Abstract: A damping assembly for a sports racket is disclosed as being applied between a grommet or grommet strip associated with the racket and the racket frame to which the grommet or grommet strip is attached. The damping assembly includes a layer surrounding the outer surface of the frame preferably to at least 25% of the circumference. The layer is applied to the frame by adhesive material which allows the damping material to restrict frame vibration by shear-damping which resists shear deformation across the thickness and not along the length. The damping layer may be formed from a composite plate consisting of a number of plies of different grain orientation to optimize the shear-damping characteristics.