MEN TOWEL GRIP Lin Dan Taufik Hidayat Peter Gade Chen Long Jan Jorgensen Viktor Axelsen Chou Tein Chen Lee Hyun Il Son Wan Ho Tommy Sugiarto Angus Ng Ka Long Marc Zwiebler Wei Nan Haseena Sunil Prannoy MEN SYNTHETIC GRIP Lee Chong Wei Kidambi Srikanth Tian Houwei Shi Yuqi Hu Yun WOMEN TOWEL GRIP None WOMEN SYNTHETIC GRIP Ratchanok Intanon Tai Tzu Ying Wang Yihan Li Xuerui Pusarla Venkata Sindhu Saina Nehwal Carolina Marin Sung Ji Hyun Nozomi Okuhara Akane Yamaguchi Sun Yu He Bingjiao
She might very well be the only one or one among a handful of professional women players that use towel grips.
I wonder why that is. Does it have to do with how hard the men swing compared to the women and they feel the towel gives better grip?
I feel that towel grips provide more feel and control over the shot. This might be due to the fact that you get to grip the racket a lot surer with a towel grip. Updated the list to reflect more players.
Pretty simple, you can also read studies in terms of these statements: Men starts to sweat faster and more intense compared to women. Men who are well trained also starts to sweat faster compared to average/untrained men. Also at same strain men starts to sweat faster and more compared to women. Women need more strain and a higher body temperature until their body starts to sweat for cooling effect. I think that these is the most important factor why you barely see a woman with towel grips.
In addition to getting a better feel and control of the racket, towel grips also allow players to change the grip faster while playing a rally. For example, from a forehand grip to a backhand grip. But there are men players who prefer synthetic grips over towel grips. Check list above.
How long exactly one towel grip last? I always think towel grip was rather expensive since you need to replace it alot.
With care, around two months or so. If you wear a wrist band then sweat will not trickle down your hand onto the grip. This will extend the life of the towel grip. Always try to air dry the grip if it is too wet. Under the fan is a good idea. Do not dry in sunlight.
After two months, my towel grip will be disgusting, hard, and compressed. For me, typically once every one or two weeks; and I don't even play much these days. It's going to vary a lot, depending on the intensity of play, how sweaty your hands are, the climate, etc. And of course, whether you are fussy about your grips or prefer to save money.
Yes, it depends a lot on the amount of sweat that one produces. Also helps to have more than one racket. You can change the racket when the grip of the one you are using begins to get wet with sweat.
i have an opposite opinion, been using synthetic grips a long time, they give me better control. then moved to asia for some time, with hot humid conditions sweating a lot, used towel grip for some time. it was ok, got used to it. but when moved back, switched back to synthetic.
I share my observation while I sat beside some danish pros. They change the grips frequent and often, because the train often and play more intense than others regardless if towel or synthetic. If somebody give you a answer, you won't know the circumstance and personal requirements. I play the same hours nearly every week and get thru a grip different and change based on feeling.
I wish to god I knew which grips Kim Gi Jung and Shin Baek Cheol use... I get hold of their rackets and just think "...yep".
I'll add something to my earlier statement. I wear a cotton, compression sleeve type thing on my elbow and I suspect that it absorbs a lot of my sweat because my synthetic grip never really gets slippery from sweat. Now that said, I recently tried putting that underwrap stuff under my synthetic grip and I think it makes a difference in terms of holding the racket tighter as well. Because my handle now has a bit of a squishy feeling to it (very subtle, but you can feel the difference when I hold my other racket with a normal grip) I think my fingers sink into it a bit more and it gives me a firmer grip. Normally I change my synthetic grip once a week (about 2-3 sessions). I've changed it after a single session before and I've changed it after 4, but by then it's feeling worn and slippery. I'm at at least 4 or 5 sessions, maybe even 6 now and it still feels nice an grippy. Obviously I need to experiment with this more and ask others, but I think the cushion may improve grip. I say this because I tried a good quality towel grip with grip powder and I found I couldn't hold it well. If having a bit of cushion underneath a grip can help you sink your fingers in and get a tighter hold, it might be helpful for either towel or synthetic grip users.
I did try the towel grip a few years back (got it free from sunriseclick) and I remember the racket almost flew out of my hand a few times due to lack of grip. I just want to know how others can use the towel grip so well without the racket flying.
My guess is YY. The colour of the grip from KGJ racket was close to my eyes this magenta one. Don't know if he run magenta also at AE. Can't tell if other brands have the colour also in their range, so take this with a pinch of salt. Just have seen some pro's which are not YY sponsored buying grips at YGO.
When the towel grip is brand new there is a slippery feeling to it. You can remedy this by very lightly wetting your hand with water. This will improve grip. Once the towel grip has been used for a few games, it will begin to feel just right.
