Grip is a tennis racket part held by a tennis player. The size of the grip defines its circumference. At the beginning of tennis adventure, we often have problems with choosing the proper size of the grip. Bellow we will present you a solution to this problem.
|
american markings [inch / ≈ cm] |
european markings |
| 4 / ≈ 10 | 0 |
| 4 1/8 / ≈ 10,4 | 1 |
| 4 1/4 / ≈ 10,8 | 2 |
| 4 3/8 / ≈ 11 | 3 |
| 4 1/2 / ≈ 11,4 | 4 |
| 4 5/8 / ≈ 11,8 | 5 |
You won’t find grip size markings in centimetres. To make it easier, we converted inches to centimetres, to help you choose the right size. It will be useful for you when you are unable to try the racket in the shop, e.g. when you want to buy a racket in the online store.
Information about the size of the grip is usually located on its bottom. Size of the grip is very important, however in contrast to the head size, not because different sizes give different effects during the game. Grip circumference must be precisely matching players hand size, only then the player may be sure that his grip will be firm, the racket will be stable in their hand, and the wrist won’t be overstrained.
The first method may be done without the racket, using only a ruler.
1. Straighten your hand and measure the distance from its centre to the end of the ring finger.
2. The result should be compared with the size chart, which we presented above which grip size should I choose.
The second method in which we may check if a certain grip is good for us will work only if we have a choice of few rackets with different grip sizes. If you don’t have one, you can always use a racket of your friend and see if his grip is good for you.
1. Grab the racket as on the picture above.
2. If the index finger of the other hand fits between the thenar eminence of the thumb and the fingertips, it means that the grip has proper size.
3. If there is too much space between the thenar eminence of the thumb and the tips of your fingers and your index finger cant fill this space, it means that the grip is too large and you should choose the grip with smaller circumference.
4. If you can’t fit your index finger it means that the grip is too small, and you should choose a racket with a bigger circumference.
