Bat handle knobs

[TallPaul]

Most bats have a knob with a an abrupt transition from the the handle. But I see a few wood bats where the knob is pretty much a tapered flare section over the last 2 or 3 inches of the handle. It has a nice feel, so I took my regular knobbed bat and wrapped the handle for about 2 inches above the knob to form such a taper. It feels a lot nicer to hold and swing. So I wonder why more bats are not made with the taper knob instead of the abrupt knob. If I choked the bat, it would not matter, but I never felt comfortable chocking and can't bat with the knob sticking out either as it will jam my hand, so I always have my little finger wrapped around the knob.

[PJalst]

I think they call that a bonds knob. I used a bat with this knob on it for the first time and I prefer it to the conventional knob. I guess it's a matter of preference.

[TallPaul]

Yeah, I saw a bat on Ebay that had a huge knob. I bought an old used bat and the knob felt nice, it was 1.75" diameter. I measured the Rawlings Big Stick and that knob, which bothers me, is 2" diameter, so I power sanded it down to 1.75" and now it is very nice. I'm all for customizing a bat. If it had better grain, I might even sand the handle down to 15/16" from it's present 1".

[bats22]

A lot of the smaller wood bat makers allow you to select the type of knob you want when you buy the bats.

[batmaker06]

The large flare knob is getting more popular. I think Bonds is just the biggest name that uses it and it kindof become synonymous. Most often I see them as Model 73, sometimes 82. An X-bats Model 73 or a Boner Bats BB73 will have a flare about 2.4" diameter. I will warn you, though, that it's not for everyone. When I first turned a few bats, I made huge knobs just for fun. When I rolled my wrists over in batting practice though, the knob hit my top-hand wrist causing some bruises and I realized why everyone didn't use cool big knobs. It might depend a little on your swing as to whether or not the 73 model works for you. Also, be careful, the large flare knob will not let some bat weights to fit over it. Check the diameter hole in your on-deck doughnut or white weight.

[TallPaul]

Large knobs are not necessarily a problem when the handle flares to the knob. It's where the handle does not flare and you have a big knob, too big of a transition from handle to knob, that causes me problems. The stock Rawlings Big Stick Adirondack Model is a good example of too big of a knob with no handle flare. I really like the bat and since I power sanded the knob down from it's original 2" to 1.75" it feels great and I really like it. The huge knob with a huge flare (sometimes advertized as a counterweight effect) may be nice, again as you state, depending on the person because of the wrist action, but would almost simulate a bend at the end of the bat, which ergonomically might be really good to put the lower hand's wrist in the better position, but is not allowed in major league and probably most leagues.

I notice some Louisville Slugger bats have a normal sized knob and a flare handle, which feels pretty comfortable.