THE WORKSHOP

I'm sure many others than myself have found themselves pondering this Q. Is the grade 1 willow found in the private bin range that superior to the grade 2 of the heritage range? Is the grade 1 wood most suited to test players or is that another league altogether (secondary drying and the like)?
I guess the question I'm asking is should I pay the $550AUD for a PB or $400 for the heritage. I had budgeted for halfway between the 2 ($480 or so), bat in the lower order and judging by the length of time I've owned my last few bats, this will be my last purchase. Has anyone used both bats (or their Carbo equivalents) back to back?

On the subject of willow grades the Grade 1 willow is certainly better in quality than the Grade 2 but in saying that one can still get a good bat out of the lower grades. When one buys grade 1, 2 ,3 etc from the willow merchant I would re-grade when it comes though the first process and the faces of the clefts are cleaned up as sometimes nearly 50% of the G1s will go down to G2 and some of the G2's will come up. I then do another re-grade when the pressing is complete as performance comes into it then as well and it is not just the look of the grains etc that gives you the best performance. That being said I do have a lot of top players that have used my bats that have always been happy with the Heritage grade due to budget.

I would suggest that you go for a Heritage bat that is also knocked in which would be AUD$470 including shipping, knocking in, facing and toeguard.

Please do email me on laverwood@xtra.co.nz if you would like to go further.

Regards, CPS.