Best Tennis Gloves

The tennis equipment and apparel you use can play a major role in how you perform out there on the court. It is essential to feel comfortable if you want to play your best. Most players will put a lot of thought into their shoes and T-shirts, but an area of tennis apparel that is often not considered by tennis players is tennis gloves.

They actually have a number of useful properties that can improve your performance and enjoyment on the court, so let's look at some of the reasons to start using tennis gloves and the best options for you to go ahead and buy!

Why Wear Tennis Gloves?

Most of the time when we watch the world’s best tennis players perform on TV we see them in some of the most idyllic locations on earth. This unfortunately is not the reality for the majority of budding tennis players around the world.

Of course we all love playing in hot weather in the summer months, and these may last a long time if you live in a typically hot country.

However, for those that do experience harsh winters and may not have access to fantastic facilities with heated indoor courts and the like, should we just resign ourselves to only being fair weather players?

Well, no! Even tennis players that want to hone their skills in colder climates can do so with the help of tennis gloves.

It can be argued that your feel and touch won’t be as precise with tennis gloves on, and this is definitely true compared to bare hands in normal circumstances. But trust us, trying to play tennis with freezing cold hands is a lot more difficult than with gloves on!

What’s more, knowing you hand a pair of tennis gloves in your back pocket can swing the balance between going to that winter practice session and not. So, having a warm pair of tennis gloves that will get you to spend more time on court can only be a good thing!

So, here are some of the main reasons why you should wear a pair of tennis gloves when the going gets chilly!

 

Keep Your Hands Warm

One of the most obvious reasons to invest in a pair of tennis gloves is simply the fact that they will keep your hands warm and protect them from the elements.

This is essential if you want to perform at your best on the court in the colder months. At the end of the day, the more time you can spend on the court participating in purposeful practice, the better your tennis will get.

Tennis gloves are designed to keep your hands a toasty but not compromise your feel for the ball. They use breathable technology and hand picked materials that allow your hands to fit the glove snugly and securely.

Even if you are just wearing gloves to and from your tennis session, this can make all the difference as to whether you have any feeling in your hands when you start to play or not! If you prefer to play with tennis gloves on, which we suggest you try, you’ll want a pair that fits your hands perfectly.

Too loose and the racket will feel like it is slipping out of your hand every time you hit the ball. Too tight however and you’ll feel as though your grip is restricted and you won’t be able to move the racket in your hands freely.

So, we definitely recommend you try tennis gloves on before you buy them, as widths and finger lengths vary from brand to brand.

At the very least try and use a size guide if buying online, but trying them on and actually holding a tennis racket with your new tennis gloves is the best way to ensure you’re getting the perfect fit.

 

Protection

Another reason that a player may opt to play tennis in a pair of gloves is for protection. Tennis can be quite a harsh sport on your hands, often causing calluses and blisters on the fingers and palm of the hand. These can be treated in a number of ways, with tape, skin protection creams and plasters.

However, a more permanent solution is to actually use gloves to play tennis in, as these form a more substantial barrier between your skin and the grip of the racket.

 

Grip

Regardless of your specific reason for using tennis gloves, the overall end goal is to provide you with better grip on the racket. This may come in the form of warmer hands or better protected hands, but either way the aim is to allow you to grip the racket more comfortably and perform better.

However, another less known reason to use tennis gloves is to actually stop sweat from dripping onto your hands and grip.

In extremely hot and humid conditions, the body sweats a lot to try to bring your core temperature down. In doing so, you will produce a lot of sweat that will inevitably drip down onto your hands, making it very difficult to maintain a solid grip on your tennis racket.

Therefore, wearing a well fitted pair of tennis gloves with good ventilation technology built in can significantly reduce the amount of moisture that ends up on your hands, thereby strengthening your grip.

The Best Tennis Gloves

So, we have explored some of the main reasons as to why you should be using tennis gloves in the first place, but now let’s take a look at some of the best tennis gloves you can buy on the market today!

We appreciate that the best gloves for one person may not necessarily be right for someone else, based on fit, feeling and needs, so the options below come in no particular order. They are simply our favourite picks from our extensive research!

Dunlop Sports Gloves

  • Highly flexible
  • Sleek design
  • Microfibre material
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The black and white sleek design of the Dunlop Sport gloves match their peak performance, making for a good all rounder of a hand warmer. The glove features microfibre materials which helps keep the racket firmly in your grasp. These are flexible, comfortable and durable, making them the ideal companion for a wet and windy game of tennis!

