Unlike modern tennis or badminton racquets, the cricket bat is still strictly made of wood. Other tweaks though allow those ...

RENTON, Wash. (AP) Players have been altering bats for decades in a bid to improve their grip - adding pine-tar or some specialized grip tape, maybe shaving the handle slightly to make it thinner.

Over a year in research and development, the UV Series color-changing wood bats still use professional-grade maple and comes in the SSK JB9, SSK RC22 and SSK Thor’s Hammer youth and adult models.

Players have been altering bats for decades in a bid to improve their grip -- adding pine-tar or some specialized grip tape, maybe shaving the handle slightly to make it thinner.

In this Feb. 8, 2018, photo, Kyle Hodge, product engineer for Axe Bat, holds a bat in the company's research lab in Renton, Wash. Axe Bat is trying to revolutionize baseball with a simple concept ...