After removing the original grip of my racquets and residual adhesive from the wood, I always applied a thin coat of spray lacquer on the wood base before applying a towel grip. I sweat a lot change towel grips after about 8 playing days. Without the lacquer, I would have to change the masking tape "undergrip" together with almost every change of the towel grip. I'd also spend time removing residual adhesive and deal with wood splinters pulled out at every grip change. Not sure about fungal growth and cracking of the wood over time, but I've been lacquering the wood base of my racquets for close to 5 years now. I don't think the lacquer application has affected any of my racquets. By the way, I am from the Philippines, with weather similar to Singapore. The racquets are from Yonex (various models), a Victor, a Karakal and a RSL.
Thanks bro .... It's an image i took of the 'Daibutsu' (Big Buddha) in Kamakura, Japan. My mini tribute to the people of Japan.
Wow, i've never heard of waterproofing handle before. My guess is that if the grip is holey enough for sweat to significantly get through, it'll be holey enough for it to dry off during the night anyways, u know?
This method works REALLY WELL: I wrap my wooden handle with a rubber grip, making it waterproof. So everyone, go buy a grip and wrap the handle. It works GREAT!
How expensive is it to get a new wooden handle? compared to the risks of fungal growth or the added effort of applying coatings or other materials to the wood prior to gripping.
Price-wise , it's relatively cheap to get a generic replacement wooden handle. http://www.mybadmintonstore.com/shop/index.php?cPath=25_29_144 But there will be other major issues like : - How to correctly attach the new replacement handle? - Will the structural integrity of the racket be compromised after replacement? - Will the racket ever 'feel the same' after such major 'surgery'.
I have a similar concern. I personally prefer the feel of a single replacement grip over the wooden handle. However, I tend to use an overgrip over the existing grip as I don't like exposing the wooden handle. I feel that the wooden handle can become damaged over time if you regularly change your grip as the adhesive backing tends to lift-up small wooden splinters, thus weakening the handle. Is there a way I can get around this, for example, an underwrap?
