Leather - Overgrip or no?

When using a leather grip, do you use an overgrip?

  • Yes

    Votes: 38 84.4%
  • No

    Votes: 7 15.6%

  • Total voters
    45

gmlasam

Hall of Fame
I sweat so much, often I need to change my shirt 4 to 5 times. This also explains why I prefere not to wear shirts when I play, and sometimes when it is very hot I have to resort going commando. ;)

Leather grips with an absorbant overgrip helps wick away my sweaty hands. Leather by far is better to absorb moisture than those synthetic cushions grips.
 

iloovetennis

New User
use the babolat vs grips on my wilson leather. that way i can get good absorbancy while retaining the feel of the leather grip because the vs is soo thin.
 

ChrisNC

Semi-Pro
Adding myself to the list of with overgrips. I tried it without and lost grip of the racquet during a backhand. I tossed a Tournagrip on and it feels great. I love the increased bevel feel, and the handle in general just feels better...firmer. (I bought the Babolat leather)
 

deflori

Semi-Pro
Have you guys no problem with blisters???

I have only played the babolat leather and it was not so good for my hands...
Is there a leahter out there,where i dont get blisters with???
 

Marius_Hancu

Talk Tennis Guru
deflori said:
Have you guys no problem with blisters???

I have only played the babolat leather and it was not so good for my hands...
Is there a leahter out there,where i dont get blisters with???
The best are Fairway, available on 6.0 Wilsons. Not in production any more.

Prince are good too.

However, there are people which have very sensitive skin, which have problems with the recent Wilson leather grips such as those available on Tour 90. I do not have any problems with them, even if I feel these grips a little bit rougher than Fairways.

But you certainly need to have a small towel close by at the back court, to wipe out your sweat.
 

Swan Song

Professional
I used to put a white Babolat Syntec Overgrip on top of the Head Calfskin grip on my racquets all the time, but I am trying to play without the overgrip sometimes to maintain the tack on the leather. Although I like the feel of the overgrip and leather combination, I feel like the overgrip is taking some of the natural oils from the leather which bothers me because I hate slick leather.
 

RacketMaster

New User
I would definately have to say yes for the overgrip. I do have a good basis for this statement, because when I got my POG I played with the straight leather for probably 3-4 months. However, I rescently switched to a tourna grip overgrip, and I must say, It's an improvement:

My hands stay dry, even when the rest of me is soaking in sweat (which does happen to me a lot)

I have a better hold on my raquet, resulting in better stability (especially noticable at the net, where the POG's lack of stability on off-center hits can be a problem)

I also like that with the overgrip I still maintain the excellent "feel" that the POG has, with the overgrip not causing any real dampening at all.

For me, at least, the choice is clear.... with all these pro's I've yet to find a con in using an overgrip on leather
 

Perfect

Rookie
OldSchooLTennis said:
I go just babolat leather. But man leather KILLS your hand! i have blisters everywhere!

Have you tried putting an overgrip on it? I put light blue tourna over the leather and I no longer get blisters, but now the problem is calluses everywhere.
 

ffrpg

Professional
Yup, leather definitely kills your hands. Play with it for about a month and your hands should callous over and you'll never have to worry about getting blisters again (unless you take a long break).
 

AndrewD

Legend
Ha ha, those blisters are a sign you're not doing enough manual labour lol. Personally I prefer the leather grip and dont like to put an overgrip on top of it for the reason another poster mentioned. The overgrip absorbs the natural oils from the leather and you lose a lot of the 'tack' (try a white one and see how much colour comes off the leather). If im going to use anything i prefer gauze tape and if i need to replace them i often go to golf shops or a leather goods store.
 
I love leather but the blisters are just too much for me. I have like one huge one on my palm and two other ones on my fingers. But the real reason that i switched to a wilson micro-dri grip is because i have a huge bone bruise on my hand from leather.
 
Had my rf97 autograph for a while now no blisters and play at 4.0 . I guess that leather is a better quality than others idk. All those blisters you guys are complaining about it only making those hands stronger. Rf97 original leather grip all the way.
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
Salvaged Fairway grips from old racquets from the 80s. Dunlop used these leather grips on the 200G. Bought those sticks for $10 or less, stripped the grip, tossed the stick.
 

LuchoVena

Rookie
Tourna Grip over leather in summer, Tourna Tac in winter works for me

Same for me, if its dry (or cold-cold makes things dry) use a cushioned OG but think feel such as Wilson Pro, or Yonex Supergrap, but if im sweating lots, use Tourna instead. Most of the time its the Tourna
 
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