as mentioned above. i'm always puzzled as to why the base grip is always made of wood, instead of other materials... why can't it be made of lightweight plastic (though there's a wide variety of plastics, so i can't pinpoint which one will have the closest effect to the purpose of wood). and one more question: when a racquet claims to be head-heavy, does it mean that the heaviness takes place starting from the head only? or does it include part of the shaft or that it varies from model to model? Thanks!
Wood absorbs shock/vibration far better than plastic. Now the question is why don't the manufacturers use some hybrid/composite material that absorbs shock/vibration better than wood? They probably could but the answer is cost; a whole lot more. Wood is the least expensive best way, so why reinvent the wheel? Wood handles probably cost pennies and composite ones, dollars.
The head heaviness for the head is created as part of the whole racket package not just the 'head' itself; meaning head heaviness is related to all the racket components(grip, shaft plus the 'head').
Do you use a towel grip and remove the original overgrip? That's the only way I can think of the wood splintering. If so, to prevent this, use clear packaging tape and tape the wood handle once around or so and TA-DA! No more splintering; plus the packaging tape adheres to other tapes way better than wood.
True, you can do this but each time you replace the grip, you have to replace the cling wrap, yes? With clear packaging tape, it's good for life; or at least a long time.
I bet I know what you're thinking right now... ...you want to play Badminton instead of posting. I kid, I kid, I do not have ESP. Oh wait, I do, I have ESP in my car. But that's an altogether different ESP.
No. But I wouldn't worry -- cling wrap is perfectly adequate, even if it does involve a small amount of additional effort.
