Your stick preferences and why.

[Be The Tortoise]

I like my stick to be fatter so I don't have to tighten my grip to much to hold it.

I like my stick to be tappered long so when the stick strikes an object the stick gives slightly which takes any extra vibration out of it and also makes the stick bounce back off of the drum very fast. When the stick hits it bends maybe half a millimeter but when it straightens back out you can feel it throw itself off of the head or cymbal. Feels very nice and aids a drummer who uses rebound. Short tapered sticks are so rigid feeling that when I use them I feel like my hand is being electrocuted. Long tapered feels like a nice ride in a cadiliac.

Nylon tips for their response and sound on cymbals (don't have to work as hard to get the big sounds out of cymbals).

I like them to be around 16 inches or shorter. Very long sticks feel unbalanced and awkward.

Hickory is my choice for now.