Are the handles on Babolat racquets a little larger than other brands rated at the same size, or are Babolat's grips just thicker than average? ...or is it my imagination that Babolats feel larger than their measured grip size?
Babolat grips are at least one size larger than other racquet brands in some cases. I used to use the Pure Drive in a 3/8 grip and it felt bigger than many 1/2 grips. I am now using the Aeropro Drive in a 1/4 grip and with a leather grip and an overgrip it feels larger than my wife's 3/8 Yonex RDX 300 grip. She uses an overgrip over the standard synthetic grip.
I'm pretty sure that babolat grips are somewhat thicker than most of the other ones. I have two identical PD os racquets and one of them has an original grip and the other was regripped with a wilson grip. The original racquet feels substantially thicker.
No, VXB. The grip size itself is larger than other grips. I have a Babolat Pure Control with a Gamma grip on it and have the same Gamma grip on my Wilson. The Babolat is larger than the Wilson even though they are both 4 3/8.