Which leather grip is the best?

babolat king

babolat king

Rookie
i am currently using the pdgt's and i want to put leather grips on them to feel the bevels better and also to add a more head light feel. i am looking for a thin leather with a great feel. i have used the babolat leather grips before but was not to impressed with them. i have heard great things about the tw leather grips but have never used them before and was not sure if it was just the hype. please help. in the search for the perfect leather. thanks in advance.
 
Y

Yehan

New User
Babolat leather is the best. (quality and durability) Check out my review on customer feed back
Wilson is the worst
TW leather falls somewhere in the middle
 
dadozen

dadozen

Hall of Fame
until now, the best I've used is the TW one. Wilson is weird, bleeds like crazy and doesn't give you a good feel. Head is OK, but too thick, and very expensive.

I'll install some Babolat LGs today in my racquets, hoping they feel as good as I was told.
 
Doubles

Doubles

Legend
TW is very good, but the Babolat Leather is better, in my opinion. I have them on all of my rackets...
 
Fearsome Forehand

Fearsome Forehand

Professional
There is no perfect leather. I think a lot depends on how thick you want the grip to be. TW offers you a choice in that regard. I feel all of the major leather grips are comparable. I use an overgrip over leather grips so that lessens the importance of Brand A over Brand B. TW's grips are worth a shot as you are the best judge of what you like and don't like.

You might also consider some of the thinner, firmer synthetics that also allow one to feel the bevels. For me, that is why I prefer leather, such grips allow you to feel the bevels, but I have used some firm, thin synthetics that, frankly, combined with an overgrip, felt about the same to me as leather.
 
Last edited:
dadozen

dadozen

Hall of Fame
I have just installed the Babolat LG on all my racquets.

It feels almost as thins as the TW 1.3mm, and the feel is awesome as well. Much better than the Head and Wilson ones.

You just can't go wrong with it.
 
ClubHoUno

ClubHoUno

Banned
Head Leather Tour is soft and fluffy in feel, so if you want a soft leather grip this should be on top of your wish list.

Babolat VS Leather grip may not be of as high quality as Head Finest Calfskin, Fairway Leather and Prince Calfskin, but it does its job very well and for the price it's pretty much unbeatable in my view......

I started out using Head Leather Tour, but it didn't stay true to size and as I used it over 6 months time it became more and more compressed and my grip all of a sudden felt smaller and smaller.

I dumped the Head Leather Tour because of that, and also because I felt I was ready for a harder and more pronounced leather grip - and to me Babolat VS Leather is the best 'feel Leather' grip there is for the price. You can really feel the bevels in the handle, when you use a Babolat VS Leather grip under an overgrip.

Wilson sucks big time - stay away from that.

Your mileage may vary though :)
 
ClubHoUno

ClubHoUno

Banned
ninjatennis said:
how about the weight of each of the leather grips? which one is the lightest, which is the heaviest?
Click to expand...

Fairway Leather grips are very heavy.
TW's thinnest are the lightest.

Babolat VS, Wilson, Head Tour and Völkl pretty much weigh the same - give or take 1-2 gram.
 
D

Deleted member 19728

Guest
What is the best leather grip on the market when it comes to resistance to compression. Seems like the wilson's on my 5/8 raquets become 3/8 in about a month.
 
ClubHoUno

ClubHoUno

Banned
DonBot said:
What is the best leather grip on the market when it comes to resistance to compression. Seems like the wilson's on my 5/8 raquets become 3/8 in about a month.
Click to expand...

I had the same problem with the soft Head Leather Tour grip. My grip felt smaller and smaller until I finally uninstalled the Head Leather grip.

Instead I now prefer and use Babolat VS Leather grips with in OG on top on all my frames, and the Babolat is not as easily compressed as the Head Leather Tour is......so my advice is to try Babolat VS Leather grips.
 
joe sch

joe sch

Legend
[d]ragon;4627883 said:
How do they compare to other leathers?
I'm deciding between TW and Pro Supex. Do you know the width?
Click to expand...

Im a leather grip lover and hate to cover them up.
I have tried most over the decades.
The fairway balmouth were the best, no question.
For the money now, you cant beat the TW grips !
I have some NOS fairways but they are only for the single handed grip rackets, like 36". I also have some of the vintage victor grips which were used on the TAD rackes, they had the small holes for best sweat management and look best on classic rackets. They also still play great. If you want to do a modern racket, get a 44" TW grip and Id recommend the thickest version.
 
LafayetteHitter

LafayetteHitter

Hall of Fame
I think the TW private label has an overall better quality feel compared to the Pro Supex. The Private Label is hard to beat.
 
S

Sampson

Banned
I like fairway grips the best.........but I only use them after they have been sprinkled with unicorn dust. Fairway has special cows they use, as well as a special coating that makes them get better the more times they are used. The combination of sweat and a fairway grip actually changes the racquet it is on to a head prestige mid (and sometimes a ps85)with perfect lead placement and forces the user to have a one handed backhand that is pure poetry in motion. When I installed my first fairway grip I was instantly awarded 1000 ATP points.

If I can't get one of those grips, I grab one that is on sale and put some tournagrip on it.

Sarcasm aside, volkl, head, and wilson all have very solid leather grips....none feel cheap at all. I wasn't too impressed with babolat, wilson or pacific.
 
S

Sampson

Banned
Honestly though Volkl hands down is MY favorite. Head is a close second.....I could care less about matching brands, those two feel best to ME.

The only leather grip I found that I do not like is wilson...feels cheap.
 
K

Keifers

Legend
Sampson said:
I like fairway grips the best.........but I only use them after they have been sprinkled with unicorn dust. Fairway has special cows they use, as well as a special coating that makes them get better the more times they are used. The combination of sweat and a fairway grip actually changes the racquet it is on to a head prestige mid (and sometimes a ps85)with perfect lead placement and forces the user to have a one handed backhand that is pure poetry in motion. When I installed my first fairway grip I was instantly awarded 1000 ATP points.
Click to expand...
I don't call that sarcasm; I call it poetry. :)

(Thanks. Gave me a good chuckle.)
 
E

ervinxhufka

New User
It depends a lot on what you are looking for.
Volkl calfskin brown leather is the heaviest at about 30 grams. Fairway, is 2nd closest. So, if you want to make your racquet a little more head light, these 2 are the best choice.
If you are looking for comfort, Head Pro and Pro Suppex feel the best.
TW and Prince are good middle ground.
Wilson and Babolat are the worst in my opinion. Even with overgrip, it hurts my hands and less feel.
I have tried all of the above, and those are all suggestions based on me.
 
S

stoble

Semi-Pro
Out of the ones I've tried I like Prince Leather the best. These are the ones I tried:

Babolat - soft, but felt too thin
Gamma - too thick and hard
Wilson - good thickness. Color is bad and bleeds. Too hard.
TW - good all around
Prince -medium thickness, soft feel, nice dark brown
 
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