How to put on cricket bat grip
To enhance your performance in cricket, you need to have the right equipment and know how to use them properly. One of the essential pieces of equipment in this sport is the cricket bat. However, it’s not just about having a good quality bat; knowing how to grip the bat correctly significantly affects your swing, stroke, control, and ultimately, your entire game. Moreover, maintaining an optimum condition for your gear can prolong its lifespan and maintain its peak performance as well.
An overlooked aspect many times by some players or beginners is understanding ‘how to put on a cricket bat grip.’ Getting that perfect wrap around your bat handle can increase comfortability, reduce friction in each stroke thereby preventing blisters during long hours of play, and provide better control which might be compromised with bare wooden handles.
Materials You Will Need
Before diving into the step-by-step guide on applying your cricket bat grip, let’s first talk about what you will need. First off is obviously, a brand new grip of your choice. Grips come in many sizes and styles varying from chevron grips offering less cushion but high sensitivity and reaction time to scale or octopus style grips offering more padding thus enhancing comfort and shock absorption. Choose whichever that fits best with your playing style.
Another tool you would require is known as the Grip Cone or Grip Applicator – it essentially simplifies the process of pulling back rubber grips onto your bats without tearing them up accidentally due to forceful attempts.
The Process Of Putting On The Cricket Bat Grip
Removing Old Grips
First things first: if there’s an older grip still on the bat handle , before adding a new one ensure that the old one is removed carefully to avoid any damage towards the bat handle. Peel it carefully by rolling upwards until it comes completely off without leaving any residue behind.
Optimal removal would be achieved by turning the grip inside out to start from the top and then moving downwards, reducing chances of overstretching or tearing.
Using The Grip Cone
After removal is done completely, you can now move onto sliding on your new preferred grip. Take your grip cone and push it into the open-ended bottom part of the grip until about more than halfway through. This stretching will create enough room for us to easily slide our bat handle in.
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Ensure that this is done gently to avoid any ripping apart midway. The ideal way would be to slowly turn/rotate it around for an even stretch all-around as against trying to forcefully push it all-in at once which might stress a particular site leading towards tears developed subsequently.
Applying The New Cricket Bat Grip
Now remove the grip from the cone and keep it aside but ensure that it stays turned inside-out. Slide your bat’s handle starting from the top because that’s where we want our grip rolled up till ultimately.
Keep rolling downwards carefully making sure not a lot of bubbles are developed during so due to uneven force applied while doing this. If needed, regulate pressure with both hands, squeezing top and bottom sections alternatively till you get most of its length covered leaving a minor portion rolled on itself to form a little ‘roll-neck’ above the handle.
Once done, take time fixing and adjusting layers covering each other evenly with no sub-layers sticking out – this can affect comfortability hence should be handled carefully ensuring that each layer sits flat against another.
Maintaining Your Cricket Bat Grip
As you embark on using a newly gripped cricket bat, remember that maintenance is key—perform regular cleaning exercises on your gear after use . To clean the rubber grips, mix soap with warm water and apply using cloth , afterwards leave to dry naturally rather than direct sunlight since sun heat could affect durability drastically. This will help to extend the life span of each equipment, saving costs in long-term.
However, do note that while cleaning is essential, everything inevitably has a lifespan and it’s important not to hold onto worn out grips since they can affect your performance greatly than you’d expect in terms of control or leading towards blisters from friction against rough surfaces.
Applying new cricket bat grip doesn’t require professional skills as commonly misbelieved but does take little patience by following precautions discussed like careful removal and application without stretching too much at a single site.
Having touched these informative strings of ‘how to put on cricket bat grip,’ we genuinely hope you have gained enough insight and confidence to grip up your game!
