TheLambsheadrep
Professional
While there are multiple ways to add mass in the handle in order to make a racquet heavier and more lead light, in your opinion which method leads to the best resulting feel?
Adding mass in the handle - best method for feel?
- Thread starter TheLambsheadrep
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- customization lead weight
haqq777
Legend
Well, it sort of depends. Silicone makes it the most muted in my experience but time consuming for anyone who isn't used to customizing a lot. Blutac/putty is best for quick adjustments (easy to take out and add back etc). Leather if you want to add bevel feel and add weight at the same time. I've also seen lead tape wrapped all around till top of the handle. In the end, personal preference really.
TheLambsheadrep
Professional
I think that muted quality is desirable, it just makes the racquet feel more solid. You hear more people ask for lively strings and not lively racquets.
3loudboys
G.O.A.T.
Great list - silicon has the best feel for me but use blue tac more often than not as like you say it is easily removed. I heard of some people also using fishing weights when looking to add a lot of weight but found problems with it rattling around if they got loose.
anarosevoli
Professional
If there is foam or silicone inside I use nails, clean and easily removable, no influence on feel. If there is space in the handle I use an old overgrip for small adjustments from 1 to 5 gram, they can be easily cut to weight, don't rattle and don't change the feel.
Fxanimator1
Hall of Fame
Blue-Stik for me.
Shroud
Talk Tennis Guru
my 2 cents is that the best feel for me is to just do a new handle. I would rewrap with a wilson shockshield. installed its about 26g. Which depending on the grip its replacing is probably 10-16g more. Add some overgrips and that could be another 10-16g. Put some strips of a replacement grip on the bevels you want to keep and that adds some more weight.
You could buy a smaller size and just add the extra handle material. For me at least it makes a nice cushy handle. It also spreads out the weight which IMHO is more natural feeling than adding weight inside the handle which usually makes it more polarized.
You could buy a smaller size and just add the extra handle material. For me at least it makes a nice cushy handle. It also spreads out the weight which IMHO is more natural feeling than adding weight inside the handle which usually makes it more polarized.
One Handed Dynasty
Semi-Pro
Silicone, but not the GE kind because it eventually dries up and shrinks. I’ve found the most muted feel to be from using smooth-on mold star 30. It’s also kept the same feel from day 1 to year 2 now.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TheLambsheadrep
Professional
I hit with a racquet that came with silicone preinstalled last night and and while I'm a big fan of leather grips it's hard to utilize both options without changing the specs dramatically. I have a few racquets that are foam filled in the handle but when I used them way back when I didn't give much thought to the feel of the foam. Assuming that the foam is lighter than silicone I wonder if that would be a way to get some of the solid silicone feel while using a leather grip...
Shangri La
Hall of Fame
I leather grip every racquet that I own. For demo I put nails inside the handle.
For certain racquets, Dunlop in particular, I can also put a nickle (0.18oz) inside the handle under trap door. The trap door will close securely and hold the nickle in place.
For certain racquets, Dunlop in particular, I can also put a nickle (0.18oz) inside the handle under trap door. The trap door will close securely and hold the nickle in place.
Hello
I d just like to ask you the best way how to deal with the plastic bar and nails inside the handle of my racquet (looks like the right one, but my is more difficult to customize). My idea is to put there blu tack, but there is lack of space.
I do apologize for my English, really not native
Thank you for help
BsC
I d just like to ask you the best way how to deal with the plastic bar and nails inside the handle of my racquet (looks like the right one, but my is more difficult to customize). My idea is to put there blu tack, but there is lack of space.
I do apologize for my English, really not native
Thank you for help
BsC
PT630Wannabe
Professional
The Blu Tac will just fill in around the nails and on either side of the chamber of the hairpin. Just push. It’s soft.
smboogie
Semi-Pro
It probably depends on how much weight you plan to add to the handle. For me I re-wrapped my PureStrikes with a leather grip to add a little bit to the handle, then I overwrap the leather and I am really liking it. To me it feels a bit more head light without adding so much weight that I feel it's a different racket and will need to adjust swing/timing.
My idea was to put BluTac or sth deeply into handle. Probably BT in foil. When weight is evenly distributed, it makes better feel,I think. Should still be removable.
I see your point, combine overgrip or leathergrip with weight should work.
