Thinning grips

Well, tonight I just took off my surface layer (Karakal Kushy grip) which is insanely thick and I had two base layers (Yonex Super Wrap). I only put one Yonex Super Wrap as the base grip with Black Knight Super Grip (Rather thin) and I only went over like 1/10 of the grip since this has self adhesive under so I don't have to really worry about it sliding all over. I wanted to experiment between different sizes.

I also read thin grips give more control.

After removing these grips, it made my racquet more head heavy.

 

I normally use the stock grip plus a overgrip. But just recently i removed the stock grip with a pointfore pu replacement grip, i have yet to test it out but so far it feels good. The grip is much thinner and The raquet has a good solid feel to it.

 

When you wrap your grip, do you go 1/2 or like 1/10 over the other layers? I'm curious since I only go 1/10 if it is replacement.

 

Thin is better

I usually buy G4.5 or G4 handled rackets, but if I have to buy a G3 because I can't find any smaller sizes, I do always thin the handle down. It's easy to do and doesn't weaken the handle if done carefully. Funnily enough, my wife used to be a sculptress so she knows lots more than me about carving wood, she's always telling me I'm not sanding it correctly!

But thinner handles do give more control and power. With a thicker grip you hold the racket more tightly, which reduces feel and worse, tenses up your wrist. A loose wrist is one of the most important parts of a power shot.

I got a racket from an international team player at the All England Championships once and it had a thick towel grip on it. But underneath, it was a G5 that had been planed down even more. So as far as handles go, thin is better.

 

i've always been wondering, how much do you guys actually shave down? like is it just a few millimeters? ..my guess is that it couldn't be more than that because it'd make the handle too weak

 

I remember reading somewhere (not BF) about changing grips that sanding off the surface of the grip is part of 'cleaning' to help the new grip stick. If a person changes grips often, won't it get really really thin after a while?

As for weakening the handle, I don't think it would, because the sanding to reduce the diameter is the same as cutting off a piece of wood directly into a smaller sized, one, no? The only problem here is whether it is done correctly as the shape could change.

p/s - I'm predicting that one of these days Yonex may come out with an 'ergonomic' shaped grip.

 

that would be interesting, however i don't see a grip "design" that would improve a person's ability to play as today's grip already suit many perfectly.

 

reply

Thinning the grip doesn't weaken the racket because the wooden part is usually just to hold the shaft which continues deep into the handle (usually right to the butt of the handle).

The handle has a thin hold bored through it, and the shaft runs into this. So the wood is just a covering and doesn't have anything to do with the strength of the graphite shaft of the racket.

In any case, you only need to sand down a small fraction to feel a big difference in grip size when you hold it, which is why I'd always recommend doing it slowly. The first few rackets I did, I always ended up making them too small because before you know it, it's gone from a G3 to a thin G5.

The wood used on the handles (certainly on Yonex and Carlton rackets) is also a very light and soft wood, so it's easy to sand down.

 

Hey David14700,

Could you tell us the proper approach of sanding down the wooden handle. That'll be very helpful for those of us who aren't skilled in woodworks but would like to thin down the handle anyway. Doing it wrong could cause irreversible damage to the racquet and might even hurt ourselves in the process. What did your wife point out about your initial sanding attempts?

 

grip sizes

why is it that a thinner grip will give you more control? i've always used a thicker grip and i find its much easier to hold, and therefore my hand isnt as tense.

 

For me, a thinner grip allows more movement on the handle since I use different grip techniques for different situations in a game. I wasn't trained formally, but I picked up bits and pieces from books, clinics, friends and websites such as BC/BF. With sufficient experience, relaxation and wrist strength, there are ways of holding a racquet that maximise effective shot options in any given situation. Sticking to basic V-shape hold has its limitations, but it is effective enough for beginners to start with.

A thicker grip is more stable for beginners and/or players with big hands, but it's tougher to switch grip in the heat of the moment. Also, I find that I tend to tense up more easily with thicker grips.

Of course, it's really up to the player to find out which one suits him/her best... and believe me, you won't know what suits you until you have been playing for awhile.

 

Sanding handles

Here are some of the basics my wife told me:

First, you need at least two, preferably three grades of sand paper, coarse, medium and fine, and use them in that order. Then you need a sanding block, anything hard and rectangular will do, as long as it's about the size of a large match box (1x3x5 inches) or whatever is roughly comfortable to hold in your hand.

If you just sand away at the handle with your fingers on the sand paper, you can get uneven sanding with some parts of the handle becoming thinner than the rest. You need a flat sanding block to evenly distribute the force from your arm to the sand paper.

Also, you have to very careful about your sanding stroke. I didn't know this until I was told, but if you're right-handed like me, when you sand up and down, you always put more pressure at the bottom of the stroke than the top, so after a few minutes you get more wood being sanded away at the bottom of the handle - not good! You need to concentrate on keeping the sanding stroke even and slow, and don't jerk the block when you change direction.

With the coarse sand paper, it really does plane down the handle fast (because the wood is quite soft) so you have to keep checking it as you do it, or use the medium paper.

Also, remember that you are sanding eight long, flat surfaces in all, you should do a little on each side to keep the balance even.

When you've got down to the right size, you need to wipe off all the wood dust (don't use a wet cloth) otherwise your grip will not stick to the wood properly.

 

Hey David14700,

That was quite informative! Thank you! Beside using thinner grips, shaving down the handle is another way of altering the weight bias of the racquet for those who want to their racquets to be alittle more head heavy. However, I suspect that the change would be very small without compromising the strength of the handle. Has anyone ever shave their racquet handles until it broke on them? What were the characteristics of the racquet before and after alteration?

 

heh.......i'm not saying your wrong, but when you smash, do you hold on the handle tighter?

 

i have big hands, and use a small grip, as long as you hold the handle tight at the moment of contact it wont fly out of your hands. Personally i agree with cappy, as my coach always taught (and its true for me, just my preference though) that as you get better your grip will get thinner, because you use your fingers so much,

 

Yes... and you'll automatically tense up at the right moment (ie. at the moment of impact with the birdie). Beginners and some intermediates will more than likely to tense up almost throughout the game, thus the need for a reliable and stable grip that could handle most of the shots albeit ineffectively. I find that when I use my fingers more, I don't have to work too hard for the shots.

Also, whenever I faced superior oppositions, I tensed up a little but never on my grip cuz using the fingers allows me to relax easier than just plain gripping it with all parts of my palm.

please check out the thread "finger power revisited"... that will definitely improve your smash and other overhand shots.

 

.... i broke my ti-10 because i grip too thin...


well.... it was during a smash..... i was using a lot of force and all of sudden, i lose hold of my racquet and the racquet flew towards the net............

.. my advice is... don't grip too thin nor too thick.....

 

Holy cow!!

Just realized I wasn't the only one doing it

At first I didnt like my mp-55 and found that the grip was too big. My friend kept telling me that if I make the grip smaller it will unbalance my racquet and it will only be good for garbage.

Au contraire!!

I did it on my Mp-55 and I really love it. By polishing the wood the head of the racquet become very heavy, not only it gave me extra power but gave me very good control.

I took off the old grip ( Mp-55 grip always slips and doesnt give good feeling) and I put a smaller and sticker grip.

I might be wrong but I found my mp-55 2U is as head heavy as my friend ti-10 but with a better control after polishign the wood. That just might be a question of taste^^

Cheap, powerful and solid. MP-55

Love it!!!