The Complete Guide To Badminton Grip Powder

You can see many players requesting the umpire for something, taking a little break, going towards their kits, taking a small bottle out, and sprinkling something over the racket handle. Many people wonder about this mysterious-looking thing. It is nothing more than just a normal bottle of badminton Grip powder!

For those who are hearing about this powder for the first time, well, it is quite self-explanatory. 

Many players like Lin Dan, Lee Zii Jia, Kento Momota, have been seen using towel grips or overgrips on their badminton rackets. People have different requirements and needs and using a towel grip allows such players to have a loose grip and have the racket stable under good control.

Now what this means is that, over time, hands sweat, the grip begins to become a little slippery and it becomes tough for a player to have good control over the racket. This is where the Grip Powder helps them to have a good hold of their equipment. 

Now this powder contains a chemical known as Magnesium Carbonate Hemihydrate, which really helps in keeping your hands dry and stopping sweating too much.

As mentioned earlier, this is primarily the case with players using towel grips. One reason why such players do opt for such grips is that towel grips have more sweat-absorbing capacity than rubber grips.

But eventually, even the towel gets wet and tends to slip out of hand. So, at that time the powder helps a lot. 

Do you need badminton grip powder?

Now the real deal first is to decide what grip one is using. If you opt for a rubber grip, then using a grip powder with that might not be a very good idea. The powder, instead of providing a strong grip, will loosen it if used in ample amounts.

So, if you are a person who does not sweat a lot and wants a dry-ish grip that sticks on, then you should go for a rubber grip that really does last longer in terms of durability. And if you are using a rubber grip then you should not go for the grip powder.

Instead, it is best if you keep a hand towel near and keep your palms dry and wipe the grip handle from time to time. Rubber grips dry off very quickly and as a player, it is always nice to see a nice grippy and dry handle. 

If you are a person who sweats a lot and always worries about the racket slipping out of your hand while going for a hard smash, you should really opt for a towel grip for your racket.

For some good first rallies, the towel grip on its own will deal with the excess sweat on your palms and you won’t have to worry about losing the grip off the handle. This will initially give you a rough texture that fits into your palms very well and even absorbs the sweat to a good extent.

The trouble really begins when these grips reach their maximum sweat-holding capacity and then the racket starts slipping from your hand. This is the time when you really want the grip powder to assist you in bringing back the maximum control and holding on your gripping.  

Now you may be a person who has tried using this powder before. And still maybe this did not solve your problem of excessive sweating on your palms. Now what you may have been doing is, applying the powder even before you started the game.

This is a big no-no!

The grip powder works best when there is a little bit of moisture in your hands. So, the real secret is to wait for your palms to sweat first and then apply this powder. If not that, at least moisten your hands and then apply this powder to get a loose yet tacky-ish grip while playing. There is a caution notice here though. Several people have complained about the powder making their hands very dry and having a burning sensation. All that you need to do is to make sure that you have a little sweat on your palms before the powder’s application. A dirty way maybe is to keep wiping your palms on your sweaty shorts.

You can get this kind of powder at any sports shop that sells good badminton products and equipment. You can also surf through Amazon or Flipkart to get hold of one of these.

People usually tend to use the most trusted Yonex brand powder, but other well-known companies too should have good products. If you are hesitant to buy a grip powder though, you can opt for the regular chalk powder which is usually opted for by gym people to get grip on their weights.

If you are uncomfortable with any of these options, you should really consider buying a good wristband. This will stop the flow of excess sweat from your forearms onto the palms and help you to not lose your grip. Always keep a good sweat towel alongside the court to wipe off extra sweat periodically in between the games. 

All this being said, never use any other type of powder as a substitute for badminton grip powder. People sometimes use talc powder and see horrendous results after that. Racket slips and breaks, and I don’t think anyone would like that. It goes unsaid that never use flour or else at end of the game you will end up with a sticky dough on the grip handle!

So, if you are a pro player or even a complete beginner and have a towel grip on your racket, it is always helpful to carry the badminton Grip powder along with you. You never know, it just might be the game-changer.