You have heard it a million times… “Stay Loose.”  Time and time again you are told to relax your hands when you play because tension is your enemy.  This is very true.  Muscle tension equals friction which equals massively decreased speed.  What I have found in my quest to stay loose in the hands is that my sticks tend to move in my hands as I play causing me to constantly make adjustments to my grip.  I have an optimal pivot point in which my fingers fulcrum the sticks.  I would like the sticks to remain in this position without me having to apply any pressure to my grip.  Pressure = tension = friction = fatigue = slow.  What to do?  Gloves? -- Too bulky.  Stick Tape? -- Changes feel and balance of the stick.  Tape on my fingers?  -- Hard for me to get used to and kind of a pain to apply.  So what to do?

Zildjian Dip Sticks.  Zildjian makes several models in their Dip Stick line which is a stick with a patented rubber coating in the grip area.  The only problem here is that I am a Vic Firth man and a MAPLE one at that.  Wouldn’t it be great if I could somehow create my own dip type grip but on my favorite stick?  Well I did just that and it has helped me a great deal in relaxing my grip while under heavy play.  I performed the following procedure on a few pairs of my sticks and then gigged and practiced a few times to test the whole thing out.  It works really well if you are willing to put a little time into it.

Let the sticks dry for 24 hours before removing the tape. 

Enjoy and stay loose.