Increase Grip Size Without Increasing Weight?

[Neophyte]

I have a Pure Strike Tour 4 1/4, but my preferred size is 4 3/8 (+ 1 overgrip). I looked into a heat shrink sleeve but that adds about 14 grams, which would make the racquet too heavy for me. Putting on a bunch of overgrips would make the bevels unnoticeable. Are there other ways to increase the grip size without affecting the bevels too much or the weight?

Thanks.

 

[floydcouncil]

Sell it and get a used 3/8 frame.

 

[DonDiego]

Search ''balsa wood'' on this forum -- but there's an easier way:

You can find reels of this type of ''wood tape'', very thin and flexible, for 3-4$ at you hardware store. One side has dried glue on it, that melts when you iron it. You just cut the eight bevels you need, and ''stick'' them on your grip with an iron. Very, very easy, takes around 20 min, and it will add no more than 5-6 grams. It will also keep the feel of the bevels. I've done it on many frames.

 

[DonDiego]

And if you really want zero effect on overall weight, you can search for replacement grips that are lighter than average. Most yonex or Dunlop grips fit in this category, as well as Wilson comfort hybrid.

Lucky for you, Babolat is one of the few companies that indicates the weight of their replacement grips on the package. Check yours, and find one that it 3-4 grams lighter.

 

[Bartelby]

You could add the shrink sleeve to only the bottom half of the grip and choose a Skin Feel base grip.

 

[Neophyte]

Search ''balsa wood'' on this forum -- but there's an easier way:

You can find reels of this type of ''wood tape'', very thin and flexible, for 3-4$ at you hardware store. One side has dried glue on it, that melts when you iron it. You just cut the eight bevels you need, and ''stick'' them on your grip with an iron. Very, very easy, takes around 20 min, and it will add no more than 5-6 grams. It will also keep the feel of the bevels. I've done it on many frames.

I think I'll try the wood tape method. But I have a few questions:
1: Is there any possibility of potentially damaging the racquet with the intense heat from the iron?
2: Do you have to remove the buttcap to do this properly?
3: If you iron the strips one by one how do you ensure there are no (or very minimal) gaps between the strips?

Thanks

 

[Irvin]

You want to get the lightest wood you can get if you want to build up the grip 2 sizes without adding weight (which by the way is impossible.) The best you could hope for is to use the lightest material possible to add as little weight as possible. The lightest wood you can get is balsa, and it is very soft, easy to sand to square off the bevels, and if the grip ends up to big you could easily sand it down.

 

[DonDiego]

I think I'll try the wood tape method. But I have a few questions:
1: Is there any possibility of potentially damaging the racquet with the intense heat from the iron?
2: Do you have to remove the buttcap to do this properly?
3: If you iron the strips one by one how do you ensure there are no (or very minimal) gaps between the strips?

Thanks

1) No. At least not in my experience.
2) No. The wood tape is flexible enough to go over the buttcap, and I even ''break'' it a bit at the junction of the grip and the buttcap, so that there's no gap underneath the wood tape.
3) There are minimal gaps but it doesn't change anything. As long as you have a piece for each bevels, you'll be fine. You can also go out of your way to cut them exactly the right size so there's absolutely no gap, but that would be a waste of time IMO.

One more thing: It's very easy to remove if you do it within a week. After that it becomes more complicated.

 

[anirut]

I use Nexcare Transpore wound-dressing tape by 3M. It's a thin perforated plastic tape.

If you wrap it non-overlapping, with the tape edges touching, for the whole length of the grip, the weight increase is just a somewhat above 2 grams.

Now, two layers of the tape will give you a one-size increase, and about less than 5 grams of added weight.

If you want to minimize weight increase, you can wrap it non-overlapping with about a quarter or 2/3 tape width space (not edges touching). You can wrap another layer on top of the space and do the same spacing techinque. This will also give a one size increase with only about 4 grams added weight.

The good thing with this technique is not just low weight increase. It's very easy to do, easy to correct, cheap and effective, can use many wrapping techniques for weight and size control and maintains the bevels well.

Good luck!

 

[MathieuR]

I like the balsa-wood-strip option. I have strips in 0.5/1/1.5/2mm thickness, and can increase 1/2/3/4 gripsizes with just a few grams weight-increase.

I bought these in an internet specialist-shop mainly meant for model-sailplanes

 

[WYK]

I find the standard hydrosorb HEAD replacement grip adds nearly a grip size to the mix. It does add some weight all by itself, though.
Still, if the racquet doesn't fit you, why not get one that does?

 

[LeeD]

Adding weight to the handle doesn't make the racket harder to swing, so just do it.
It does make the racket more sluggish for prep and loop, but the SW stays close enough.

 

[guando]

I realise this is a very old thread but just wanted to thank the poster for the balsa wood suggestion. I'm a grip 5 so options are limited when buying new or used rackets. I've tried various methods of increasing grip sizes, thicker grips, multiple overgrips, heat shrink sleeves, moulding with gorilla glue, sanding back to hairpin and fitting other pallettes etc. All work to a degree but as already mentioned the extra weight and rounding of bevels is an issue as well as modifying a racket to a point where it's no longer resellable. After seeing this I tried balsa wood and it's by far the lightest option, results in nice sharp bevels and is cheap and relatively easy to work with. I converted two rackets with injection moulded grip 3 handles to grip 5 and total added weight was 6 grams each (including the double-sided tape used to attach the balsa strips) and the end result feels just like a factory L5. This will be my go-to method from now on

 

[malagabee]

I realise this is a very old thread but just wanted to thank the poster for the balsa wood suggestion. I'm a grip 5 so options are limited when buying new or used rackets. I've tried various methods of increasing grip sizes, thicker grips, multiple overgrips, heat shrink sleeves, moulding with gorilla glue, sanding back to hairpin and fitting other pallettes etc. All work to a degree but as already mentioned the extra weight and rounding of bevels is an issue as well as modifying a racket to a point where it's no longer resellable. After seeing this I tried balsa wood and it's by far the lightest option, results in nice sharp bevels and is cheap and relatively easy to work with. I converted two rackets with injection moulded grip 3 handles to grip 5 and total added weight was 6 grams each (including the double-sided tape used to attach the balsa strips) and the end result feels just like a factory L5. This will be my go-to method from now on

Where do u get the balsa wood?

 

[guando]

Where do u get the balsa wood?

I bought it from the online store named after a large rainforest (UK). It comes in different thicknesses, I used the thinnest option available which was 1mm. I've since tried 1.5mm and 2mm but obviously the weight increases with the thickness. I'm also experimenting with punching holes in the pieces to further reduce the weight.

 

[Bambooman]

Where do u get the balsa wood?

Craft store