/ How-Tos

Four Steps to Determine Your Tennis Racket Grip Size

Follow these 4 easy steps to find your grip size before you buy your next tennis racket.

Time for a new tennis racket but don’t know your grip size? We’re here with 4 easy steps to help determine the right grip size for you:

The bottom of a racket handle with the Wilson W on it

1. Check your current racket’s grip size

The bottom of your handle will list a number, typically 0 to 5. This number designates your grip size. In the United States, grip sizes are listed in inches while they are numbered in most other places, which is why your endcap might say “3” instead of “4 3/8” but really those are the same grip size! Don’t worry, we’ve cleared it up with the below conversion table!

If you like your current grip size, stick with it! If you think you might need something different, keep reading…

a hand gripping a racket with the continental grip

2. Grab the handle with the continental grip, or “handshake grip”

The first thing you’ll want to do is turn your racket on its side and grab the handle so your pointer finger knuckle is lined up with the top-right bevel. It should feel like you are giving your racket a handshake.

side-by-side photos of a hand gripping a racket both with and without space between the fingertips and palm

3. Check if your fingers are touching your hand

The main rule with grip size is that you want a handle big enough so that there is some space between the tips of your fingers and your hand (like the image on the left). If your fingers go all the way around the handle and run back into your hand (like the image on the right), you need a larger grip size.

hand gripping a racket with a finger's worth of space between fingertips and palm

Other helpful tips…

4 ¼ (2) for women and 4 3/8 (3) for men.

These are the most common grip sizes based on gender. However, if your hand is much smaller or larger, you may need a different grip size.

If you’re not sure, go smaller.

You can always add an overgrip to build up your handle thickness. Believe us, it’s a lot easier than shaving down the handle! Wilson Pro Overgrip adds 1 1/8” for reference.

Use a lot of topspin? Try a smaller grip size.

While determining grip size with the “finger trick” has been the go-to for a long time, grip size preferences are averaging smaller than they used to because of the amount of topspin used in today’s game. Players that use a lot of topspin will find it harder to get as much “wrist action” with larger grip sizes, and may even end up with a bad case of tendonitis. As long as your fingers aren’t touching your hand, it is okay to use a smaller grip size, even if a finger won’t fit in the space.