Grip thickness vs grip size: the arithmetic nobody publishes
Grip thickness vs grip size: the arithmetic nobody publishes
Short answer: an overgrip does not just change how the handle feels — it changes how big it is. One standard 0.5 mm overgrip adds about 3.1 mm of circumference, and one grip-size step is 3.17 mm. Wrap one layer and you have moved up almost exactly one full size, whether you meant to or not.
Grip-size threads usually end with “it’s personal preference”. True, but it hides a piece of arithmetic worth knowing, because it explains three things players keep running into and never quite name.
Why it matters
- A racket that felt right in the shop can feel wrong after you re-grip it. Nothing changed about the frame.
- Players with smaller hands who add a thick overgrip “for comfort” often lose wrist snap — the handle is now a size or two larger than the one they were fitted for, so the hand cannot close around it the same way.
- “Just wrap another one” is bad advice for anyone already at the top of their size range. Past that point it is not a comfort tweak, it is a fit change.
The arithmetic
An overgrip is a thin sheet wrapped around the handle, so every layer adds one thickness on each side of the handle. The circumference therefore grows by 2πt, where t is the sheet thickness. A tennis grip-size step is 1/8 inch, or 3.175 mm.
| Overgrip thickness (t) | Circumference added per layer | Equivalent grip-size step | Two layers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.50 mm | 3.14 mm | ≈ 1 size | ≈ 2 sizes |
| 0.65 mm | 4.08 mm | ≈ 1.3 sizes | ≈ 2.6 sizes |
| 0.80 mm | 5.03 mm | ≈ 1.6 sizes | ≈ 3.2 sizes |
| 1.00 mm | 6.28 mm | ≈ 2 sizes | ≈ 4 sizes |
| 1.90 mm | 11.94 mm | ≈ 3.8 sizes | — |
Two things follow from this. First, the thickness printed on a grip matters much more than its price point. Second, “thin” and “thick” are not texture preferences — they are size tools.
What this looks like on a real handle
If you were fitted at 4 3/8 and you have since put a fresh 0.8 mm overgrip over the original grip, you are now holding something closer to 4 1/2. For a lot of players that is an improvement — slightly larger handles quiet the wrist and suit heavy topspin. It stops being an improvement when your fingers no longer close around the handle, because at that point you are pushing the ball with your arm instead of releasing through it.
Measure it yourself in two minutes
- Wrap a strip of paper around the handle at the point where you hold it.
- Mark where the paper overlaps, lay it flat, and measure the length. That is your current circumference.
- Add 2πt for every layer you plan to wrap (or read it off the table above).
- If the total takes you more than one size step past the size you were fitted for, skip the extra layer.
If you would rather not do the arithmetic, the same sum is on our grip size calculator — enter your handle, pick a thickness, and it prints the size you actually end up with.
When not to add thickness
- Your fingertips already touch your palm when you grip the racket.
- Your contact point is consistently late and adding thickness makes it later — a bigger handle slows the hand’s rotation.
- You are already at the top of the available size range and considering a third layer to “make it feel solid”. That is usually a tension problem, not a size problem.
Where the number breaks down
2πt is ideal geometry. In reality the overlap compresses, the material is not perfectly incompressible, and wrapping tension varies, so the measured gain comes in a little under the theoretical figure. Treat 3.1 mm as “about one size”, not a tolerance. The same reasoning applies to a bare handle: a moulded replacement grip is roughly 1.5 mm thick, so stripping it off and wrapping overgrips straight onto the bare handle drops you several sizes at once — useful for demoing a frame in the wrong size, less useful as a permanent setup.
Frequently asked
Does an overgrip change the balance of the racket?
Only slightly. You are adding a few grams at the handle, which is the least influential place for swing weight, and the balance point shifts toward your hand. In practice the size change is the noticeable effect, not the weight.
Will two layers slip?
Not if each layer is wrapped with consistent overlap and finished with tape. Multiple layers are common. The usual failure is the outermost layer rotating at the butt cap, which comes from a loose starting wrap rather than from the number of layers.
Can thickness fix a handle that is too small?
Yes — that is its most practical use. Be aware that soft PU compresses and rounds the bevels slightly, so a handle built up with overgrips feels softer and less angular than the same size in a moulded grip.
Our own range, stated plainly
Because the number depends on the sheet, we list the thickness of every overgrip we make. Our range covers three practical positions rather than a single “best” one:
- 0.65 mm (FCOG-13 Gradient) — fine adjustment. Adds about 1.3 sizes per layer, so it lets you move in smaller steps than a full grip change.
- 0.80 mm (FCOG-02/03/06/09, FCLG-02/04/06/07/08) — our main line. One layer is roughly 1.6 sizes, which is what most players are actually feeling when a re-grip “changes the racket”.
- 1.90 mm (FCLG-03 Thick Suture) — for building up a handle that is genuinely too small, including junior frames where an adult-sized hand is gripping a size 0 or 1.
If you want to build thickness in controlled steps rather than jumping, a thin PE base film underneath the overgrip lets you add a fraction of a size at a time. Both are OEM/ODM options if you are specifying a range for your own brand.
Written by the FANGCAN product team. We make overgrips, so treat the arithmetic above as the useful part and our range as an example, not a recommendation — the formula works the same on anyone’s grip. If you have put calipers on a wrapped handle before and after, we would like to see the numbers.