Blade 93 2013 - No Leather Grip !!!!!!

[Gaz77]

Anyone know why Wilson appear to have ditched the leather grip on the new Blade 93 in favor of some synthetic trash grip ?

I always prefered the solid feel of the leather grip under a pro overgrip rather than a spongey synthetic grip but if i go changing it i'll change the balance and weight of the racket !!

Seems like an odd thing for Wilson to do considering all the top pro player sticks tend have a leather grip !

[El Diablo]

"Top pro" players don't buy many of these. Synthetic is cheaper.

[KFwinds]

Very few sticks come with a leather grip anymore. There are many "top pro" player sticks that do not have leather: Head Prestiges, Radicals, and Speeds, Wilson Six-Ones (the 95's), Babolat Pure Drives and AeroPro Drives, Prince Tours and Rebels, Yonex Vcore and Ezones, Dunlop 200's and 300's, etc...

[db10s]

The Dunlop Biomimetic Max 200G does come with a leather grip, but the other Dunlop frames do not.

[sundaypunch]

Also, it adds weight to an already heavy racquet.

[db10s]

Originally Posted by sundaypunch

Also, it adds weight to an already heavy racquet.

It adds feel....

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by db10s

It adds feel....

Though I agree with you on the leather giving more feel, it's subjective. Less doesn't always equal more feel for everyone.

[cork_screw]

It's $15, just buy one yourself. Leather grip is kinda pride thing too. Those things are instant callous vehicles. After you play a lot leather grips hurt your hand. Since they're so hard, sometimes you get pinched nerves when the sharp bevels stick into your fingers with the leather. I've had that experience quite a few times and stopped using them. They don't really enhance feel, like just strings/tension and the actual racquet. Just go synthetic grip. Most pros are also using them only a few pros still use leather like fed and gasquet. Total pride accessory.

[db10s]

Originally Posted by cork_screw

It's $15, just buy one yourself. Leather grip is kinda pride thing too. Those things are instant callous vehicles. After you play a lot leather grips hurt your hand. Since they're so hard, sometimes you get pinched nerves when the sharp bevels stick into your fingers with the leather. I've had that experience quite a few times and stopped using them. They don't really enhance feel, like just strings/tension and the actual racquet. Just go synthetic grip. Most pros are also using them only a few pros still use leather like fed and gasquet. Total pride accessory.

Thats why I use an overgrip on top of the leather grip.

[UCSF2012]

Fewer grip change errors with a leather grip. Have to squeeze tightly to feel the bevels with a synthetic grip.

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by db10s

It adds feel....

That may be true, but adding a leather grip to that racquet will push the weight from 12.0 to around 12.3 - 12.4 oz. That's going to alienate some people.

[Bartelby]

Selling leather replacement grips is a good earner, so why give it away with the racquet?

[tyu1314]

So is the new blade ligher because its leather grip is replace by the synthetic? or they make the new synthetic grip same weight as the previous leather , or they make the racquet heavier, if i put on the same grip?

[0d1n]

Originally Posted by cork_screw

It's $15, just buy one yourself. Leather grip is kinda pride thing too. Those things are instant callous vehicles. After you play a lot leather grips hurt your hand. Since they're so hard, sometimes you get pinched nerves when the sharp bevels stick into your fingers with the leather. I've had that experience quite a few times and stopped using them. They don't really enhance feel, like just strings/tension and the actual racquet. Just go synthetic grip. Most pros are also using them only a few pros still use leather like fed and gasquet. Total pride accessory.

Right...total pride accessory. I use an overgrip and nobody knows what grip I have underneath...so how does "pride" come into it ?? Is it "internal pride only" without expected validation from elsewhere ???
I never get "pinched nerves" with leather...perhaps you're using a grip too small and grip the raquet too tight as a result ??
Regardless...your post is full of personal opinions stated as facts...and the fact that only a couple of pros use leather is actually false.
A ton of them use leather. It's not just Gasquet and Fed, in addition to those there are a bunch of others. Del Potro, Djokovic, Youzhny, Wawrinka, Monfils, Almagro, G. Garcia-Lopez are only a few examples that I know of the top of my head. I'm sure if I start searching many more will come up.
So...let's just say it's personal and leave it at that.
With regards to Wilson's choice for the Blade Tour...I guess a synthetic is cheaper...and yeah, most recreational players don't like the hard feel of leather. Very few pros buy frames from the store...so they are not affected. Win win situation for Wilson.

