This morning at the local badminton club I saw a LN90II die a particularly ugly death. There was no clash of racquets and there was no failure of the frame or shaft. What happend was the racquet handle itself snapped in half. I was quite surprised to see it happen and I felt bad about laughing loudly at my partner's misfourtune but, I honestly didn't know this kind of thing was possible. I told him he might want to go home and check his house for termites.
it's only the wood that broken right? if yes, you can repair it just buy the wood again http://www.mybadmintonstore.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=909
I'm pretty sure you are right. I told him to take the racquet to the local badminton shop to see about getting it fixed. He seemed doubtfull that it could be salvaged until I offered to give him 100 NTD for it (about $3 US).
haha.. there are many cases like this the wood handle broken however usually this only happens to cheap brand like apacs.. EDIT: not my racket found it from: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...acket-phots)?p=1442374&viewfull=1#post1442374 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...acket-phots)?p=1482364&viewfull=1#post1482364
opps, sorry, those are not my racket, I found it from another BC thread another example: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...-racket-phots)?p=834294&viewfull=1#post834294 another picture from the famous racket crusher aka panda: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...-racket-phots)?p=834505&viewfull=1#post834505
That acpacs break (second picture blue background) looks almost exactly like the break in my partner's racquet. Hmm who knows maybe as we speak my partner is finding out he has been playing with a counterfit.
Will a thin overgrip on the wood alone without a normal replacement grip underneath increase the risk of such a breakage? I plan to apply overgrip directly to the wood so as to achieve a head heavier configuration... Many replacement grips I find are heavy. And will it feel uncomfortable as well since overgrip is very thin? Users who grip like this can give your two cents...
Overgrips absorb sweat too. This is a fact. For instance Yonex states the rating for sweat absorption for the AC102[EX] overgrip as 4 [out of 5], which is a pretty high chart rating. Compared to Yonex's AC402 towel grip which has a rating of 5 [out of 5], it would mean that the AC102 OVERGRIP is 80% as effective as absorbing sweat and water as a towel grip, which a lot of people have been saying as absorbing too much sweat and getting too wet for their liking. There is a reason that in every photo posted above you can see that the handle-broken racquets are gripped with a PU grip rather than a towel grip. So to answer your question, YES, a thin overgrip on the wood alone will not be enough to decrease the risk of such breakage. The cheapest and one of the most effective way to "water-proof" the wooden handle is to just tape one to a few layers of transparent tape on the wooden handle then apply any grip of your liking on the handle. Athlete tape is made out of fabric, which also absorbs water and sweat unlike transparent tape. As to whether you will feel uncomfortable with a thin overgrip directly onto the wooden handle, that is only something that you can answer yourself. Some may feel comfortable with it while others may feel that it is too hard without much shock absorption for their liking. Similarly to comparing if some people like the sweat absorption of towel grips to others who like their grips tacky and a false sense of the PU grip being able to not absorb sweat at all.