Wooden handles are almost, always wrapped with a grip. The grip comes in various thickness and surface contours. The grip makes it more comfortable and easier to hit a shot, giving some tactile feel. The grip also affects the final thickness (size), weight, and b/p of the racquet. However, some may have experienced an improvement in shot making or power with certain grips. This improvement could come from the grip itself- more about this later-its effect on the overall weight and b/p of the racquet. Many of you who are more advanced know that, to get power you must hold the handle loosely before impact gripping the handle when you hit the shot. This is technically called "leverage", and leverage at the hand/handle interface is greatly leveraged. To "enlarge" this "leverage" even more, you can actually look no further than the handle/grip. All you need is to get a foam-like material, say like a firm, external foam tape weather strip that is about 3mm thick, of a very high quality that can be compressed as you grip the handle when you smash or hit a shot, and then spring back to its original state. This 3mm "compression" is the source of that extra "leverage". You need to look at the racquet as a whole project to do this, not just as an add on foam tape strip. Its weight plus another grip should roughly be the same as the original state. The hard, foam tape strip must be able to withstand a service life of at least a year without any loss in elasticity. This will however make your grip bigger than original. A size G5 size with a flatter bevel is most suitable as the finished product can end up as a G4 or G3.
Quite logical. Got any pictures of the foam-like material you're talking about ? Or can it be any foam-like material such as those used for packaging of electronic goods?; eg:
Alright so.. I was so bored that I went to try it straight away onto my AT700. First layer.. What the?! second layer.. Thickening the butt cap.. I wrapped the final layer with used supergrap ( white ). I think this is a brilliant idea. Since this foam meterial is light, it doesn't affect the balance point much. So the balance point of the racquet still stays at 31.5cm, while the grip is thicker ( ~G3 ) and provides so much more cushioning.. It's almost like wrapping two layers of Karakal PU Supergrip onto a G6 handle, and then applying another layer of Supergrap over it.. Here's one problem I've encountered already. I keep squishing the grip that the white grip is turning black already . Gotta test it soon.. hehe.
wierd i tried tthat when i was really young and innovative the thicker handle at the time meant that i could no longer hold the racket in my small hands
None of the material shown here is suitable-they will not give the right type and rate of compression. The nearest type is a 3M external foam tape weather strip (not the internal type) which is used to stop water and draft getting through storm windows. Being made for the external elements they are well made and can last a long time. But the 3M type is just too thick at 6mm to 7mm. The Japanese make very high quality ones of 3mm thickness, also for doors and windows to prevent the elements from entering your home. They also make a 2mm thick foam/fiber strip but its elasticity deteriorates after a week or two.
There's the rub. For the noobs, taneepak comes up with great ideas, but in order to implement, the materials are on top of the himalayas only to be harvested in the light of two moons, and carried down by two-tailed llamas which only taneepak is privy to. -dave
I kinda agree. First, the equipment can only give a very limited boost when compare to technique and hardwork. If xxx or yyy method can make a newbie to be a pro, guess we all are already. Second, a theory which worked in a lab, might not work in real life. With a bulky grip, you might get better power now, but what about controlling, what about switching grips in a very fast paced game? If you have the $$ and time, do it as a fun experiement, but I doubt the overall performance (power + control + switch, etc) can be a real boost. It's like the experiement of a $100,000 TV. In theory, yes you get better quality. However, the crazy price and availability just totally offset the small improve in performance.
just look at lin dan's racket handle, it is close to bare wood. taufik's rackets were similar like that too when he was using towel grip. foam? what foam?
Actually you can get a similar type, albeit not as good as the DIY one, with some Yonex 3mm thick replacement grips. The same with some Kimony and Pacific grips but they are slightly thinner than 3mm. You need at least 3mm plus an outer layer (overgrip) to absorb perspiration. Look, forget about playing with just a handle with bare wood showing. It will not play well at all and will not give you any leverage from compression in the most important spot, simply because there is no material (grip) to compress. Just because it does not have a Yonex on it, it does not mean a DIY grip cannot be much better than commercial grips. As a matter of fact I have stripped away some expensive Yonex and othet grips for the experiment and it works.
i doubt making the grip thicker will give everyone more power, its probably one of those things for individuals to find out whether it suits them. Originally i had an overgrip over a fairly thick grip however i found the shock absorbed by the grip seems to lower my power and control on shots. Then i just used a base grip again and it felt slightly better, and the last time i changed my grip i took off the base grip, added some electrical tape on the wooden handle, and then just wrapped an overgrip on top of that. While its not very comfortable because theres no cushioning i find this last set up to give me the most power and control. I found that when i tightened the grip on impact the cushioning caused the racquet to pivot ever so slightly and that decreased the accuracy of control shots. As cooler mentioned, many pro's use very thin grips, however its hard to say why they do it, however its safe to assume its either for more power or control.
Another Cons. for what I tried.. I can *hear* so much vicbration through the shaft when I just tap the shuttle.. could this be a threat to my racquet ? Maybe I should try this on my umbrella instead.. haha. Anyway.. I tried it because I was really bored..
Yes, you can get 1mm, 2mm, 3mm and up to 6mm. I play around with many different types of foam tape, cork, and other fiber. I use cork to enlarge the butt cap because cork can last a very long time and it is also very light. I use my own heavy-duty foam tape because I can choose the best tape for the "compression" property and then use a replaceble grip that just absorbes perspiration. This two-part approach is better and also easier to qc re weight and b/p. However, you can also use a commercial replacement grip like Yonex, Pacific or Kimony, but at high cost and not nearly as good. Choose a replacement grip, which means everything on the handle must come off, which is 3mm thick or one that is 2.5mm thick. But bear in mind the commercial grips that are 3mm thick have no more than 2mm of "compression" because the top harder layer has very little compression.
yonex should pay u for your advertisement I know a dotcom company paid someone several ten of thousands of $ to have their company name inked on his forehead for several months.
Looks like a good idea. i'll try this. the foam is very light right? does it weigh less than the original yonex grip? Thanks.
so, the idea is to make the grip soft? so you swing it more loosely? from my point of view, such a soft grip will get 75% of the user to squeeze it like hell... Now, a G3 grip with just an overgrip on it...you don't see to many people squeezing it How about towelgrip? or towelgrip as a replacementgrip, and an overgrip on top?