Thanks
D
Deleted member 776614
Guest
I've done some pretty intense experimentation with this over the past 2 weeks. I think there is no right answer - it depends what what you're after, what feel means to you, and what happens when you add weight.
I think you need to experiment with temporary weight. Use masking tape to adhere weights at different points around the grip. Adding a few grams above and below the grip feels different than adding the same (or more) weight along the length of the grip. Adding weight near the butt cap is below your hand and on the opposite side of the 'swing weight axis' (your hand controls the racquet basically by the two outermost contact points, so there's a pivot point near the center of your palm - if you turn your wrist, the racquet rotates about that point) so adding weight at butt cap will actually work to lift the head up. This gives a more whippy feeling. Adding weight at the top of the grip will technically make the racquet more head light overall, but it's still adding mass on the head side of your hand. This is less whippy and more stable feeling.
I love the feel of my leather grip but I would have preferred the same firm feel, with less weight strategically placed at the top of the grip and under the butt cap for a similar effect. 3g total would have been enough, but now I've got 7g excess because the leather was 10g heaver than stock grip. 7g is 2% of the racquet weight unnecessarily added, at a point where it has basically no mechanical advantage.
It's really remarkable what 1.5 to 2g lead can do. With one racquet, I added 2g to the butt cap to make it feel more head light, but it felt less controlled. I moved that 2g to just above the grip, and it magically made me find the sweet spot with much more consistency. It's just crazy how 0.5% of the weight of the racquet can make such a difference.
I think you need to experiment with temporary weight. Use masking tape to adhere weights at different points around the grip. Adding a few grams above and below the grip feels different than adding the same (or more) weight along the length of the grip. Adding weight near the butt cap is below your hand and on the opposite side of the 'swing weight axis' (your hand controls the racquet basically by the two outermost contact points, so there's a pivot point near the center of your palm - if you turn your wrist, the racquet rotates about that point) so adding weight at butt cap will actually work to lift the head up. This gives a more whippy feeling. Adding weight at the top of the grip will technically make the racquet more head light overall, but it's still adding mass on the head side of your hand. This is less whippy and more stable feeling.
I love the feel of my leather grip but I would have preferred the same firm feel, with less weight strategically placed at the top of the grip and under the butt cap for a similar effect. 3g total would have been enough, but now I've got 7g excess because the leather was 10g heaver than stock grip. 7g is 2% of the racquet weight unnecessarily added, at a point where it has basically no mechanical advantage.
It's really remarkable what 1.5 to 2g lead can do. With one racquet, I added 2g to the butt cap to make it feel more head light, but it felt less controlled. I moved that 2g to just above the grip, and it magically made me find the sweet spot with much more consistency. It's just crazy how 0.5% of the weight of the racquet can make such a difference.
HitMoreBHs
Professional
Hello
I d just like to ask you the best way how to deal with the plastic bar and nails inside the handle of my racquet (looks like the right one, but my is more difficult to customize). My idea is to put there blu tack, but there is lack of space.
I do apologize for my English, really not native
Thank you for help
BsC
Those metal pins are the ends of the staples used to secure the buttcap. Use a flat-blade screwdriver and gently flatten them so that the pins will no longer be in the way. I flatten the pins sideways (ie: do not flatten towards the head-end) in case I want to straighten them again, if ever I wish to remove the buttcap. However, this is not a major issue since the staples can be broken using pliers/snips.
If you wish to use silicone but not permanently, make some slim silicone cylinders using a few straws as a mold (seal one end of the straw with Blu-Tack). Once the silicone is cured (dried and formed), the straw molds can be cut open. You can then easily cut these silicone cylinders to required weight and wedge them them into the space.
The silicone cylinders can be combined with nails for more weight. Since the cylinders will wedge the nail(s) in place, there is no need to push cotton up into the handle to stop the nails rattling around or dislodging up into the throat.
If you wish to use Blu-Tack in a removable way, I prefer wrapping it with a couple layers of Cling-Film before stuffing it in so that all of it can be pulled out as one unit, leaving no residue.
In general, I much prefer methods where the handle weight filler can be easily removed. Not only does this allow for simple future adjustments, if a bit of loose matter rattles around in the hairpin, the weight can be removed to allow the loose matter to fall out.
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