Heaviest Racquet Ever!!!

[GripnRip]

What is the heaviest racquet you have ever heard about a player using? I have heard of a guy who used a 20oz racquet during practice once every other week. In actual match play, I believe that Don Budge used a 16oz racquet. This is the heaviest that I have heard of.

[doriancito]

well the heaviest i playeed with, im actually playing with it now is sampras one....i think is one of the top but very well distributed

[meh]

the local pro shop owner told me he strung for monica seles once at a small tourney. her stick was about 17 oz. compare that to womens' racquet weights today...

[brinkeguthrie]

I used to use a Donnay Borg Pro which was heavy. But the Slazanger Vilas V24 open throat was REALLY a club. A wood composite.

[VGP]

the local pro shop owner told me he strung for monica seles once at a small tourney. her stick was about 17 oz. compare that to womens' racquet weights today...


no wonder she hit two hands on both sides.....:p

[GripnRip]

If seles played with a 17oz club, why is she never metioned when heavy racquet discussions come up?

[christo]

No chance, the only excess weight was in Seles' arse

[JZImmer123]

A 20 oz. racket eh? Geez, you might as well bring out a little league bat and swing away. ;)

When I used to use the Wilson Pro Staff 6.1 classic, it came out weighing a bit over 17 ounces with the amount of lead tape I used. I loved what it did for my serve, but I always found myself hitting the ball a bit late on my groundstrokes and could never get over that problem, especially with my one-handed backhand. I tried taking the ball early and everything but could never get really consistant (I'm not consistant anyway so why should I even try).

[Galactus]

Back when I was a teenager I had both Donnay Borg Allwood and Dunlop Maxply-Fort: I'm pretty sure these were 420g+ racquets.

Now I use a Wilson ProStaff Tour 90 at 375g and a Wilson ProStaff Original 6.0 85" at 385g

[FirstAceOnMars]

I am using a 680g(specially made) rkt to practice, so my holding rkt felt like a feather when I am in a game.

[racketcollector]

Back when I worked on the ATP tour, the heaviest frames out there were Lendl, Sampras, Philippoussis, and Muster (all around 400 grams). Monica's frames were no where close to that. The only thing interesting about her Yonex frames were that they were between 4 1/2 and 4 5/8; had a grommet strip in lieu of a Yonex bumperguard; always had an extra cross installed at the top and bottom (and very tight--80lbs or so). Her weight/balance wasnt anything out of the ordinary.

[Mr.Federer]

The heaviest one I've heard of was Sampras's racket.A whole pound.

[doriancito]

did sampras add somelead on top of the originals racquet weight?

[Mr.Federer]

I don't think he did, but what shocks me is he could've hit so many aces with a one pound racket strung at 80 lbs.That's alot of power that his body can generate.

[TENNIS2]

I am using a 680g(specially made) rkt to practice, so my holding rkt felt like a feather when I am in a game.

I have read this elsewhere. Is it recommended to practice with alternating heavy racquets and regular racquets to build up strength. Do advanced players to this?

[VGP]

Sampras did add lead tape to his frames. Check out any photos or footage. He added quite a bit at 3 and 9 o'clock on his frames. The Wilson PS he played with was a head-light frame like 8-9 points. Sampras' frame was at nearly even balance so it took quite a bit of lead tape to get the even balance and to reach the overall 14 oz weight.

added in edit: as to practicing with a heavier weight racket, I think that's a bad idea. I know for me, it would throw my timing off when switching to the lighter frame.

[doriancito]

WOW! thats alot of weight i play with the normal ps 85" of 12.6oz / 357g

[volleys_tennis_master]

actually i do believe that sampras added lead tape. look at the 3 and 9 on his racquets, and you'll see silver strips of lead tape

[volleys_tennis_master]

oops double post

[mctennis]

Perhaps the heaviest weighted racquets were back when they used wooden racquets. With modern materials they can probably use less weight. They still pound the ball pretty hard so they need the extra weight. It's a physics thing. You can't move mass with less weight no matter how hard you hit the ball for very long without some effect on your arm/shoulder and body. IMHO.

[Galactus]

Perhaps the heaviest weighted racquets were back when they used wooden racquets. With modern materials they can probably use less weight. They still pound the ball pretty hard so they need the extra weight. It's a physics thing. You can't move mass with less weight no matter how hard you hit the ball for very long without some effect on your arm/shoulder and body. IMHO.
For sure...I still have my old wooden racquets: Donnay Borg Allwood and Dunlop Maxply Forts (both bought in 1979)...you can't use them....they have a 70-75" head and weigh about 15oz. How I managed to use them when I was a teenager is anyone's guess!!!

Classic racquets for classic players....

[bc-05]

i wanna try and use that... ok i was not born then so i wouldnt know how tennis were played.. were the balls smaller in those days? coz it would be really hard playing with such small heads

[armand]

I am using a 680g(specially made) rkt to practice, so my holding rkt felt like a feather when I am in a game.
I have read this elsewhere. Is it recommended to practice with alternating heavy racquets and regular racquets to build up strength. Do advanced players to this?This doesn't sound like a very good idea to me. If you want to build strength, hit the weight room. It's much more effective than using a heavy racquet like that. And playing with such a heavy frame will very possibly stress out your shoulder, wrist and hand.
Building muscle is best done by slow and steady motion, not the fast twitch movements of a tennis stroke. That could very well injure the muscle in fact.

[Exile]

I am using a 680g(specially made) rkt to practice, so my holding rkt felt like a feather when I am in a game.

Here's another problem with this. The heaver stick should generate a little more power and be a whole lot more stable, so you are screwing with your shot range and comfort zones.
Because you would be playing with pretty much two different sticks...

[meh]

Back when I worked on the ATP tour, the heaviest frames out there were Lendl, Sampras, Philippoussis, and Muster (all around 400 grams). Monica's frames were no where close to that. The only thing interesting about her Yonex frames were that they were between 4 1/2 and 4 5/8; had a grommet strip in lieu of a Yonex bumperguard; always had an extra cross installed at the top and bottom (and very tight--80lbs or so). Her weight/balance wasnt anything out of the ordinary.

sorry, just passing on w/e's been said to me...iono he might have been exagerrating. after all, he's the one trying to get me to buy into new racket techs =]

[vkartikv]

My Donnay ProCynetic 1. 85 sq.in. head, graphite/kevlar mix, just like the PS 6.0. But weighs 2.3 oz. heavier for the same grip size, strings and overgrip. Weighed it at my lab.

[gmorr001]

Im suprised no one has said the arthur ashe compitions. I weighed the one that my grandpa had and it was 14oz stock.

[kytennis]

my dad once played with a 22oz frame

[Xevoius]

I remember recently reading that Gabriella Sabatini's old POG OS was quite a bit heavier than Sampras's sticks and the person stating this was the guy who used to travel with Sampras as his racquet tech.

[Rabbit]

It was reportred that Johan Kriek played with a 16 ounce stick. At the opposite end of the sprectrum, Michael Stich was supposed to have played with a very light racket.

[Marius_Hancu]

did sampras add somelead on top of the originals racquet weight?

of course. look at the 5inch long lead tape at both 3 and 9 in videos with him.

389-393g strung, balance: 32.3-32.5cm from the buttcap, both strung