My badminton handle is too big for my hand! I can I sand it down?

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by JustinG, May 14, 2011.

  1. JustinG

    JustinG Regular Member

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    Hey, so, basically, I bought 4 racquets, all the same, except one has a larger size handle (grip). I need to make it smaller for my "small" hands...lol.

    I was thinking to buy a piece of sand paper and sand it down to my liking...
    What do you guys think?

    Cheers.
     
  2. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    I've done exactly that to many, many rackets. I use a detail sander (the ones with the triangular heads), but a table thickness jointer/planer would be the best possible tool.

    I took my handles down from G5 to G5.5 - the resulting handle is 2 3/4 inches around the bare wood.
     
  3. JustinG

    JustinG Regular Member

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    That's good to hear. Guess I will stop by a hardware store and get a piece of sand paper and start sanding!
     
  4. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    Make sure you take the same amount of material off each octagonal face or the handle will end up unsymmetrical. (And if you're doing it by hand I'd find something good on telly - you'll be at it for a while:); see if you can get hold of a smoothing plane instead.)
     
  5. gjoo888

    gjoo888 Regular Member

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    If you don't have an electric sander, use a sanding block to get a flatter surface. You're likely to "round" the edges if you use sandpaper without a block.
     
  6. Matt

    Matt Regular Member

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    Not sure, if I would recommended it. The reason being is that it would change how the racket would feel overall compared to getting the correct grip size in the first place.

    The other is, the wood needs to be a certain thickness and each of them is adjusted per the grip size. There is also a hole drilled at the bottom and it varies in depth depending on the racket have the racket spec in the proper weight range.

    I would simply recommend getting the proper grip size.
     
    #6 Matt, May 15, 2011
    Last edited: May 15, 2011
  7. JustinG

    JustinG Regular Member

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    Hmm...Well, it is my "last resort" racquet, incase all my strings break; which is highly unlikely, because I have 4 racquets, however, it is possible if I smash alot. Maybe I should just adapt
     
  8. Mark A

    Mark A Regular Member

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    Sanding the handle will reduce the weight and move the balance upwards - as much as 5 mm in my case. I countered this by putting a bit of lead into the butt cap before putting it back on.

    Of course, it's always best to get the correct grip size to start with, but for those of us whose requirements fall below the YY G5, there's no other option:).
     

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