8 Best Ways To Deal With Sweaty Hands In Tennis

Hot summer days can be very challenging for tennis players who have sweaty hands. After being on the court for hours, losing control of the racquet is very easy when the hands are full of sweat. Fortunately, there are some tricks to handling the racquet and keeping it from slipping around too much.
What are the best ways to deal with sweaty hands in tennis? Give these tricks a try to see what one works best. Everyone has different preferences depending on how much they sweat, but it can be a gamechanger after finding the perfect option.
The 8 best ways to deal with sweaty hands are the following:
- Overgrips
- Grip Enchancers
- Wristbands
- Rosin Bag
- Towel
- Antiperspirant
- Rotating Racquets
- Gloves
1. Overgrips

A lot of high-level players rely on overgrips as a way to quickly and easily revitalize their racquet’s grip. Overgrips come in two different types of options depending on what a player wants out of the grip in general.
Some overgrips focus almost entirely on providing tackiness. This could be great for people who feel like they are constantly losing grip on their racquet, even if they are not sweaty. There’s an extra bit of tackiness that keeps a person’s grip comfortable.
The other overgrip option relies on sweat absorption. This is where the grip takes in any sweat from the hand and helps eliminate it from being an issue. It gets better with sweat as time goes on. People feel that it has a sandpaper-like feel in the beginning when there’s no sweat added.
An overgrip is thin and relatively easy to take on and off. Players can get to the point where they are so fast with it that they can do it in between changeovers.
It’s a little tedious and there’s that added expense, but overgrips are necessary at higher levels of play. The frustrating part is that they probably will last only a few hours before another one needs put on.
2. Grip Enhancers
Different types of grip enhancers exist that players have fallen in love with. They work for sports beyond tennis, as they have a rosin formula in most cases. It comes in a spray, powder, or gel so people have the opportunity to put on as much as they need. Best of all, it’s not all that messy once dry.
Inexpensive and available in small containers, it’s very easy to put a bottle of grip enhancer in a tennis bag. When it gets extra sweaty, it could be put on quickly and everything is dry and ready to work in a matter of seconds. It’s really valuable during changeovers with limited time.
3. Wristbands

Wristbands are one the essential accessories for a lot of players. Not only can they help with style, but they have an actual purpose for players as well.
The goal with wristbands is to keep sweat under control instead of it freely running down the arms and into the hand area. They come in singlewide and doublewide options for ultimate protection against sweat.
The average tennis player has more wristbands to their name than they would like to admit. Eventually, they start to lose their elasticity and need replacing. Take a look at top players in the world, and the vast majority of them can’t play without wristbands on.
4. Rosin Bag
A rosin bag acts in a very similar manner to the grip enhancers above. The difference is that this is always in a powder, and that leaves everything a bit messier.
Something very similar to a rosin bag used in the past was sawdust. The two options work a little similarly, as rosin helps absorb sweat and dry out the hands for better grip.
5. Towel

Towels are virtually a requirement for any tennis player. Professionals are toweling off all the time throughout a match, with specific people on the court in charge of providing towels for players. With grip being so important, towels are a quick way to dry things off and reset.
During a changeover, a towel also comes in handy to dry off the rest of the body. They even act as a makeshift blanket if it’s a little chillier and a person doesn’t want to tighten up while sitting.
6. Antiperspirant
Some players might be able to get through playing by just using an antiperspirant spray. There are many variations of antiperspirant out there, and it helps keep the body under a bit more control in general.
No one enjoys dealing with sweat all over their body during a match. Not only do the hands get sweaty, but it can become distracting if it’s dripping down a person’s face and making clothing much heavier.
An antiperspirant helps cut down on moisture causing problems. People react to antiperspirants in different ways, but most will find them to provide some value.
7. Rotating Racquets
Tennis players generally reach a point in their career where they are good enough that they need multiple racquets. It comes in handy to at least have two, as one could have broken strings in the middle of a match. If a player has three or more, that’s commonly viewed as ideal.
One of the many advantages of rotating racquets comes when a grip gets sweaty. It makes it virtually a seamless transition, and the other racquet can spend its downtime drying out. Professionals use this trick, and there’s no reason why recreational players can’t do the same.
8. Gloves
Using gloves while playing tennis is a very polarizing option for controlling sweaty hands. While some will swear by them, others feel like they make things worse by soaking up sweat and cutting down on ventilation.
It’s worth trying out to see if it feels comfortable, but there’s a reason why no professional players use gloves. Using a glove might work in other sports, but not when there’s constant play throughout the match like tennis.
Why Finding Solutions For Sweaty Hands Is So Important
The last thing a person wants to do is lose a match that they shouldn’t because they didn’t have a proper grip on their racquet. Come prepared with a solution that works.
If a proper solution hasn’t been found yet, try things out occasionally and do some tests. Chances are a solution is right around the corner that can be a definite game-changer for players.
You can also read:
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- 6 Tips For Surviving Tennis Tryouts
- Babolat Pure Aero vs Pure Drive: A Full Comparison
- Can You Leave a Tennis Racquet In a Hot Car?
- How To Buy a Used Tennis Ball Machine For Cheap