtons Law!As you probably know from phyiscs for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, also energy cannot be created or destroyed it can be transfered or transformed converted from one form to another.
The upshot is though, as you can all probably guess, is to transfer as much of the energy you are exerting to swing the bat to the ball and conserve as much of the energy of the bowled ball speed. A real life example is hotspot. We’ve all seen hotspot that is energy loss due to heat from the cricket ball hitting the cricket bat
So what are the performance options!There is the option of having increased stiffness, a bat that doesn’t absorb the energy of bowled ball. So for example the Bowler transfers his energy to the ball and bat transfers it back [hopefully] If the cricket bat vibrates as we know it does on impact it absorbs some of the energy. Therefore the less vibration of the bat the less energy absorbtion and the greater the energy transfer.
There is the option of having an elastic bat. A bat that has the ability to hold the ball in the hitting area so the bat vibrates far enough through a cycle so it acts as a trampoline. Basically vibrations are wave’s in simple terms if the ball can be held at the point of impact for the time it takes the wave to go down on impact and then back up again. There is effecitivly a rebound effect.
Imagine yourself on a see-saw you go and the guy at the other end is slightly heavier then you get him up but when he comes downs you ping off the seat.
Believe it or not cricket bat handles make a difference
Then there is the player holding the bat and what he is comfortable with and what makes him confident.