grip size increase with duct tape?

[snapped77]

need to increase the size of my racquet handle, but dont want to add a significant amount of weight either...

tennis pro said to use athletic tape and wrap it up and then put and overgrip on teh end, and ive read about duct tape on here.

what is the best method?

p.s. - dont have to time to take it to a hobby shop and get balsa wood, got a tournament that starts friday.

thanks.

 

[slkbassist]

Depends on how much you want to increase it by.

You can double wrap overgrips.
You can use duct tape
You can buy a unique whatagrip which is thick and cushiony

 

[snapped77]

i've alread got double overgrips on it, but it is still too thin.

apparently my old racquet, which said 4 1/4 had a grip built up on it that i never noticed, lol, so i bought the 4 1/4 racquet.

ive heard the best way is to take it down to the original grip and use strips of duct tape long ways on the racquet to keep the bevels and then put on an overgrip.

how much duct tape is needed to bring it from say, a 4 1/4 to 4 5/8 or so?

 

[flash9]

how much duct tape is needed to bring it from say, a 4 1/4 to 4 5/8 or so?

Too Much! - I actually built up a grip from a 1 to a 5, and that much duct tape will make your racquet much more head light, which might not be a bad thing depending on the racquet!

When I did it I used 1/16" balsa and built up all eight faces. You need a good rubber cement, and simply glue strips on opposite sides and clamp to let it dry, then sand edges to about a 45deg angle then do the next two faces and so on. It really does not take to long.

 

[snapped77]

well, honestly, cant it be heavier than 3 overgrips on top of the original grip? cuz that is what i have now...

 

[Zielmann]

Duct tape is heavy. If you can get some, gaff (or gaffer) tape would probably work pretty well. It's lighter than duct tape. Just not sure exactly where to get it. You'd want to apply it the same way as you talked about applying the duct tape.

The best thing that you could do (not sure if there's enough time), would be to put on two full-size heat-shrink wraps. That will get you up to a size 4 from a size 2. Put on your grip, and try just one overgrip first. It'll probably be half a size smaller than your target 5/8 size, but it might work fine for you. If not, either add a third heat-shrink wrap or a second overgrip. I know TW sells the wraps, but you'd have to find them somewhere near you for it to help by this weekend.

 

[snapped77]

ok, here's the deal

the old racquet i had, which was a hand me down, was a wilson triad 5.0, which comes as 8 pts head heavy. the grip was removed and replaced with a single prince durasoft regrip and one durapro overgrip

my new racquet is a babolat aeropro drive cortex, which comes as 5 pts head light.

if i was to regrip the new racquet the same way, what would i have to do to keep approximately the same racquet balance it has now or maybe even get it a little more balanced? would putting the regrip and overgrip on it add way too much weight to the handle? should i put some lead tape on the frame and if so, where?

thanks.

 

[sruckauf]

I'd recommend you stick with the athletic tape recommendation. I say this for three reasons.

One, the outer surface is kind to replacement grip tack.. firm grip, but not glue-like.

Second, you have much better control with how much increase you get versus a heat shrink sleeve, since the tape is rather thin. You can add in-between-level grip size increases.

Third, it's my belief that you will get less rounding of the bevels with athletic tape than duct tape or the heat shrink sleeve solution.

 

[snapped77]

so im added the two grips right now like i talked about. it doesnt seem that much more headlight, but if it does end up feeling like that after i hit..

can i apply lead tape to simply offset that? where would i apply without effecting the sweet spot, etc?

 

[snapped77]

bumpity bump this question?

 

[Zielmann]

Third, it's my belief that you will get less rounding of the bevels with athletic tape than duct tape or the heat shrink sleeve solution.

I don't know exactly how they did it, but I had a grip built up for me some time ago. The only copy of my current frame that I could get was a size 2, and I need a size 3. I talked to the guy at the store, and he said he'd build it up for me. I can't tell any difference as far as the beveling is concerned between that frame and the one I have that was originally a size 3. It was either some sort of epoxy putty, or it was a heat-shrink sleeve. Either way, it didn't add any noticeable weight or smooth the bevels out.

So I wouldn't be afraid of adding two sleeves. I mean, the OP already uses two overgrips, which would round out the grip more than anything else you could do to it.

 

[matchmaker]

I have used duct tape on Volkl pallets to make them squarer, and it effectively did, but it all depends on how much you plan to put on it. It does weigh a bit, I put 4 layers of duct tape on the three bevels on each side, and that made a difference of about 10 gr. The good thing about it is that you keep the shape of the bevels.

 

[phucng_10]

Heat shrinking sleeves? http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpage-SLEEV.html

 

[SirBlend12]

so im added the two grips right now like i talked about. it doesnt seem that much more headlight, but if it does end up feeling like that after i hit..

can i apply lead tape to simply offset that? where would i apply without effecting the sweet spot, etc?

Wherever you feel your sweetspot is, jut add lead either there or slightly above where it used to be if it lowered. if you like stability and a centered sweetspot, go for 3 and 9.

 

[snapped77]

i ended up taking off all the overgrips and stock grip.

i found some tape my dad had (used to be a doctor) called 3M coban self-adhesive bandage. it's water proof and sticks to itself and other things, i coated the bare handle with two layers then put the prince durasoft regrip over it followed by one durapro overgrip.

if feels good as of now, see how the bandage underneath holds up. it didnt not effect the weight at all either.