The Overgrip Lie You've Been Sold (And What Actually Works in Humidity)

You've been told that a tacky overgrip solves sweat. It doesn't. On a humid day in Lagos, Accra, or Nairobi, tack is the enemy.

Here is why, and what actually works.

The short version: A gripping overgrip grabs your palm when both are dry. When your palm sweats, that same tack turns into a slick film between your hand and the handle. The grip that feels best in the shop becomes the one you'll regrip between service points on court.

I spent two African rainy seasons testing overgrips in match conditions — not on a ball machine, not for thirty minutes of hitting, but in three-set singles at 28°C and 80% humidity where by the second set my wristbands are soaked and I'm towelling off after every second point. I kept a log of which grips got changed mid-match, which ones I forgot I was holding, and which ones turned into slippery plastic within forty minutes.

Two categories, not one

Forget brand names for a moment. Every overgrip on the market belongs to one of two families:

Wet-tacky grips — these use a sticky surface that bonds to your dry palm. Tourna Grip is the classic example, but it's actually an outlier in this category because it's designed to be dry and absorbent. Most wet-tacky grips feel like they're glued to your hand when you first wrap them. Think Yonex Super Grap, Wilson Pro Overgrip, or Babolat VS Original.

Dry-absorbent grips — these feel papery, sometimes almost rough. They don't stick to your palm. Instead, they wick moisture away from your skin and hold it in the grip material. Tourna Grip is the king here. So are its imitators: Tourna Tac, and the various "ultra dry" offerings from smaller brands.

If you play in humidity, you want the second category. I didn't believe this either, because dry grips feel terrible in the hand for the first fifteen minutes. They feel thin, stiff, unresponsive. But that papery surface is exactly what saves you in the third game of the second set.

Number one: Tourna Grip (original blue)

I used Super Grap for four years. I switched to Tourna Grip two years ago and I won't go back.

The original Tourna Grip is not pleasant fresh out of the pack. It's thin — noticeably thinner than most overgrips — and it has a dry, almost chalky texture. You wrap it and you think: this can't be right. Your hand doesn't stick to it. It feels like you're holding a roll of masking tape.

Then you play for an hour in humidity.

What happens is that the material absorbs sweat into itself rather than letting it pool between your palm and the grip. The more you sweat, the more the grip softens and conforms to your hand — but it never gets slippery. It just gets... grippier in a different way. Not tacky-grippy. Absorbent-grippy. Your hand feels connected to the handle, not sliding across it.

The downside is real: it wears fast. You get two to four hours of competitive play before it compresses and loses its texture. If you're playing a tournament match, you wrap fresh before every singles match. That's the trade-off. You trade longevity for reliability in the conditions that matter.

Price: $3–4 per grip. Less if you buy the thirty-pack.

Who this is for: Anyone who plays in humidity, sweats through a wristband, or has ever had a two-handed backhand slip at the moment of contact.

Who it isn't for: Players who want a grip to last a month of casual hitting. Or players who hate the feel of a thin, papery grip in the first ten minutes.

Number two: Yonex Super Grap (if you absolutely must have tack)

I said I switched away from Super Grap. That doesn't mean it's bad. It's very good, at what it does.

Super Grap is the benchmark for wet-tacky overgrips. It's thicker than Tourna, it has a soft, slightly cushioned feel, and it is genuinely tacky out of the wrapper. On a dry day, or in air-conditioned conditions, it's excellent. It lasts longer than Tourna — you can get six to ten hours out of a wrap — and it provides real vibration dampening that Tourna doesn't.

The problem is humidity. When your palm gets wet, Super Grap's tack breaks down. The grip becomes slippery in a specific way: not wet-slippery like a slick handle, but greasy-slippery, as if the adhesive surface has dissolved into a thin film between your hand and the grip. You can feel it happen around the thirty-minute mark. You adjust your grip pressure unconsciously. You start squeezing harder. That tension travels up your arm into your shoulder.

Price: $4–6 per grip.

Who this is for: Players in dry climates. Players who prefer a cushioned feel. Players who change overgrips once a week, not once a match.

Who it isn't for: Anyone who has played a set in humidity and felt their grip shift.

Number three: Tourna Tac (the compromise)

Tourna Tac tries to split the difference — it's a dry-absorbent grip with a slightly tacky coating on top. In theory, you get the best of both. In practice, you get neither perfectly.

The tack wears off within the first hour. After that, you're left with a standard dry grip. Which is fine. But it costs more than regular Tourna and doesn't do anything better once the surface coating is gone.

I'd skip this unless you play short matches and want a grip that feels more premium on the first day.

Number four: Wilson Pro Overgrip (the also-ran)

Wilson's standard overgrip is fine. It's tacky, it's reasonably durable, and it costs about the same as Super Grap. It also gets slippery in humidity, just like Super Grap. There's no special moisture management here. It's a competent all-rounder that doesn't solve your problem if you're reading this article because your grip keeps slipping.

Number five: Head Xtra Soft (dark horse)

This one surprised me. Head's Xtra Soft is classified as a comfort grip. It's thicker than anything else here. But its material composition happens to handle moisture better than most tacky grips. It's not as absorbent as Tourna, but it doesn't turn into a slip-and-slide either. If you hate the thin feel of Tourna and need a middle ground, this is worth testing. It lasts about six to eight hours.

What about the cost?

A thirty-pack of Tourna Grip runs about $90–100. At two to four hours per wrap, that's roughly $2–3 per match. A thirty-pack of Super Grap runs about $120–130. But because Super Grap lasts longer, the per-match cost is similar.

Don't let the price difference fool you. The question isn't which is cheaper per wrap. The question is which grip you trust in the third set.

Try this this week

You don't need to buy a full box. Buy a single roll of Tourna Grip — any sports shop that stocks tennis gear will have it, or you can order online for about the price of a lunch. Wrap it on your match racquet. Play a set or two. Pay attention to the moment when you'd normally feel your grip start to slip. Notice if that moment doesn't come.

If you hate the feel of a dry grip, you'll know within ten minutes. If you don't, you'll have found something that costs less, works better, and requires one thing from you: wrap fresh before every match.

That's the truth of gear in humidity. There's no magic grip that does everything. There's only the grip that does the one thing you need — stay connected to your hand — and lets you think about something else. Like the ball.