When we're talking about the grip size of a tennis racket, we mean the outline or thickness of the handle.
The outline of the handle of a tennis racket can be expressed in inches or millimetres, which then corresponds with a certain grip size.
Sometimes, there is a little confusion of tongues concerning the grip size of a tennis racket. That is because they use a different measurement indication in Europe compared to the USA. In Europe the grip sizes 0 through 5 are used, while in the USA the grip sizes go from 4 inches to 4 5/8 inches.
In the table below you will find the corresponding grip sizes:
| Outline in mm |
Outline in inches (USA) |
Grip size in Europe |
| 100 – 102 mm |
4 |
0 |
| 103 – 105 mm |
4 1/8 |
1 |
| 106 – 108 mm |
4 2/8 = 4 1/4 |
2 |
| 109 – 111 mm |
4 3/8 |
3 |
| 112 – 114 mm |
4 4/8 = 4 1/2 |
4 |
| 115 – 117 mm |
4 5/8 |
5 |
In general you will find the grip size at the bottom of the tennis racket, in the racket butt. If for example you see the America grip size 4 1/4, convert the fraction to denominator 8, so to 4 2/8, and then you know your tennis racket has a grip size 2.
If there is an overgrip over the standard grip of a tennis racket, the grip size becomes thicker and the original grip size is no longer correct.
There are two possibilities to determine the correct grip size for a tennis racket. The most simple, but not completely accurate, method is the one that suggests that the correct grip size is determined the following way: you wrap your hand around the grip and then you should be able to place the index finger of your other hand between the tips of your fingers and the palm of your hand on the grip.
The most accurate method to determine the correct grip size of a tennis racket is by measuring the distance between the top of the ring finger of your playing hand and the second handline. This length in millimetres then corresponds with the outline of the tennis racket en determines your ideal grip size.
If there is doubt about which grip size to choose for a tennis racket, you better pick one grip size too small instead of one too big, since you can always increase a grip size which is too small by one grip size via a so called 'heat-shrink tube'. Decreasing a grip size which is too big is impossible.
The heat-shrink tube is a thin cover made from synthetic material which can be slid over the 'naked' grip (= the tennis racket without the standard grip) of a tennis racket. It is then 'melted' around the naked grip of the tennis racket by using the hot air of a hairdryer.