Overview
In the world of badminton, besides spending money on badminton rackets, courts reservations and badminton court shoes, badminton players need replacement grips to wrap around their racket handles. These replacement grips is a necessity to most of us these days as it helps to reduce slips and prevent blisters when we hold our rackets  during badminton games. Players tend to hold their rackets tight when they are tensed in a badminton game, so a comfortable grip would help them to perform better.

Replacement grips come either in PU (Polyurethane) or Towel (Cotton towel) with adhesive either along the whole grip or at the end of it.

Thicker PU grips also help in providing more cushioning to our hands and absorb more shock and sweat. People with smaller hands would go for the overgrips which is thin, yet able to provide slight cushioning. Towel grips give the best sweat absorption but they fray easily.

When should I be replacing my racket grips?
Big question now is how soon should the grips be replaced? There is no definite answer to this as different people have different level of perspiration. Bacteria loves warmth and moisture, therefore grip is a perfect place for them and washing your hands before holding your rackets would not help in this case. Under perfect conditions a single bacterium could grow into over one billion bacteria in only 10 hours.

Also, it highly depends on the level of hygiene tolerance, I mean, some people could tolerate using dirty grips for a long long time. These people would replace their racket grips only when they are soggy, hardened, powdery or ripped.

The best time to change and replace your grips is when the tackiness is not there anymore. That’s the time when you can feel that the grip is less sticky. The grips may sometimes look dirty, but they don’t smell bad yet. This depends on the frequency of racket’s usage and how much a player sweats. Some grips can last a month, some can last only a week.

Conclusion
Recommended change of racket replacement grips should be about every 4 sessions of 2-hour badminton game for best hygiene practice and performance and to save your pocket as well.

Factors to consider when buying grips.

Towel grip	PU (Polyurethane) grip
Tackiness level : Good	Tackiness level : Good
Shock absorption : Good	Shock absorption : Good
Color : Fair, limited	Color : Good, more patterns and varieties
Durability : Fair, tends to fray and needs changing more frequently	Durability : Good
Sweat absorption : Good	Sweat absorption : Fair
Tendency to smell bad sooner because of sweat due to bacteria growth	Lasts longer without bad smell

Where to buy?
At BadmintonBay.com, we have many types of grips ranging from Abroz , Yonex and Karakal.

Click on the links below to view/purchase…

 

Related articles:
Tips on how to change your racket badminton grip
How to prevent a broken badminton handle