Are you in the process of buying a new tennis racquet? If so, it’s critical that you buy one that has the correct grip size for your hands.
Measuring a tennis racquet’s grip is often overlooked when looking for a new racquet and getting it wrong can be painful for your hands, aggravating common conditions such as tennis elbow.
The good news is that these painful repercussions can be avoided with a little due diligence.
How Grip Sizes Are Measured
The grip size is basically the diameter or thickness of the racquet handle and can range between 4 and 4 3/4 inches. This is the circumference, or otherwise known as the distance around the edge of the racquet’s handle.
Different countries classify their tennis grips in different ways. We have provided a simple chart below so you can explore the various grip sizes in different parts of the world.
| US Sizes | European Sizes | Sizes in mm |
| 4 inches | 0 | 100-103 mm |
| 4 1/8 inches | 1 | 103-106 mm |
| 4 1/4 inches | 2 | 106-110 mm |
| 4 3/8 inches | 3 | 110-113 mm |
| 4 1/2 inches | 4 | 113-118 mm |
| 4 5/8 inches | 5 | 118-120 mm |
| 4 3/4 inches | 6 | 120-123 mm |
Why is Grip Size Important?
The grip size of your tennis racquet influences more than just how comfortable it is to use your racquet, a grip that is perfect for your hands can make you a better player by improving your shots and alos prevent injuries.
A grip size that is either too big or too small for your hands will lead to different complications later down the road.
- Too small: your wrist and arm will need to expend more energy squeezing the handle to keep the racquet secure. Although it may not be an obvious problem at first, over time you’ll notice that the racquet will slip from your hands.
- Too large: can put undue stress on your hands and wrist. This problem is particularly pronounced when serving or hitting an overhead shot, as it restricts your arm’s free range of movement.
In simple terms, you’ll know that you’ve found the sweet spot or made a mistake in terms of grip size when the racquet feels comfortable when hitting the ball over extended periods but it is better to make sure you correctly measure up beforehand.
Measuring the Perfect Grip Size
- Grab a ruler or measuring tape.
- look at the two pronounced lines (wrinkles) that run across the upper part of the palm of your hand. And select the one closest to your wrist.
- Hold your hand flat and measure from this line in a straight line up to the top of your ring finger
- The length should be in the ranges between 4 inches and 3/4 inches. This is your grip size.
