Most stupid racquet ''technology''
- Thread starter season25
- Start date
yonexRx32
Professional
I disagree. It is a fine racket. Great control and amazing topspin. Not because I say it, actual pros played with it and it was declared the most playable racket of the that year's crop when it came out.
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yonexRx32
Professional
If by "added internally" you mean out of sight, inside the frame, that's probably not quite true due to the manufacturing process. Otherwise, if you mean "add on your own", I agree. Adding weight at 3-9 is not a ridiculous, false pretense such as Aeroskin, liquidmetal, fewer crosses than mains and other so called technologies. It is well known to work and back when frames were more flexible it was one way to make the hoop stable.
tistrapukcipeht
Professional
Biomimetic, (What does it do??) Mimics the nature?
Optic Spot?? I didn't see myself hitting any better with PB 8, actually I thought it was awful.
Amplifeel?
Optic Spot?? I didn't see myself hitting any better with PB 8, actually I thought it was awful.
Amplifeel?
yonexRx32
Professional
A strip of lead weighs a gram or two. Having done CAD design of rackets I can tell you that if the PWS is hollow, it doesn't weigh more than a third of a gram on each side. However, the extra width may provide some resistance to torsion.
yonexRx32
Professional
Not sure how D3O works, but certain materials require slow, steady pressure to deform elastically, while acting rigid under sudden impact. Think of water impact: if you jump from 1000 feet in a lake you will bounce off as if you'd hit concrete, yet if you jump from 1 foot, you will hardly feel the impact because the water molecules can only move that fast out of your way. So, while not saying that D3O does what it claims, there are materials out there that could do it.
The power angle is just a different stringing pattern. You can string your favorite racket in a diagonal pattern and see if it does anything differently. Some have tried it with a K90. Do a search. My personal take is that the extra spin people experience with the Power Angle is due more to the 16x16 stringing pattern than the diagonal aspect (close string density to 16x15 of the Steam 99s).
yonexRx32
Professional
May I offer a different take on the power aspect? I agree with both of you and CJack that stiffness is not essential to power, when the head size and string pattern are the same. However, the oversize rackets, so popular with the older players, clearly offer significantly more power. The keyword here is OVERSIZE (longer mains and crosses, more spacing between strings). Of course because of the oversize aspect, one has to use stiffer materials to make them stable. People therefore correlated stiffness with power, when in fact it is the oversize that is critical.
yonexRx32
Professional
I met a former ATP pro (he claimed to have been in the top 300s) who swore by those rackets because they were gentle on the arm, according to him. He had at least 4 of them and was using them when coaching. They still command a good price on the used market. However, the technology may no longer be legal under ITF rules.
The 'intelligence' in head i.prestige rackets is made up of goldish paint detail. There's nothing else to it.
Still a great racket.
I recall Kennex racket with like sand shifting inside the frame so it would change balance/swingweight as you swing? that was annoying, the sound of it I mean.
Still a great racket.
I recall Kennex racket with like sand shifting inside the frame so it would change balance/swingweight as you swing? that was annoying, the sound of it I mean.
Relinquis
Hall of Fame
the worst techs are those that hurt players and/or hurt your game.
- the ultra high stiffness gets my vote too.
what other techs hurt your game or cause injury? i don't like extended length racquets because they mess with your ability to play with different sticks (you get used to the non-standard length).
- the ultra high stiffness gets my vote too.
what other techs hurt your game or cause injury? i don't like extended length racquets because they mess with your ability to play with different sticks (you get used to the non-standard length).
yonexRx32
Professional
The ProKennex technology is still here and has a strong following. Ask any player with tender elbows. The purpose of the sand is to redistribute the momentum from the impact with the ball to millions of grains of sand. It is not to change balance, which it doesn't.
However, no one to my knowledge has drained the sand from the racket to see if the comfortable feel is the result of the technology or simply more arm friendly graphite layering.
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palmerop
Rookie
While the Fisher Magnetic Speed wins the overall prize, I think Head is by far the most reliable performer in this field: Flexpoint, Microgel, Liquidmetal, Youtek, Graphene... You already know it: in 2 years the marketing dept will come up with something new, at least as insulting as the previous material/technologies, while two years ago's WONDER MATERIAL will just disappear from brochures...
ricki
Hall of Fame
:THUMBSUP:
d3o does what it claims. Just watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JceDaEMIHKE
English one here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQxDoXqc_I
The d3o formula is proprietary.
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From most customer feedback that technology actually works.
I think Prince's "triple threat" weighting makes sense on paper, even if it was just a paint job over a little bump.
I think all this nano technology is the real BS.
That when you hit some materials they will go harder the harder you hit is not impossible. There are many materials like that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUMX_b_m3Js
dreamneedle
New User
Cortex and flexpoints...