Originally Posted by Bartelby

Selling leather replacement grips is a good earner, so why give it away with the racquet?

Yup...that too.

[robbo1970]

I have dabbled with leather, with mixed results. On one of my lighter rackets it is the perfect addition on a slightly heavier racket it has a very negative effect.

But I do think its a matter of personal choice. As was the case for me, leather on one of my rackets caused hand and wrist pain so I switched back to stock form synthetic. I suspect the view of the manufacturers is that the majority of recreational players will prefer softer synthetic grips and therefore they make the racket to suit that market. perhaps they feel that anyone adding a leather grip has some idea of why they are doing it and will be prepared for the way it affects the balance and weight, as opposed to putting leather on in stock form, only for the player to get a totally different feeling racket when they switch to synth. Lets not forget that pro's rackets differ vastly to retail versions.
I also suspect that the Federer racket and MacEnroe racket are given leather in stock form as to replicate those used by the signatories. Even though you can't see Federers leather grip, Wilson also market the Wilson leather grip 'as used by Roger Federer', so it would make sense for them to stick it on his retail racket.

[robbo1970]

Saying that, from what I hear about Wilson quality control, you can have one with leather and one without and they would weigh the same.

[db10s]

Originally Posted by robbo1970

Saying that, from what I hear about Wilson quality control, you can have one with leather and one without and they would weigh the same.

Haha, never thought about that, but its true.

[0d1n]

Originally Posted by robbo1970

I have dabbled with leather, with mixed results. On one of my lighter rackets it is the perfect addition on a slightly heavier racket it has a very negative effect.

But I do think its a matter of personal choice. As was the case for me, leather on one of my rackets caused hand and wrist pain so I switched back to stock form synthetic. I suspect the view of the manufacturers is that the majority of recreational players will prefer softer synthetic grips and therefore they make the racket to suit that market. perhaps they feel that anyone adding a leather grip has some idea of why they are doing it and will be prepared for the way it affects the balance and weight, as opposed to putting leather on in stock form, only for the player to get a totally different feeling racket when they switch to synth. Lets not forget that pro's rackets differ vastly to retail versions.
I also suspect that the Federer racket and MacEnroe racket are given leather in stock form as to replicate those used by the signatories. Even though you can't see Federers leather grip, Wilson also market the Wilson leather grip 'as used by Roger Federer', so it would make sense for them to stick it on his retail racket.

Federer uses the Priority 1 (his customizers) leather grips as clearly visible in some of their pictures, publicly available on their website and "copy/pasted" in various threads in the pro equipment section.
It doesn't really matter frankly...leather grips differences are minor and just a question of getting used to if used with an overgrip.
If used without overgrip...then the differences start to matter, but most people will put some tourna/yonex/wilson pro on top of it anyway. I've used Babolat, Volkl, Wilson, Dunlop, TW thin 1.3 mm and now using Vantage...and they are all just as playable (with overgrip). The TW one is the thinnest and the Volkl the thickest...but the differences are incremental anyway. How wide they are may matter if you like to match the "overlap" with the overgrip overlap...but again you can find solutions (choosing same width for both grip and overgrip). Most people don't care about that level of detail though...

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by sundaypunch

That may be true, but adding a leather grip to that racquet will push the weight from 12.0 to around 12.3 - 12.4 oz. That's going to alienate some people.

I don't know how many more people you're alienating going from 12.0oz to 12.3oz.

12.0oz you're already weeding out ~70-80% of the market.

[Power Player]

I feel the bevels so much better with a leather grip. that being said I use a synthetic. I prefer the Wilson Hybrid pro. another great option is the Babolat skin feel.