Leather grip questions

I know if I take a synthetic grip off of a racquet, I'd be increasing its weight and making it more headlight. Any idea how much these will change?

Also, are there any other affects that I should be aware of?

HI,

It all depends which leather grip you are thinking of putting on, and what synthetic grip you are taking off.
Most leather grips weigh aroung 10 grams or more than a synthetic grip.
By using a leather grip , and then any possible over grips, you are dramatically changing the balance hl/hh or your racket as well, which will effect all sorts of characteristics such as , power, comfort, plow through etc etc.

I have just recently done the same as you and countered the extra handle weight with some lead tape at the hoop

Hope this helps

Weigh both subtract the difference add lead in the hoop to account for the difference in weight. Most frames respond nicely to lead at 3/9. From there experiment with placement that works for your game......

hrstrat57 said:

Weigh both subtract the difference add lead in the hoop to account for the difference in weight. Most frames respond nicely to lead at 3/9. From there experiment with placement that works for your game......

Click to expand...

If you are adding a leather grip, wouldn't it make more sense to add lead to at 12 o' clock? I thought that I read a few times that this type of "polarized" set up is beneficial. After that, if a player is seeking more power or plow through, THEN he/she can add lead at 3 and 9 o' clock. Does that make sense?

Would the added weight in the handle have any affect on the sweetspot?

NineMileSkid said:

Would the added weight in the handle have any affect on the sweetspot?

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It seems to me that adding weight inside the handle, especially right along the central axis, will shift the sweet spot down. This really deadens the top half of the string bed. Adding weight on the outside of the handle (leather grip) hasn't made any noticeable difference to me.

I added a Wilson leather grip onto my blx blade, and I loved it. It probably changed the balance from 2pts hl to about 5. I know for the blade, it makes it play so much better. I haven't really noticed any difference in the sweetspot personally, but I find that when I hit outside of the sweetspot, it is much more stable than before.

SCRAP IRON said:

If you are adding a leather grip, wouldn't it make more sense to add lead to at 12 o' clock? I thought that I read a few times that this type of "polarized" set up is beneficial. After that, if a player is seeking more power or plow through, THEN he/she can add lead at 3 and 9 o' clock. Does that make sense?

Click to expand...

On 18x20 Head frames matching lead at 12 made the frame "hooky" for me meaning the hoop came thru too quick making me pull shots / upsetting my timing I guess. Where the OP ends up placing the lead will depend on type of frame, his/her swing technique/ speed and experimentation. Further, I would hit with the frame without lead first a more head light frame may be more agreeable to the OP game.

Advice on talk tennis forum is helpful but seeing what the ball does on the court is key.

As others have said many times and I will repeat do not underestimate what even as little as 6 g of lead added to the hoop of a racquet can do. The results can amaze thus on court testing must be extensive IMHO.

Jamesm182 said:

HI,

It all depends which leather grip you are thinking of putting on, and what synthetic grip you are taking off.
Most leather grips weigh aroung 10 grams or more than a synthetic grip.
By using a leather grip , and then any possible over grips, you are dramatically changing the balance hl/hh or your racket as well, which will effect all sorts of characteristics such as , power, comfort, plow through etc etc.

I have just recently done the same as you and countered the extra handle weight with some lead tape at the hoop

Hope this helps

Click to expand...

The 10g is about right as most of the synthetics I have measures are in the 10s of grams where leather tends to be in the 20s.

Personally I would first try just the leather before adding weight in the head and see if you like that first. Some rackets respond well to this particularly the more head heavy rackets.

hrstrat57 said:

On 18x20 Head frames matching lead at 12 made the frame "hooky" for me meaning the hoop came thru too quick making me pull shots / upsetting my timing I guess. Where the OP ends up placing the lead will depend on type of frame, his/her swing technique/ speed and experimentation. Further, I would hit with the frame without lead first a more head light frame may be more agreeable to the OP game.

Advice on talk tennis forum is helpful but seeing what the ball does on the court is key.

As others have said many times and I will repeat do not underestimate what even as little as 6 g of lead added to the hoop of a racquet can do. The results can amaze thus on court testing must be extensive IMHO.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I'll say this about adding lead to the top of certain head light frames- The spin that a player can achieve with a semi-western grip is fairly substantial. By the way, I did not know what you meant by "OP."

Enjoy your tennis dude.

SCRAP IRON said:

Thanks for the input. I'll say this about adding lead to the top of certain head light frames- The spin that a player can achieve with a semi-western grip is fairly substantial. By the way, I did not know what you meant by "OP."

Enjoy your tennis dude.

Click to expand...

OP = original poster.....

I find 3/9 increased sweet spot too, signif on my frames.

Enjoy!

I just did this, took a Volkl V1 pro and replaced the stock grip with the heavier leather grip from TW. It added .5 ounces to the racquet, and it went from 4 points head light (with the stock grip and an overgrip) to 14 points head light.

I'll be adding some tape to the hoop here shortly to rebalance it a bit. Would like to get it back to about 4 points head light. Thing is, this is gonna be a heavy stick once that's done. Went from 11.4 to 11.9 ounces just adding the leather, now it'll end up around 12.4.

Just giving this thread a nudge, due to my recent experiences with leather.

I just have one little bit of advice regarding leather.....switch to leather because you prefer the feel of leather, not because you want to add weight in the handle.

Ive seen a few threads where people add a leather grip to add weight.

I have been toying with various leather grips to try and get the right feel and have failed. It basically comes down to the fact that I just dont really get on with the feel of the leather. The difference it made to the HL balance was negiligible. With a racket as light as mine, it doesnt really need to be too head light. And I'm now of the mind that the manufacturer created its stock balance for the simple reason that it works best.

The unfortunate problem I had with leather was quite the opposite to the reason a lot of others prefer leather....I actually felt like I lost the feel and feedback I get from hitting deft drop shots and volleys, I just got a very muted feel. I also found that my grip was a lot less relaxed with the leather grip. The firm feel subconciously made me grip harder to hold firm (I always use an overgrip too).

Its a shame, because leather does look great, but having tried many alternatives, I am back to synth plus overgrip. Part of me thinks, why did I bother taking the original synth grip off in the first place, but I guess if I hadnt, I would never have known what worked and what didnt work.

Can't remember what my point was now....oh yes....use leather because you like the feel of leather, not as a way of adding weight.

It depends which synthetic grip you have and which leather grip you are replacing it with. There are light weighted leather grips and heavy weighted synthetic grips, so if you research a little you won't have to change the weight of your racquet.

This might help

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=465717