Tennis : Replacement grip vs Over grip

I am an avid tennis player from a relatively young age , and when it comes to tennis information and tennis knowledge , proficiency is the first thing that comes into my mind.

However there are certain things or details that everybody forgets or doesnt elaborate when it comes to any subject in general. The kind of details that dont seriously hurt your knowledge level or performance if you like , but they nonetheless decrease in some sort of way or hinder many of the commodities that you have associated with those subjects

Now when it comes to tennis , I personally only recently elaborated the difference between a replacement grip and an overgrip as earlier in my life I hadent given it much thought and importance and there havent been any huge pitfalls whatsoever but there have been a few things that I would have done differently when it comes to overgrips and replacement grip selection.

I am the type of tennis player that doesnt mind this type of seemingly nonsense subjects when it comes to playing the game , as the only thing I care doing is grabbing my tennis racquet and just getting out there and play to exhaustion . I think many people have this type of mind boggling , passionate relationship with tennis and as im not saying its wrong to love the sport . I believe that when it comes to performance and to throughly enjoy the sport as much as possible and for as long as possible , you should really pay some attention to those details which at least will save you some “not so serious” money but could also prevent injuries and other benefits they might individually hold.

I mean you just cant get out there on the tennis courts and play with your flip-flops , especially in the USA , where hard courts are the only type of courts to be seen anywhere in the horizont. Its appealing , yeah but not advisable, except if you are some kind of a clown and want to joke around for a couple of hours with your friends.

Now lets get down to business. One of those so many details that many tennis players(mostly recreational players) in general dont take in consideration is the replacement grip / overgrip discussion .

As of course they are not the same thing !

I will be comparing the replacement grip with the overgrip and explaining the reasons behind why players put and overgrip above the replacement grip:

When you buy a tennis racquet for the first time , it has a replacement grip on its “handle” . What I would suggest is before you start playing with the racquet to go buy some overgrips for the racquet and put them above the replacement grip which is already on the handle . Why ??

Well for a few reasons . The replacement grip (which comes with the new racquet ) is about 2 times thicker than the over grip and the cushioning as a result is better then the overgripes . However that makes the replacement grip more expensive than the Overgrip as it costs more to be produced as well .

So thats the first reason why that you should put an overgrip on top of the replacement grip , because it costs less than the replacement grip and as they will both wear out you dont want to spent 6,7,8$ for a replacement grip instead of about 2 $ for the overgrip every time they wear out .No you want to spend as few money as possible when it comes to the things that you know ,youll have to continuously buy.

The second reason: Well why than dont we just put the overgrip directly on the handle and cut the middle man out (replacement) since it so happens that the overgrip is considerably cheaper thatn the replacement grip ?? Well that precisely is the second reason : we have to go back to some of the above lines that I was talking about (cushioning) . Now I said that the replacement grip is better cushioned and as you cant get smth for nothing , fair enough its also more expensive than its pear but nonetheless the cushioning is fundamental to the arm , and as an injury preventing measure ! What would inevitably happen if we were to put the overgrip directly on the handle with out a replacement grip underneath it , is an arm injury after an indefinite amount of time spent with the racquet smacking balls down the other side of the court .

The main “theory” here is : Put an overgrip in top of the replacement grip that comes with the racquet . If the racquet doesnt come with a replacement grip , than go buy a replacement grip first than put the overgrip in top of it. You will save yourself some money and above all else some big strain to your arm and even injurys if it is that you play tennis as much as I do . Good luck !