Andy, I was told by a guy (UK seller) who supplies bats to a few pros that a slightly soft pressed bat will perform better against a harder ball (like Kookaburra or Dukes) and a hard pressed bat against a slightly softer ball (like readers) and this is the reason why the bats of some of the pros are pressed slightly softer as compared with the standard shop bats.
Is this something to do with the transfer of energy from the bat to the ball by just creating enough time contact between the bat and the ball?