Henman Racquet

BHiC · Apr 11, 2013

Just thought it was interesting and something that is worth sharing here - for people curious about how Tim Henman's racquet played, he used the same mold as the current Dunlop Biomimetic F 2.0 Tour. I do not know anything about his particular specs, all I know is the that the Dunlop F 2.0 and M 2.0 molds have been around for a while as Dunlop pro stocks, and the F 2.0 mold was used by both Henman (Dunlop owns Slazenger) and Mardy Fish when he was with Dunlop.

makinao · Apr 11, 2013

Which Henman racquet are you talking about? The B&W Pro Braided? The black and gold Trinity? The X1 (which he reportedly never really used)? A Wilson 6.1 (which reportedly he used all along underneath a paint job)?

thejackal · Apr 11, 2013

6.1 with no PWS, in all likelihood.

robredo mightve had something similar too

magnut · Apr 11, 2013

The retail Slazenger B&W pro braided was a sweet stick. I have no idea if he actually used it though. My early matches when he started making his mark he had a PS 6.1 classic blacked out.

classic tennis · Apr 12, 2013

TH played his whole career with a SMU 6.1 Pro Staff without external PWS made by SunHosan in various paintjobs. Comp. Braided CF/Kev.

jimbo333 · Apr 12, 2013

classic tennis said:
TH played his whole career with a SMU 6.1 Pro Staff without external PWS made by SunHosan in various paintjobs. Comp. Braided CF/Kev.

Yes, this is correct, but I've just looked at the new F2.0 and it does indeed look to be the same mold. If true I think this is the first time that this particular Dunlop Pro Stock mold has been used for a retail Dunlop racket?

High street sw19 · Apr 12, 2013

Yeah maybe they copied it but it won't play the same as it's for sure a cheaper lay up.

BHiC · Apr 12, 2013

jimbo333 said:
Yes, this is correct, but I've just looked at the new F2.0 and it does indeed look to be the same mold. If true I think this is the first time that this particular Dunlop Pro Stock mold has been used for a retail Dunlop racket?

Yes, that is correct. I had a chance to speak with someone who was on the development team that literally helps design Dunlop racquets and string, and he stated that this was the first time that these molds have been released to the public.

Lefty78 · Apr 12, 2013

Different string pattern tho

niktub · Apr 12, 2013

i can't get used to these new dunlop codes...so confusing = no buy

BHiC · Apr 12, 2013

Lefty78 said:
Different string pattern tho

Good point, it looks like his racquet was a 16x19 pattern, which means he was playing with a customized M 2.0 as opposed to F 2.0 Tour. Thanks for pointing that out.

niktub said:
i can't get used to these new dunlop codes...so confusing = no buy

The new codes are rather simple, just divide the old number by 100 (with a few exceptions)

F 2.0 Tour = 200
M 2.0 = 200 lite
F 3.0 Tour = 300 Tour
M 3.0 = 300
S 3.0 Lite = 300 Lite
F 5.0 Tour = 500 Tour
M 5.0 = 500
S 5.0 Lite = 500 Lite
M 6.0 = 600
S 6.0 Lite = 600 Lite
S 8.0 Lite = nothing comparable in biomimetic line

Hope that helps.

magnut · Apr 12, 2013

The specs look pretty sweet on this racquet. A little stiff but not too bad. It sure is ugly though. Looks like a motorcross bike or a cheap walmart racquet. I wish these manufacturers would just keep things clean and simple.

BHiC · Apr 12, 2013

magnut said:
The specs look pretty sweet on this racquet. A little stiff but not too bad. It sure is ugly though. Looks like a motorcross bike or a cheap walmart racquet. I wish these manufacturers would just keep things clean and simple.

Yeah, I didn't like the F 2.0 when I first tried it but now I am loving it with some lead at 10 and 2. Imo it doesn't play like a 67 stiffness racquet, don't know where tennis warehouse got that number from. According to Dunlop the stiffness is 63.

jimbo333 · Apr 12, 2013

Lefty78 said:
Different string pattern tho

Yes of course, the Pro Stock's were 16x18, I forgot about that!

Seth · Apr 12, 2013

magnut said:
The specs look pretty sweet on this racquet. A little stiff but not too bad. It sure is ugly though. Looks like a motorcross bike or a cheap walmart racquet. I wish these manufacturers would just keep things clean and simple.

If Dunlop/Slazenger would re-release the Pro Braid Trinity, it'd be game over. I'd buy 6 and be done with anything else. That PJ was my favorite of all time. Mostly black with a little gold/silver on a couple points on the hoop. So classic.

skycadet · Apr 15, 2013

The Dunlop Biomimetic M2.0 caught my eye for the same reason everyone is discussing on this site.. the type of mold used. I'm a big Slazenger fan and I have owned most of the Tim Henman stock version out there. Pro braided x3 ( black and white) Trinity x6, X 1 x2, NX Type One X2, and the Quad Flex 305 x 6. Tim Henman definately used a modded version of the 6.1 pro staff, even at his latest game ( at the Royal Albert hall ) he used the same stick but in the latest Slazenger V98 tour ( Black and Orange ) paint job. Having said of all that, I'm VERY TEMPTED to get a pair of the Dunlop M2.0 as this would be the closest I can get to an actual version that Henman used ( sadly minus the Slazenger logos ). The specs looked good and I'm a big fan of a 95sq inch head. Sad to say that Slazenger have only lately produced decent rackets with a 97/98 sq inch head and I just can't seem to get used that small change.

