To bow or not to bow

Ok so I’m looking for a Cricket bat and it says it is bowed?  I’m not going to shoot arrows with it, I’m going to hit cricket balls.  So what does a bow give you well a couple of things really, it helps with lofted shots like a scoop so expect some higher shots.  It also acts as a counter balance and helps to a certain extent with the pickup of the bat.

Cricket Bat Pickup

That last line leads me very neatly onto this bit.  I going to leave this bit fairly simple as the bits and pieces that are related to the “pickup” effects the performance of the bat in so many ways it would make the mind boggle…. Basically pickup is how the bat feels relative to its actual weight on the backlift of the cricket bat swing.  Think of a lump hammer with its head flat on the ground and the handle sticking up in the air.  Now imagine yourself wielding it like a cricket bat it would feel heavy right?  Now the same hammer same length etc but raise the hammer head up the handle towards where you’re griping it…. same hammer same weight but the back lift is lighter?  That in a nutshell is pickup, it’s relative to the position of the middle [most wood] on cricket will determine how the bat feels. 

You said it would make my mind boggle!  Look here http://www.cricket-stuff.co.uk/?p=86 and this http://www.cricket-stuff.co.uk/?p=15.  There is more on here about this but that’s enough cricket bat pickup stuff for now.

Concaved Cricket Bat

Concave is quite simple really it is a form of weight distribution allowing for large edges and higher spine height by scalloping out the back of the cricket bat.  In fact those are bascially the  benefits larger edges offset against a good size but exact middle.  From going to a few trade show this year it seems the extreme concaving that was going on has been dampened down a bit and a happy medium is coming through.

Andy
Podshaver for San Andreas Fault Cricket Bats
Handmade Cricket Bats

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