How to Make a Bat Handle Thinner

To excel as a hitter in baseball, you not only need skill and solid fundamentals, but a feeling of comfort when holding your bat. Some players can buy a suitable bat right off the rack at a sporting-goods store; others need to modify their bats to make the bats feel right in their hands. If your bat handle is too thick, and feels uncomfortable or awkward when you grip it, you can sand it down using a simple process.

Things You'll Need

  • 80-grit sandpaper
  • 180-grit sandpaper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Hold your baseball bat vertically, barrel-side up, with the barrel in your non-dominant hand. Place a piece of 80-grit sandpaper in your dominant hand.

    • 2

      Wrap your dominant hand and the sandpaper around the handle of the bat. Sand the handle using a steady, up-and-down movement. While sanding, move your hand around so you're not sanding just one area of the handle. The key is to keep your sanding hand moving enough that you sand the handle uniformly.

    • 3

      Hold the bat as though you are ready to swing it to gauge how it feels in your hands. If it's still too thick, continue sanding with the 80-grit sandpaper, checking the results periodically.

    • 4

      Sand the bat in the same method, but very briefly, with 180-grit sandpaper once you've achieved the desired diameter. The finer-grit sandpaper will give the bat handle a smooth, uniform finish.