There are many ways of adding weight to your racquet. You can use lead, tungsten or copper tape, use specific trapdoors, silicone, blu-tack..
I have received some samples of new ways of adding weight to your racquet (applies to both tennis and pickleball). One is the new Katana Sports copper tape, which is a lead-free alternative to lead tape. There is also the traditional lead tape, whether you use Gamma or Tourna (or some other brand). You can also use tungsten tape if you want to add weight in the racquet head.
For adding weight to the racquet handle, you can either use silicone, blu-tack (or white-tack), tungsten putty, yeah, there are many methods. Some of them are irreversible though. The easiest one is if the brand offers some kind of weighted trapdoor. Donnay has done so in the past and now it’s Solinco’s turn to offer a weighted trapdoor (adds around 10g) to their Solinco Blackout and Whiteout racquets.
I talk about all this and more in my YouTube video below.
Different methods of adding weight
One new tool for adding weight that you can purchase from MSV, is the QP tennis modules. They add about 1.8 grams each and is added in a similar way to a dampener to the racquet head (in between the strings). I tested it and it’s a good tool for seeing whether you want to add weight to the racquet and where. I don’t see it as a permanent solution as the QP tennis weights can move during play and seem to add a small wind drag factor to the racquet.
Some extra weight can help increase power, stability and plow-through, but the usual compromise is maneuverability.
Are you customizing and adding weight to your racquet? Are there any questions you have about customization? Let me know in the comments below and I will deal with those in future content.
5 comments
Dear Jonas, thanks for all your great content. You definitely have the best tennis related reviews on the internet!
I coincidentally just started trying to modify my racquet this week.
I’m a baseliner with a spin focused forehand. I’ve been using a Wilson clash 100 with Solinco hyper G soft 17G at 50lbs because of a tennis elbow (that I’ve recovered from) Its a really comfortable set up but I find the swing weight too low.
What weight and position do you think is a good place to start adding lead tape?
Thank you!
I think you can add 3 grams at 12 o clock and that should do the trick. The racquet is so head-light so you probably won’t need to counter-balance it.
Hi Jonas, i had to put 10 grams of weight to my sons gravity s, in order to get it to the manufacters specificaties of 285 grams unstrung.
We put 5 grams at 3 and 9 and 5 hrams in the handle.
10 grams weight difference on a racket that should weight 285 grams, it makes think about the overal quality
Worked like a charm! Thanks so much!
Well, 3 of the 4 racquets I usually carry are weighted up, all three with different methods and weight placements
Usually carry two PS 6.0 95’s, one is really heavy without any modes (around 347 grams), the other was noticeable lighter, but with similar balance, so I went with 4 heavy short lead strips (I believe they were golf weights), around 3 grams each.
I also carry one Slazenger Pro Braided, first time I had her strung and griped, weighted 329 grams and was unstable with off-center shots. So, I put 6 grams in the handle and 4 more at 3 and nine, a bit latter I added a bit more at 12. Still very head-light but way more stable, feels almost like a different racquet.
Last one, Dunlop Aerogel 300 4D Tour. Felt too light, even balanced and unstable. After some experiences with leather grips I ended up putting a two sizes heat sleeve (its a 1/8 or L1 handle), and lead at 3 and 9. Heat sleeves work almost like a leather grip, specially the two sizes option, the are heavy, but the bevels feel less aggressive to the hand, so it’s a good solution for those who don’t like sharp edges in the hand from leather grips