Reducing grip size without altering weight balance

[AlexanderAragon]

As for the differences with my racket specs now and the stock rf97 is that i removed the foam/silicone from the handle. One of the tubes was filled with foam and the other with silicone. The weight of what I removed was 7g. And I added 10g of silicone. So the only difference in modification right now is the 3g added to the handle. If you look over at the rf97 stock specs is there anything you could take out from this? Like the balance point ?

I will get you the weight of the stock leather grip that comes with it, I’m sure that info is needed to calculate

 

[Isca]

You don’t need a balance board you’re adding 3 g to the handle and 3 g to the head. Weight goes up 6 g but balance does not change.

He's removed 7g and is adding 10g in the handle, but how do we know it will be distributed the same way throughout the handle? What if the 10g is distributed differently? Are you sure just whacking 3g of lead at 12 is going to bring it to the exact same balance as it was previously? As he has a specific goal in mind, isn't it better to be accurate and know rather than just make guesses?

 

[AlexanderAragon]

He's removed 7g and is adding 10g in the handle, but how do we know it will be distributed the same way throughout the handle? What if the 10g is distributed differently? Are you sure just whacking 3g of lead at 12 is going to bring it to the exact same balance as it was previously? As he has a specific goal in mind, isn't it better to be accurate and know rather than just make guesses?

You guys are a lot more knowledgeable than me, i could get the basic measurements but I’m going to have some issues measuring the current balance point.. but as I stated the only difference so far is the +3grams in weight added to the handle (silicone) 10g in total after 7g of foam/silicone removal. I stuffed some cotton balls around halfway through through the handle so it wouldn’t get into the frame.

 

[Isca]

You guys are a lot more knowledgeable than me, i could get the basic measurements but I’m going to have some issues measuring the current balance point.. but as I stated the only difference so far is the +3grams in weight added to the handle (silicone) 10g in total after 7g of foam/silicone removal. I stuffed some cotton balls around halfway through through the handle so it wouldn’t get into the frame.

I'm not super knowledgeable to be honest, I just think that a scientific approach probably requires you to measure the balance point rather than making assumptions. It's about distribution; e.g. adding 3g at the top of the handle near the throat vs adding 3g at the butt cap will alter the overall balance point differently. We don't know how the foam was distributed, or how your silicone is distributed relative to it.

 

[AlexanderAragon]

I'm not super knowledgeable to be honest, I just think that a scientific approach probably requires you to measure the balance point rather than making assumptions. It's about distribution; e.g. adding 3g at the top of the handle near the throat vs adding 3g at the butt cap will alter the overall balance point differently. We don't know how the foam was distributed, or how your silicone is distributed relative to it.

Going to try and find a way to measure balance point

 

[Isca]

Going to try and find a way to measure balance point

Somewhere on the TW boards there's a thread that shows you how to make a cheap DIY balance board! If you want to do more customisation going forward it might be a useful thing to have, and maybe even a fun project?

 

[AlexanderAragon]

It's easy to do this at home... place your racquet on a flat table with the head end of the frame partly hanging off the edge and the handle end of the frame remaining on the table surface, then continue moving the head end of the racquet off the table until you find the balance point at which the weight of the handle is equal to the weight of the part of the racquet that is hanging off the edge... this will be the "balance point of the frame"... to determine the balance points (pts), Once you find the balance point, simply mark the back edge of the handle and measure the distance between the back edge of the handle to the edge of the table with a ruler... if your frame is a standard length of 27in, then you know that the mathematical "mid point" would be 13.5in based on length... if you compare the distance from the edge of the handle to the edge of the table, to the length of the mathematical mid point of the racquet you will see that there is normally a .5 to 1.5in difference... and for every 1/8th of an inch of difference it is considered a point of difference (pt).

For example: if you placed a frame on the table and move the head of the frame off the edge until the handle began to lift up then pulled it slightly back until weight off the table was exactly the same as the weight of handle on the table, then took a card out of your wallet and marked the back edge of the handle... you could then remove the racquet then use the ruler to measure the distance from the edge of where the end of the handle was (now marked by the card) to the edge of the table... the distance for this example might be 13 inches... now in your mind you can easily calculate that the difference between 13.5 inches (the mid-point length of the standard racquet) and 13 inches (the measured balance distance) is .5 inches... well now ask yourself how many units of 1/8 inches (pts) are in .5 inches? The answer is 4... therefore in this example the racquet is 4pts headlight (hl).

