Tennis racket weight and grip sizes

egrorian

egrorian

Rookie
Am I mistaken in thinking that years ago there were grip sizes larger than 4 5/8? I certainly recall using M and LM weight frames and remember reading that Borg used an H (heavy) frame, although I think these were rarely seen in stores. Today I am actually finding it quite difficult to find frames with a 4 5/8 grip size here in the UK.
 
Same here. I do not know those silly measurements of yours, but anything over size 4 is a rarity here.
I hit with a woodie last year. It was like size 7 by today's standard.
 
cha cha said:
Same here. I do not know those silly measurements of yours, but anything over size 4 is a rarity here.
I hit with a woodie last year. It was like size 7 by today's standard.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply but what "silly measurements" of mine? I'm genuinely confused.
 
I used to use racquets with 4 3/4 grips, and even tried a couple that were 4 7/8 (I had a Dunlop Maxply and a Prince Woodie that had 4 7/8 grips). Back in the wood days finding those sizes was not difficult. 4 3/4 grips were discontinued some years ago and more and more companies now maxing out their grip sizes at 4 1/2.
 
I used to use L5 when I was a junior. I even built up some of my grips to be slightly bigger. Was following the guidelines based on ha d size at the time.
 
If you are curious to confirm the existence of something a Le Bay search including completed listings can be helpful
 
Many rackets are available on TW in size L5, while on the European sister site I think it’s L4 mostly.
 
egrorian said:
I couldn't see any listings of old rackets with grip sizes larger than 4 5/8".
Click to expand...
Try searching for:
Racquet “5 1/8”
And there is a active listing for a flex point radical OS.
/itm/Head-Flexpoint-Radical-Oversized-OS-107-Tennis-Racquet-5-1-8-Grip-/144031496474

In the same fashion I found “4 7/8”
/itm/Bancroft-Bjorn-Borg-Autograph-4-7-8-Vintage-Wood-Tennis-Racquet-American-Ash-/154394911761
 
Handle size has two 'popular' naming conventions. Some prefer 4 X and others just say X. X is 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, 5/8. Obviously others just say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
 
esgee48 said:
Handle size has two 'popular' naming conventions. Some prefer 4 X and others just say X. X is 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, 5/8. Obviously others just say 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Click to expand...

Curiously the first item I mentioned had 5-1/8 ... 5 on the handle. Were there L sizes that correlated to greater than 4-5/8 when those were available?
 
Don't think so. If they existed, I do not recall seeing them.

Back in the days of Wood, they stated handle size as 4 1/2 or 5 or 5 1/4. When ALU frames first appeared, it was also stated. In the last decade or 2 when handle sizes started to decrease below 4 5/8 (due to the spin game), manufacturers started to put Ln on the frame. I do not recall ever seeing L6, L7 or L8. None of my clients use anything bigger than L4 tho they may have an extra OG on their frames.
 
Back in the day overgrips weren't that common, if barely existent. Nowadays almost everyone uses one, or several. There you have your distincted sizes, L4 + overgrip is basically L5, and so on. I used to play with L4 (4 1/2) without any overgrips but use now L3 (4 3/8) with an og instead. I don't feel that much of a difference.

If you're looking for L5 (4 5/8) then get a Yonex (2019 or newer) with L4 (4 1/2) and there you have it.
 
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