How to add Weight to your Tennis Racket

Once you get more into your tennis gear, at some point you will likely want to customize your racket by adding weight to your tennis racket.

This article will look at the ways you can add weight to your tennis racket such as adding lead tape, injecting silicone into the buttcap, or adding a leather grip.

How to add Weight to your Tennis Racket

How to add weight to your racket

The main options you have for adding weight to your racket are:

  1. Lead Tape
  2. Copper Tape
  3. Tungsten Putty
  4. Silicone
  5. Leather Grips
  6. Vibration Dampeners
  7. Strings

See below for more information on each of the above options.

1. Lead Tape

Lead Tape is probably the easiest and most popular way to make a frame heavier.

Where should you place the Lead Tape?

There are a number of different areas where you can place some lead but below are the most common places that are used:

  • At the top of the frame (under the head guard) – if you want more power
  • At 10 and 2 o’clock – increases power and makes the sweet spot bigger
  • At 3 and 9 o’clock – increases power a little and adds stability
  • On the throat of the frame – adds stability
  • On the handle of the frame (under your grip) – if you want to counterbalance the weight you have added to the head.

Where you end up putting the lead will depend on what you are trying to add to your frame.

For example, if you want more power then you can add lead to the top of the frame or if you want more stability then you can lead to the sides of the frame.

2. Copper Tape

Copper Tape is a safer alternative to lead tape as you don’t have to handle lead on your hands.

Copper Tape works in much the same way as lead tape in terms of how it affects a racket with the only downside being it stands out a little bit more due to its color.

3. Tungsten Putty

Tungsten Putty is mostly used on the handle or inside the buttcap and is great to use if you want to add a small amount of weight to your racket.

Tungsten Putty easily molds to any shape so it is quite easy to add to your racket.

4. Silicone

Another option you have to make your frame heavier is to inject silicone into the handle of your racket.

The main reason for doing this beyond adding mass to your racket is to shift the balance of a racket, so it is more head light and therefore more maneuverable.

5. Leather Grips

One easy way to add weight to the handle of your racket is to replace the synthetic grip on your racket with a leather grip.

Depending on the leather grip you use, this can add up to 10g of weight to the handle.

An added benefit of using leather grips is that many players say they get a better feel on their shots using a leather grip.

This is why many top ATP Pros such as Roger Federer use a leather grip on their frames.

6. Vibration Dampeners

Vibration Dampeners are probably not the first thing you think about when adding weight to a frame but as they can weigh between 2 and 7 grams, they can be a good option if you want to add a small amount of weight near the bottom of the frame.

For my Wilson Clash 98, I use Wilson’s Shock Trap vibration dampener which weighs about 2 grams.

You mightn’t think 2 grams would make much of a difference but I like the feeling I get on my shots using this vibration dampener.

7. Tennis Strings

You are probably not going to choose a set of strings just because they weigh slightly more than another set of strings but it is good to be aware of the fact that string weights can vary by up to 5 grams.