ChicagoJack
Hall of Fame
The intelligence chips in the i series HEAD frames really are in there. There are several pages devoted to explaining how it works in the Book on Racquet Physics written by Brody, Cross, and Lindsey that was published around the same era. It's actually a pretty simple concept, and not all that complicated when you break it down.
Having said that, feel free to keep your skepticism. Chip or no chip, the iPrestiges are widely accepted as among the very best of the long lineage. They are still great racquets either way. As a long time Prestige user, I can vouch for that as well.
-Jack
Having said that, feel free to keep your skepticism. Chip or no chip, the iPrestiges are widely accepted as among the very best of the long lineage. They are still great racquets either way. As a long time Prestige user, I can vouch for that as well.
-Jack
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Sure. There have been helmets made of that material. Question is, how much of it is in the frame and does it make a difference?
But what was the contribution of the chip?
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
It supposedly uses the energy during the impact, and stiffens up the throat area for more power.
BS. I used the i.Prestige Mid for half a decade, what power?
Not sure about the power, but the intelligence models of the Prestige did get very stiff when you hit hard. I hit harder than about anyone, and I could definitely feel how the racket was a brick when I did hit hard. Ruined a perfectly good series of rackets and I didn't buy another Head racket until the Microgel models - which don't have the intellifibers.
I have some K2 skis with piezo-electric fibers that are actually wired in so that when the ski flexes it illuminates a light on the top of the ski. The technologies are legit. Whether they actually make any difference in the rackets (or any difference is due to things like the graphite layup or weight and balance) is disputable.
I have some K2 skis with piezo-electric fibers that are actually wired in so that when the ski flexes it illuminates a light on the top of the ski. The technologies are legit. Whether they actually make any difference in the rackets (or any difference is due to things like the graphite layup or weight and balance) is disputable.
Overdrive
Legend
Wait really a chip? I thought it was just a material stripes that generate
electricity with bending. And it will stiffen material that is reactive to electricity.
By the way, I loved the placebo effects of all these technologies.
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
Wait really a chip? I thought it was just a material stripes that generate
electricity with bending. And it will stiffen material that is reactive to electricity.
By the way, I loved the placebo effects of all these technologies.
I'm not sure, but I think the "chipped" racquets were the ix. series? Those larger 115sq+ arm killers.
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
oh, 'optispot' has to win this
there are some vague, flimsy possibilities that things like flexpoint and aeroskin at least do something, but optispot is just completely stupid...
there are some vague, flimsy possibilities that things like flexpoint and aeroskin at least do something, but optispot is just completely stupid...
oh, by all means, these are great rackets, I've stated that in my post. But unless I got one and only i.prestige that has just paint detail and not a chip - there's nothing there....
Hi I'm Ray
Professional
db10s
Hall of Fame
db10s
Hall of Fame
Ever hit a golf ball that didn't have any dimples?
Say Chi Sin Lo
G.O.A.T.
All of these technologies and materials are legit, with real world applications.
However, the question is just how much of this stuff is actually in the racquet? We don't know the composition/graphite mixture, for all I know, there could only be 1% of such technology in these frame. Definitely enough to put a sticker on, but how much of an impact does it have?
yonexRx32
Professional
What's your point? Everything that moves through the air must have dimples?
I know it was supposed to use the piezoelectric effect.
My question was: did it make a difference?
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
optispot is just paint, and is designed to make you take your eye off the ball to look at it!
mikeespinmusic
Rookie
Head's youtek drove me crazy on my prestige IG mp. One minute it felt like a rock, the next minute it was too flimsy. I swapped it with a friend for a prince exo3 rebel team. I hope graphene works out ok..
Lilguy1456
Semi-Pro
Optispot...you know how useless it is by how it's not even hyped up at all...
Just tried the DunlopBio300T.
I'm not saying it works, but the racket can be swung really fast, and if I can swing faster than I do now, it would seem to help.
But I'm old, injured, and out of shape, so the racket, while it seems to be easy to swing fast, I cannot swing that fast on my serves.
Compared to Mfil, Aero, and MicroGel rackets.......
I'm not saying it works, but the racket can be swung really fast, and if I can swing faster than I do now, it would seem to help.
But I'm old, injured, and out of shape, so the racket, while it seems to be easy to swing fast, I cannot swing that fast on my serves.
Compared to Mfil, Aero, and MicroGel rackets.......
Roberto_spin
Rookie
I play with a Youtek Speed Pro and a Youtek Radical Pro (love high swingweights) and I do can feel the Youtek technology work... soft with touchballs and hard on higher swing speeds.
Am I the only one?
Am I the only one?
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
I dunno, I had youtek Speeds once, andI often wondered if it was just the sound that was different. You know that lovely 'crack' they make when you really belt one?
I could certainly 'hear' something different, but I don't think I ever 'felt' a change in response...
I Heart Thomas Muster
Semi-Pro
When I worked at a tennis shop I asked the Head rep about that (this was during the "titanium" racquet era) and he said that basically the titanium fairy flew by and sprinkled some titanium dust on the racquets.
