How do I handle a half empty butt?

[tennytive]

Yesterday I was curious how the butt cap trap door feature works on one of my old rackets. Luckily I didn't break it as I wasn't aware they slide up and down instead of opening like a hinge as I expected.

After I got it off, I looked inside the handle. One side was filled with what looks like some sort of foam or maybe it's silicon that everyone talks about. The other side is empty. Not clean empty, more like someone removed the foam as there are remnants left.

Why would someone remove part of the filling? For customizing the balance? Would that really make enough of a difference to be worth the effort?

Should I fill the empty chamber with great stuff, silicon, or leave it as is? I don't hear any rattling, but the racket could use a little more weight in the handle even with the leather grip and lead tape strips (5 grams) I have now. But I can't imagine filling the chamber would add any significant weight to the handle.

Anyone run into this situation? And how did you "handle" it?

Thanks for all replies.

BTW This is a POG LB I bought here from the classifieds.

 

[neverstopplaying]

Silicone and foam don't look at all alike - if it looks like foam - it's foam.

The fact that only one side has foam doesn't mean much. I've had racquets like this before. Foam acts somewhat like silicone in dampening vibrations - silicone is much more effective but weighs more.

IMO, wanting to add something to the other half of the handle is a question of customization. Putting foam yourself won't do anything as it can't be done well at home. Adding silicone will dampen the racquet more but probably isn't necessary - and it adds weight to make it more headlight. You should read up on racquet customization, adding weights and changing balances to see how they will affect your racquet.