How to Regrip Your Badminton Racket (Step-by-Step Guide)

Introduction

From time to time, your racket needs a new grip. But how do you apply it properly without any wrinkles or bumps? Here is a step-by-step guide to learn how to regrip a badminton racket yourself, in a beginner friendly way. This guide only takes a few minutes, and works for most badminton grips and prefferences.

There are several different techniques and grips to use. For this article we will stick to the most common ones. That is the overgrip starting with the smaller (adhesive) side.

What do you need?

• Racket

• Grip

• Scissors

• Optional: sportstape or adhesive

• Optional: Cushion wrap

Step by step

1. Choose a good grip. Sometimes, the reason you cannot grip the racket properly is because the grip is very stiff and not very good. You don’t have to buy the most expensive one, but buying a grip that has some stretch in it and has a good grippy feeling. You can go for towel grip or overgrip. The most commonly used by recreational players, and for this article we stick to the overgrip, but it works similarly.

2. Open the grip, remove the (branded) tape. Roll it out and find the small sticky end. This is where you begin. If you still have the old grip on the racket, remove this first.
   If you like thicker grip, you can add cushion wrap underneath first.

3. The start: Remove the adhesive sticker and stick the grip to the bottom of your racket. You can go left around the racket or right around the racket. This does not matter. Try to go over the middle of the previous round of the grip. The start is the most difficult part, so do not worry if some bumps appear. Keep trying. You can pull harder on the grip before moving it to make sure there are no bumps.

4. The middle: For the middle part, you just need to match the new circle of grip on the middle of the previous round. If you want it thinner you stick it a bit higher, for thicker grip you can do slightly less than middle of the previous round. Continue like this all the way up.

5. The end: Once you run out of grip or you come close to the place you want your grip to end, you can cut off the edge diagonally with a scissor. Do this so the longer part is the furthest away from the bottom of the racket. Pick up the branded sticker you set aside from the beginning and stick this on the end to make sure it stays. Sometimes sportstape or even adhesive works better.

Beginner mistakes

• Placing the grip not in the middle, on each round around the racket, and therefore not having enough or having too much grip by the end.

• Not pulling on the grip. If you grip it while it is very loose, the grip will move while using it and make it come off during play.

• Starting from the top. Some players start gripping from the top. This makes it not nice in your hand and does not work well for a grip.

• Having too big of a grip to properly play. To have fine movement in hand and fingers some space is needed, do not make the grip the size of a tree trunk.

FAQ 

• Do I need to remove the previous grip?
  Yes, in most cases removing the base grip is needed to get the thickness you want. If a thicker grip is wanted, use cushion wrap underneath to make it thicker. Keep in mind removing the base grip can be difficult. So easiest is to keep this on, but watch out for making the grip not too thick.

• How thick should I make my grip?
  This comes down to preference, but keep in mind most people play with a grip that is too thick. This prevents difficult techniques to be played and can make your shots slower. If you hold your racket in base position and your middle finger is just about to touch the base of your hand, this is fine for most players.

• Is towel grip better?
  Not necessarily. Towel and overgrip are both used by top players. Towel grip gives you more sweat absorption, but has to be changed more often to stay soft. Some players do not like the feeling of towel grip. Again, personal preference. It also tends to be more expensive to have towel grip, and in most cases is supplemented by grip powder. Almost all beginners would start with overgrip.

• How long does a grip last?
  You can play a very long time with the same grip, however, you will notice a new grip right away after a very old one. My recommendation would be to change grips every 20-30 hours of playing. Just know, when you can see the wood underneath, it is for sure time to change.

• Where to buy my grips?
  Currently I do not have any reviews on grips or stores. Just check with your local badminton shop, they should be able to advice you well.

What to take away

• Gripping requires practice, it will not work the first time perfectly.

• Use good quality grip and start from the bottom, the bottom is the hardest part.

• At the end, use the sticker or other sports tape to seal the grip and keep it in place.

• Enjoy your grip!