Cricket Bat Grips

Cricket Bat Grips - How Many to Use?
There is a general view that the thicker the grip on your cricket bat handle the better it will perform. What you do have to watch out for is how the balance of the bat will change if you add more cricket bat grips to your bat handle.
We have seen the arrival over the last few tears of the luminous colours given to cricket bat grips. These are fine but again there is no point in adding a grip just because you think it will make your bat fashionable.
After saying all that an extra grip (or grips) can have a positive effect, it can turn a badly balanced cricket bat into a better balanced bat, but that means the initial choice of bat was probably not the best.
The most important benefit of adding extra cricket bat grips is the feel of the bat should be improved i.e it should be more comfortable when lifting the bat and it should give you a sense that you may have a little more control over the bat when making your shots. If you don't notice any of these benefits then it is probably best to leave the bat as it is.
There are a range of different cricket bat grips on the market today. So making the right choice is a little more complicated than it was 5-10 years ago. For instance there is the octopus grip, which is a series of miniature suckers rather like octopus tenticles that give a surer grip even when your gloves become sweaty.There are the standard players grips, that have been around for years and you can even get a mixture of the two i.e the top half of the cricket bat grip is octopus and the bottom is the standard grip.
All these different choices are great and it gives you a chance to individualise your bat as well as being able to tweak it a little to perform that little bit better. What you need to be careful of though, is ensuring that any new or existing grip is attached properly. There is no way anyone can place a new cricket bat grip on the handle without the correct tool or tools. There are a number of specific implements that are ideal for the application of the grip, some are just tapered "sticks" that allow you to roll the grip over it and then transfer that directly onto the bat. Others are a little more advanced and use a vacuum attachment, which makes the job much easier and is more or less fool proof to use.
The thickness of the handle or the idea of applying an extra cricket bat grip is all down to the choice of the individual player, but please do not attach an extra grip if you are doing it to make your bat look prettier, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons i.e if you truly believe it will enhance your game. I know players who have 3-4 extra grips and I know others who purposely use cricket bats that have thinner handles than normal with one grip. So it is a personal choice but if you decide to add extra grips to your bat make sure you make the right choice.