Tourna Hot Glove

  • Allows direct contact with the racket
  • Elasticated wrist strap
  • Breathable fleece material
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One of the most unique yet simple glove options on our list is the Tourna Hot glove. Tourna are renowned for making products for die hard tennis enthusiasts, and the hot glove is no exception! It is essentially a specially designed mitten that keeps your hand warm but actually allows you to grip the racket with your bare hand at the same time.

It is a simple design as it has an elasticated wrist strap to keep it snugly in place, whilst the grip opening is easily large enough for your tennis racket, but not so big that it lets cold air in.

The idea here is that you can keep your playing hand warm and maintain a good grip on the racket at the same time, whilst not compromising on your playing style whatsoever. This is definitely a winter hand warming option that will keep you toasty thanks to the 100% breathable fleece material and snug fitting design.

Bionic Tennis Glove

  • Full length or fingerless
  • Stability and support
  • Coolon technology
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One of the more padded and well insulated gloves on our list is the Bionic Tennis glove. This well thought out design comes in either a full length or fingerless trim, giving you the option for both summer and winter usage.

This glove offers the last word in stability and support, helping you to make solid contact with the ball every time. It is a high end glove that is actually made from sheepskin leather, making it one of the most durable and hard wearing tennis gloves money can buy.

The Bionic Tennis glove also features Coolon technology which helps keep moisture at bay, meaning your hands will be well insulated and excess sweat will not impact your grip. The ergonomic design of the gloves help promote a flat hand surface, further increasing the stability and rock solid feel of the racket in your hand.

Fishing Tree Fingerless Gloves

  • Multi use capabilities
  • Great alternative to leather!
  • Stable, yet flexible
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These multi use fingerless gloves offer a great all round platform for keeping your hands void of sweat without compromising your grip! The Fishing Tree fingerless glove is a great alternative to leather if you would rather not go that route, offering a robust faux leather alternative that has the same rock solid feeling!

There is a good amount of stretch with these gloves which helps them feel flexible but does not detract from their comfort or stability. This is accompanied by breathable and pliable spandex which makes for a light, nimble yet supportive glove that will help you keep a firm grip on your racket.

The velcro wrist straps give you ultimate customisation so the gloves can fit any wrist size, whilst the UV protection technology protects your hands from harmful rays.

Head Web Racquetball Glove

  • Breathable feel
  • Excellent tackiness!
  • Enhanced air circulation

First designed for the ever growing sport of racquetball, the Head Web Racquetball gloves actually make great tennis gloves too! Specifically designed for racquet sports by one of the world’s leading tennis brands, these gloves offer a warming yet breathable feel that gives you the best of both worlds.

They utilise a silicone web palm which really adds to the tack of the gloves and keeps the racket in your hand very securely. You can actually feel the inside of the glove gripping to your racket’s handle when wearing these gloves, so if you are worried about the racket flying out of your hand, these are the best option for you!

The breathable element comes from a cooling spandex material that keeps your hands dry yet warm thanks to the enhanced air circulation it promotes.

Wilson Ultra Platform Glove

  • Exceptionally comfortable
  • Stealthy, all black design
  • Elasticated wrist band
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Another heavyweight tennis brand that offers tennis gloves is Wilson. Their Ultra Platform glove has clearly had a lot of development much like their tennis rackets, as it offers an extremely comfortable and durable feel. It comes in a very stealthy all black design, which looks great when paired with their pro staff range of rackets.

The silicone material on the palm of the gloves gives a great amount of tack to these gloves, meaning the racket will stay securely in your hand and keep your game on point from the start of a match to the finish. The elasticated wrist band is ideal for a comfortable fit, but may not necessarily be to everyone’s taste.

Head Leather Racquetball Glove

  • Elegant Design
  • Amazing feel!
  • Breathable and help reduce sweat
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Head have come up with a simple yet elegant design with their signature leather racquetball gloves. These gloves come in a range of different sizes so it is definitely worth trying them on before you go ahead and purchase them.

It uses very soft leather so will offer a crisp and responsive feel when you strike the tennis ball, making it ideal for touch shots and deft flicks around the net. It is both comfortable and durable and will offer you a great amount of stability, ideal for blocking back big serves.

The textured leather gives optimum grip performance, yet the perforated spandex material helps the top of your hands breathe and not get too sweaty, which can actually hinder your performance especially in cold conditions.

Takeaways

Overall, tennis gloves can be a great option if you are looking to keep your hands warm, dry and comfortable when playing the sport we all know and love in sub optimum temperatures.

It is essential to keep your hands warm on the court if you want to have the best results, as this gives you the perfect grip on the racket.

However, in cold, wet or windy conditions it is only natural that your hands will start to get numb and you will inevitably lose feel in your fingers.

That’s why we have recommended some of the best tennis gloves out there for you to try, so you can keep on improving your tennis game even in the most bitter conditions!

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