Enlarging Racquet Grip...What works best?

[Goodgetter]

I'm looking at a racquet on **** that has a 4 3/8 grip. I normally use a 4 5/8 grip. Can I increase the mass of the grip with overgrips, and if so, will it feel the same as a normal 4 5/8 grip? Wondering if I should wait for the correct racquet/grip size.

Thanks,

E.

[anirut]

If you add another grip on top of the original 4 3/8, this will easily increase the grip two sizes to 4 5/8.

Now, this will add about 14 grams to your racket and making it about 3 points more HL.

If you can live with the change in the specs, then take the plunge. Otherwise you may have to check if you can find the right-size pallet for the racket you want.

BTW, 14 grams is for synthetic replacement grip. Leather could be around 22 grams

[chair ump]

Go with a heat sleeve. Add just one and you can still feel the bevels distinctly.

[bigmatt]

Chair Ump:
Ading one heat shrink sleeve will only enlarge the grip by one size; it appears he needs to change it by 2.
Try this: take 2 heat shrink sleeves, and make holes in them with a leather punch. This will reduce the weight of the sleeves noticeably, without affecting the amount of grip build-up. This is the best way I know of to increase 2 sizes with the least swingweight change.

[Loco4Tennis]

Originally Posted by bigmatt

Chair Ump:
Ading one heat shrink sleeve will only enlarge the grip by one size; it appears he needs to change it by 2.
Try this: take 2 heat shrink sleeves, and make holes in them with a leather punch. This will reduce the weight of the sleeves noticeably, without affecting the amount of grip build-up. This is the best way I know of to increase 2 sizes with the least swingweight change.

yeah, i agree here, from what i read, shrink adds 1/8" to the thickness, i would use that and then add 2 overgrips to get to the 4 5/8" you need, the overgrips are suppose to add just 1/16" of thickness, but i find that some overgrips like tournagrip is thinner than most, keep that in mind in case you need to find a inbetween size, the yonnex supergrap i use does add the 1/16" i mentioned
as for the vevels, all of this is gonna reduse the original shape, but not to the extent where you can't feel it or see it, so that should be fine

one thing i have been wondering about is the LEATHER grips, how much thickness do they add to the handle, is it more than 1/16" thick??

[furyballs]

The only problem with building up a grip this much is you lose so much feel of the bevels.

[2handsbothsides]

The best way to build up a grip is to use balsa wood commonly used in model airplane construction and readily found online or at a model shop. 1/32” thick material will bring grip size up 1 ½ grip sizes. Less than a quarter the weight of heat shrink sleeves and retains perfectly sharp pallet edges.

Measure the width of your grip pallet bevels. Use a razor blade knife guided by a ruler to cut the wood to fit each bevel. Then lightly glue the eight strips onto your pallet. Hold together with tape until dry. If you get organized it takes about 30 minutes.

For the final ½ grip size increase use 2 layers of standard masking tape. Again to retain sharp grip bevels do not wrap the tape around the pallet. Use the same procedure above to slice the tape to bevel width and apply length wise to the grip pallet.

This method is perfect for customizing your grip to any desired size or shape

[Bubba]

Originally Posted by 2handsbothsides

The best way to build up a grip is to use balsa wood commonly used in model airplane construction and readily found online or at a model shop. 1/32” thick material will bring grip size up 1 ½ grip sizes. Less than a quarter the weight of heat shrink sleeves and retains perfectly sharp pallet edges.

Measure the width of your grip pallet bevels. Use a razor blade knife guided by a ruler to cut the wood to fit each bevel. Then lightly glue the eight strips onto your pallet. Hold together with tape until dry. If you get organized it takes about 30 minutes.

For the final ½ grip size increase use 2 layers of standard masking tape. Again to retain sharp grip bevels do not wrap the tape around the pallet. Use the same procedure above to slice the tape to bevel width and apply length wise to the grip pallet.

This method is perfect for customizing your grip to any desired size or shape

Yeah, but you neglect to mention that this solution won't address the butt cap, where as a heat sleeve will. Under your method, you'll need to get larger butt caps in order to hold the right ratios.

OP - Another option is to use sports tape (the white cloth type) and wrap it on the bare pallet just like you would a grip... use as much overlap as you think appropriate. Then, add a heat sleeve over top. (note: heat sleeves come in 2 thicknesses - be sure to use the larger)

The sports tape will help retain the pallet shape and give you a little build up and the heat sleeve will give you the additional build up. Note the tape doesn't weigh much at all, and for the heat sleeve, if needed, you can use a hole punch to take some out (holes spaced around the grip.

-or- you could just purchase the right size to begin with.