It sounds complicated but its not... just try it a few times... you'll get it... there are also better explanations than this on the TW website just go to the Learning Center for more.

Would this work? Or do you guys reckon that it ain’t that accurate?

 

[Isca]

Here is the DIY balance board post: https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/diy-balance-board.145818/

 

[Irvin]

He's removed 7g and is adding 10g in the handle, but how do we know it will be distributed the same way throughout the handle?

it is not distributed the same. I’m 100% sure of that.

Are you sure just whacking 3g of lead at 12 is going to bring it to the exact same balance as it was previously?

Adding 3 g at 12 will not bring him back to the same balance. I’m also 100% sure of that.

 

[Irvin]

I will try to figure out the balance.. as for the weight, it’s 332g strung, with the naked pallet, no grip, lead or buttcap on. The buttcap weights in at 11g so it will be 343g when it’s on. I’ll weight the original Wilson leather grip I took off soon.

You need to know what you have and what you want.

 

[tennistomcat]

Would this work? Or do you guys reckon that it ain’t that accurate?

That is exactly what I do to get what I think is a reasonable estimate of the balance point.

 

[AlexanderAragon]

You need to know what you have and what you want.

So my racket atm has a balance point of 33,7 cm without the grips on. And it weights 339g. I want to Try and bring it to a balance point of around 32.1 cm and the weight to around 365g.

 

[Irvin]

So my racket atm has a balance point of 33,7 cm without the grips on. And it weights 339g. I want to Try and bring it to a balance point of around 32.1 cm and the weight to around 365g.

Assuming your 2 overwraps weight 12 g total, you will need to add 14 g centered on 13.2 cm from the butt of the racket. 14 g of 1/4” wide lead tape is a little over 1.5 meters of lead tape that lead is going to build your grip up too.

 

[AlexanderAragon]

Assuming your 2 overwraps weight 12 g total, you will need to add 14 g centered on 13.2 cm from the butt of the racket. 14 g of 1/4” wide lead tape is a little over 1.5 meters of lead tape that lead is going to build your grip up too.

Hmm, sounds like a lot of lead. Is There a 2 way solution somehow? I wouldnt mind upping my swing weight slightly. Before removing the grips it had a swingweight of roughly 335. I would like to get it closer to 350. Slightly less than 350 would be ideal, 347-48 ish.

 

[Irvin]

Hmm, sounds like a lot of lead. Is There a 2 way solution somehow? I wouldnt mind upping my swing weight slightly. Before removing the grips it had a swingweight of roughly 335. I would like to get it closer to 350. Slightly less than 350 would be ideal, 347-48 ish.

Sure there is a 2 point solution. You can divide the weight going up and down but you have a lot of weight to separate. 14 g is a big deal. The bad thing is you have very little room to do it since it is centered at 13.2 cm. what you're trying to do is replace the weight you took off removing the grip.

 

[AlexanderAragon]

Maybe adding some lead at 12? Wouldn’t 2-3 grams help bumping up the swing weight quite a bit?

 

[Irvin]

Maybe adding some lead at 12? Wouldn’t 2-3 grams help bumping up the swing weight quite a bit?

Every gram you add at 12 bumps the SW by 3.249 points. And will raise your balance up over 32 cm No matter where you place the other 11 g. 11 g is still a lot of weight.

another idea is instead of using 14 g of lead try using a build up and 1 overwrap. that will weigh more, reduce the grip, and maintain a little more weight.

 

[Irvin]

Maybe adding some lead at 12? Wouldn’t 2-3 grams help bumping up the swing weight quite a bit?

Another option would be to add tungsten tape around the very top of the grip. TW has some but you’ll need about 1.5 packs.

Tennis Warehouse Tungsten Tape (3x3g) | Tennis Warehouse

www.tennis-warehouse.com

@TW Staff your description of the tungsten tape says it weighs 10 oz. I think that should be 10 g Or approximately 3x3 g.

 

[TW Staff]

Irvin,

I think you may have misread. It says .10 oz.

Thanks,
Brittany, TW