By the way I love the Type NX one paint job but hated the stock version specs. If only they produced a 95 sq inch stick with the same mold as the one used by Henman. Oh well .. gone off track here

Seth · Apr 15, 2013

skycadet said:
The Dunlop Biomimetic M2.0 caught my eye for the same reason everyone is discussing on this site.. the type of mold used. I'm a big Slazenger fan and I have owned most of the Tim Henman stock version out there. Pro braided x3 ( black and white) Trinity x6, X 1 x2, NX Type One X2, and the Quad Flex 305 x 6. Tim Henman definately used a modded version of the 6.1 pro staff, even at his latest game ( at the Royal Albert hall ) he used the same stick but in the latest Slazenger V98 tour ( Black and Orange ) paint job. Having said of all that, I'm VERY TEMPTED to get a pair of the Dunlop M2.0 as this would be the closest I can get to an actual version that Henman used ( sadly minus the Slazenger logos ). The specs looked good and I'm a big fan of a 95sq inch head. Sad to say that Slazenger have only lately produced decent rackets with a 97/98 sq inch head and I just can't seem to get used that small change.

By the way I love the Type NX one paint job but hated the stock version specs. If only they produced a 95 sq inch stick with the same mold as the one used by Henman. Oh well .. gone off track here

Wasn't Henman's actual frame extended?

skycadet · Apr 15, 2013

Seth said:
Wasn't Henman's actual frame extended?

That's absouletly correct. By half an inch apparently. I think theirs a video of Henman talking to Chris from TW about his racket set up. Not sure exactly where the video can be found here but I do know it's somewhere on YouTube. I'm not sure why he extended it

. Maybe to get that extra " reach" on volleys? :shock:

RJYU · Apr 15, 2013

skycadet said:
That's absouletly correct. By half an inch apparently. I think theirs a video of Henman talking to Chris from TW about his racket set up. Not sure exactly where the video can be found here but I do know it's somewhere on YouTube. I'm not sure why he extended it . Maybe to get that extra " reach" on volleys? :shock:

Actually 1 cm to be exact.

p1k · Apr 11, 2016

I got a hold of one of Henman's frames but it's a hairpin. Any idea what pallets would fit best? I've got some head pallets but I know those don't fit too well. Any suggestions?

vsbabolat · Apr 11, 2016

p1k said:
I got a hold of one of Henman's frames but it's a hairpin. Any idea what pallets would fit best? I've got some head pallets but I know those don't fit too well. Any suggestions?

Dunlop/Slazenger does not use pallets. You are going to have to have someone mold a handle for you. Bosworth, P1, RP in NY can do it.

uk_skippy · Apr 11, 2016

p1k said:
I got a hold of one of Henman's frames but it's a hairpin. Any idea what pallets would fit best? I've got some head pallets but I know those don't fit too well. Any suggestions?

Try Vokl. I use those on when Head ones won't fit. There are also Mantis you could try.

vsbabolat said:
Dunlop/Slazenger does not use pallets. You are going to have to have someone mold a handle for you. Bosworth, P1, RP in NY can do it.

Doesn't mean that there aren't pallets that won't fit it.

Regards

Paul

vsbabolat · Apr 11, 2016

uk_skippy said:
Try Vokl. I use those on when Head ones won't fit. There are also Mantis you could try.

Doesn't mean that there aren't pallets that won't fit it.

Regards

Paul

I would rather have a Dunlop/Slazenger grip shape on a Slazenger racquet than a Völkl grip shape with pallets even if they happen to fit.

uk_skippy · Apr 12, 2016

vsbabolat said:
I would rather have a Dunlop/Slazenger grip shape on a Slazenger racquet than a Völkl grip shape with pallets even if they happen to fit.

Of course you'd say that. No surprise there.

But still, knowing how much it costs to set up a mold with P1 if there isn't anything they could use would make it an expensive 'experiment'. If we were looking at having it authentic, do we know what grip Tim had? Was it a true Dunlop/Slaz? Was it a Wilson, considering he moved from the PS Classic? Or was made to he's own spec/requirement?

Volkl are the same as Head in that they produce pallets with different shapes, so there Tour pallet 'may' be similar to Dunlop's

Then there's the possibility of using Mantis or even Angell pallets since both of those companies were created by ex-Dunlop racquet designers.

If @p1k just wants to use it, then personally I'd just use something that fitted and at a reasonable cost.

Regards

Paul

kkm · Apr 12, 2016

Depending where OP is could have Alpha mold a standard handle without breaking the bank. Or maybe RP NY, if they offer a standard size handle molding service to the general public.

p1k · Apr 12, 2016

Thank you for all of the comments. I know that ideally I would get it molded to keep everything as authentic as possible, but as @uk_skippy mentioned, I don't know if anyone has ever confirmed the kind of mold that Henman had on his racquet handle. Also, I would rather not go over my head in terms of additional costs. My goal was to find an intermediate solution that would involve pallets since I would like to finish up the racquet, get it strung, and hit the courts. I'm definitely a fan of Henman and am excited to give this racquet a try. I will keep you all updated with how things go trying on some pallets.

Also, anyone know where I can get a slazenger butt cap? Just thought it might add a nice touch to the racquet.

Thanks for all of the input!

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