How to Tape a Wood Baseball Bat
Having a good hit in baseball starts with having a solid grip of the bat. The handle of a wooden bat can be smooth, slick, narrow and hard to hold. Some athletes use batting gloves, while others prefer to tape the bat handle for a better grip. Keeping fresh and new tape on your bat is an easy thing to do and takes only a few minutes.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Bat
- Rubbing alcohol
- Soft clean cloth
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Roll of grip tape
- Scissors
Instructions
-
-
1
Remove the old grip tape. Dampen a soft cloth with rubbing alcohol and clean the bat handle to remove any sticky residue before applying the new tape. Use fine grit sandpaper on stubborn areas to remove all glue residue, then wipe the handle clean.
-
2
Sit in a chair and position the bat between your legs so that the butt of the handle is pointing up. Grip the bat with your legs to free up your hands for the taping process.
-
-
3
Unroll a small portion of the tape and make a 3-inch angled cut with scissors so that the end of the tape starts from a point and gets larger. Align the angled edge so that it is parallel to the bottom of the handle, just above the knob, and start wrapping in a spiral fashion around the handle. Do not cut the tape off the roll, just unroll it.
-
4
Hold the roll of tape in one hand while your other hand rotates the bat. Keep the tape taut as you wrap it around the bat. Overlap the tape about 1/4 of an inch as you work your way up the handle. Keep the tape flat and flatten it as you go to avoid any wrinkles.
-
5
Stop wrapping the bat handle when you get to where the old tape ended or to your desired length, then cut the tape. Cut a 4- or 5-inch piece of tape and finish by wrapping it around the bat at this point to secure the tape job.
-
6
Grip your baseball bat and take a few practice swings to see how the new tape job feels. If the grip feels uncomfortable or a little too small, repeat steps 3 through 5 to add layers until the desired feel is achieved. Do not overtape to the point where the handle starts to lose its shape. Only add enough to provide a comfortable feel.
-
1
References
- Photo Credit bats are ready image by CPonder from Fotolia.com
