What is My Grip Size for a Tennis Racquet?

The popular method for finding your tennis racquet grip size is to follow these simple instruction.

1. On your playing hand, your palm has three main creases. Hold your hand flat, with the fingers alongside one another.
2. Measure from the middle crease of your palm, up the line between your middle and ring fingers, to a point equal to the height of the tip of your ring finger. Typically women will measure between 4 1/8" and 4 3/8", men between 4 1/2" and 4 3/4".

Juniors will usually measure less than 4". Most Junior Frames are only offered in this size.

If you are between sizes, go with the smaller grip. A slightly small grip can be built up easily with an overwrap. Too large a grip can not be properly adjusted without altering the frames properties. Overgrips can't build a grip effectively more than 1/8" though, because each layer of overwrap adds to the rounding off of the bevel edges on your handle.

Wilson has a printable grip-sizer that you can pull-up or print out that will also help

www.wilsonsports.com/media/wilson/pdf/gripsize_9861.pdf

String for Power

The most powerful strings on the market are natural gut strings. (See: Babolat VS Gut 17g or Wilson Natural Gut 16g). However, natural gut can be very expensive. Therefore, many of the manufacturers have introduced multifilament strings.

These are synthetic gut based strings but they have gut-like playability, quite a bit of power and they hold tension very well. Also, they are very easy on your arm and shoulder.

The only down fall is that some of these strings do not offer much durability.

String for Control and Durability

Strings that offer maximum control also tend to offer maximum durability.

These strings are generally polyester based strings that are geared toward players that play quite a bit and need a more durable, control oriented string.

These strings can tend to be hard on your arm and require you to hit the ball at a high velocity in order to get to the ball in the court.

Many of the top ATP players play with control oriented strings. (Head Sonic Pro 17g, Luxilon ALU Power, Tecnifibre Red Code 17g, Tecnifibre Black Code 17g or Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour 16g)

String for Tennis Elbow

Many tennis players tend to experience tennis elbow sometime during their playing career.

This is why there are strings available specifically for this problem. These strings tend to be soft and offer plenty of comfort when hitting the ball.

A soft feeling string will cushion the impact of the ball by absorbing more shock and vibration.

Natural gut is the best possible choice. Some synthetics work much better than others. One of the more popular strings is the Head Protector 16g.

Good Choices for Mains & Crosses

Many players tend to put a durable Polyester string (Head Sonic Pro 17g, Luxilon ALU Power, Tecnifibre Red Code 17g, Tecnifibre Black Code 17g or Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour 16g) in the mains and a playable synthetic string (Head, synthetic gut PPS, Wilson Stamina, Prince synthetic gut or Babolat Conquest) in the crosses.

This allows a player great durability without giving up a lot of playability and it also helps prevent arm problems.

Customizing your Racquet

Lead Tape - how and where to apply it?

Lead tape will increase the weight of the racquet, which in turn will give it more power. Depending on where you place it, lead tape can expand the size of the sweet spot by making the head more resistant to vibration and twisting on off-center hits.

6 o' clock

Sticking tape in this position will make the racquet more stable, a bit less maneuverable, and a smidgen more powerful. And the sweet spot will be pulled down, a plus for players who tend to make contact near the throat

10 o'clock and 2 o'clock

Weight placed at these two positions will increase the frame's power, significantly reduce maneuverability, add some stability to the racquet on off-center hits, and stretch the sweet spot toward the upper edges.

Handle

Lead tape that's placed on the handle, under the grip, will increase the racquet's weight with little effect on swing weight. This configuration best suits serve-and-volleyers who want a heavier racquet without sacrificing maneuverability.

3 o'clock and 9 o'clock

This configuration is twice as nice: It expands the sweet spot toward the sides of the frame, adding stability on off-center hits, and makes the racquet considerably more powerful.

12 o'clock

Applying lead tape here will give you the greatest power boost and expand the sweet spot toward the tip of the racquet. The potential downside? The racquet might feel unwieldy, especially at the net.