How much does a leather grip change the balance of a raquet?

AgassiFan12 · Jul 16, 2009

I will soon be receiving 2 Wilson K Pro Tours that come with leather grips. According to TW the specs strung are:

Weight: 11.4oz / 323g
Balance: 8pts Head Light
and it's a standard lenght

If I take the leather grip off and just use 2 over grips, what approximately would the balance be? I don't need exact, I just want a rough idea. I have no idea how much a leather grip weighs.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

SteveI · Jul 16, 2009

AgassiFan12 said:
I will soon be receiving 2 Wilson K Pro Tours that come with leather grips. According to TW the specs strung are:

Weight: 11.4oz / 323g
Balance: 8pts Head Light
and it's a standard lenght

If I take the leather grip off and just use 2 over grips, what approximately would the balance be? I don't need exact, I just want a rough idea. I have no idea how much a leather grip weighs.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Hey,

Here is my guess...the frame will be about 11 oz and 4 points HL. Good luck..
Steve

nn · Jul 16, 2009

it is will be around 11.1 and 5 points headlight

klementine · Jul 16, 2009

I don't know about taking the grip off and using just two overgrips, as I've never done that....

But every time I switch from a synthetic grip to a leather grip I always gain about 2pts. HL.

This all depends on which leather grip you're using, how tight you wrapped it and how far up the handle.

klementine · Jul 16, 2009

AgassiFan12 said:
I will soon be receiving 2 Wilson K Pro Tours that come with leather grips. According to TW the specs strung are:

Weight: 11.4oz / 323g
Balance: 8pts Head Light
and it's a standard lenght

If I take the leather grip off and just use 2 over grips, what approximately would the balance be? I don't need exact, I just want a rough idea. I have no idea how much a leather grip weighs.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Oh and good luck with the supposed specs for the wilson frames.... my guess is they will either be 11.1oz and 7pts.HL or 11.7oz and 9pts.HL or if you're lucky.... both.

AgassiFan12 · Jul 17, 2009

Thanks for the help all! It sounds like I have a pretty good estimate of around 11 oz, and about 4-6pts HL. I can't wait to play with it. I'm going to try it with the leather first.

I know Wilson QC isn't the best, but I'm not that picky to notice small differences. I can adjust as long as it's relatively close.

AgassiFan12 · Jul 17, 2009

Klementine,

I remember reading a post on here around last summer where some pros (I think Haas is one) that use only 2 or 3 overgrips and no standard grip.

I've done it and it works just fine. Not quite as cushiony of a feel, but I have no problems with it.

Rabbit · Jul 17, 2009

Leather grips add about 15 grams to a racquet's weight. I weighed before/after when I did my 300T's recently.

SteveI · Jul 17, 2009

AgassiFan12 said:
Klementine,

I remember reading a post on here around last summer where some pros (I think Haas is one) that use only 2 or 3 overgrips and no standard grip.

I've done it and it works just fine. Not quite as cushiony of a feel, but I have no problems with it.

More like using a leather... can really "feel" the handle. I have done it also.. it works fine depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

Steve

red7flag · Jul 17, 2009

I recently got a Head YT Rad Pro. I found the leather alone to have a slippery feel. I left the leather on, and added an overgrip, Head Xtremesoft. The feel now is really good. I am told that an over grip adds 2 points HL depending on the overgrip.
Tony

Tennis_Slapper23 · Oct 29, 2022

Anyone know how much the head leather changes the balance. I know it changed the weight a good bit. I put in on a new pure drive. Also, I put 2 grams of lead at 12 would they counter balance it or make it more head heavy than when I got it? Before adding anything. What would my racket balance be at taking a guess.

RF_PRO_STAFF · Oct 30, 2022

Tennis_Slapper23 said:
Anyone know how much the head leather changes the balance. I know it changed the weight a good bit. I put in on a new pure drive. Also, I put 2 grams of lead at 12 would they counter balance it or make it more head heavy than when I got it? Before adding anything. What would my racket balance be at taking a guess.

Nice reviving a 13 year old thread. Here's some data I wrote down when applying Head Leather Tour grips to my Prestige MP-Ls:

Racquet #1
297.78g > 308.01g (+10,23g)
31.85 cm > 31.15 cm (-0.7 cm)

Racquet #2
297.97g > 306.62g (+8,65g)
31.7 cm > 31.0 cm (-0.7 cm)

Racquet #3
298.30g > 305.48g (+7,18g)
31.7 cm > 31.1 cm (-0.6 cm)

As you can see, the weight of three of the same leather grips can differ. That also has an impact on how much the balance point gets affected.
If you add 2g of lead at 12, the balance point would only increase by around 2mm. So if you apply both the leather grip and the 2g of lead, you will have a more HL balance than if you didn't apply either.

BlueB · Oct 30, 2022

However, you'd add quite a bit of swing weight, by adding 2g at 12.

How much does a leather grip change the balance of a raquet?

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