Pete Sampras ProStaff specs/setup

[War Safin!]

Anyone an authority on the exact setup? I've looked on the forum but no-one seems to have it exactly.

I have a Prostaff 6.0 85 and I want to try it just out of curiosity - where did all the lead-tape go to make a 357g racket weigh 385g+?
I do know he had 3 separate strips of lead tape positioned at 3 and 9 o'clock but I want to know if he had any under the handle?

(before anyone starts, yes, I know I don't have a St Vincent, but yes I do have it strung with Babolat VS gut 17 and I also have a Fairway leather grip.)

 

[jorel]

back on the old message boards there was a discussion with Mr. Nate Ferguson and we talked about Pete's specs. basically back then it was about 400g and 7pt HL strung tight (75lbs) with thin gut.... dont know what it is now on the senior tour

 

[sloe_torture]

Assumptions on Sampras racquet:
Leaded up under the head guard.
Wilson synthetic replacement grip under a Tourna Grip
6-7 layers of 6 x 0.25" lead tape at 3&9.
Even balance when strung.

If you know the weight of the Sampras Babolat string and the final weight of the Sampras racquet you should be able to calculate (roughly) the amount of weight under the bumper and under the grip.

Matching swingweight is another story...

 

[ericsson]

Assumptions on Sampras racquet:
Leaded up under the head guard.
Wilson synthetic replacement grip under a Tourna Grip
6-7 layers of 6 x 0.25" lead tape at 3&9.
Even balance when strung.

If you know the weight of the Sampras Babolat string and the final weight of the Sampras racquet you should be able to calculate (roughly) the amount of weight under the bumper and under the grip.

Matching swingweight is another story...

Synthetic?? i think pete is a leather guy

 

[travlerajm]

Greg Raven has one and he measured it at 384g, 32.3cm balance, and 367 SW.

 

[Jack & Coke]

For reference:

http://homepage.mac.com/gregraven/tennis/PhotoAlbum21.html

[FONT=Geneva, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Pete Sampras' Wilson Pro Staff Midsize[/FONT]

 

[Bud]

Is that Gut?

Those strings don't look like natural gut.

 

[Shashwat]

He strung his raqcuet very high. I wouldn't try it. If you do a hard overhead or a huge serve, you might crack your racquet.

Just a heads up.

 

[VGP]

Greg Raven did comment on his racket not being strung with natural gut. On his website he stated that the particular racket shown was used prior to a US Open for Arthur Ashe's Kid's Day.

As for Pete using a synthetic replacement grip, I remember reading that at the very end of his playing career he switched to the synthetic to prevent blisters. Plus, if you watch some of his matches from teh 2002 USO you can see that he had a black grip under his Tournagrip when he would replace the overgrip.

 

[jeffbeckib]

I thought pete's frames were bumperless?
I this a pic of one of his actual frames? I would love to see a close up of the handle, I've held one of his frames, and I remember the handle being very funky..

 

[gsquicksilver]

I thought pete's frames were bumperless?
I this a pic of one of his actual frames? I would love to see a close up of the handle, I've held one of his frames, and I remember the handle being very funky..

edberg used bumperless frames.

no, this is not an actual sampras racquet, but a representation of his setup.

go to http://homepage.mac.com/gregraven/tennis/PhotoAlbum21.html and it will tell you that.

 

[Jack & Coke]

From: Agassi's String/Tension?

Found my old stash of Tennis Mags and came across this article... dunno how accurate it is, but just thought I'd share anyway... its from the May 1995 issue...

 

[MaximRecoil]

Wow, I had that issue of Tennis magazine and I remember that specific article well, because it convinced me to try out a Pro Staff. Hard to believe it's been a dozen years since then.

 

[Sinner]

^ yeah, there are quite a number of interesting articles, which didn't make sense back then, but thanks to Tennis Talk, it all makes a lot more sense now... too bad a lot of the stuff is outdated...

 

[alm]

Was Pete's grip size really 4 7/8? :!:

 

[ericsson]

Was Pete's grip size really 4 7/8? :!:

That would be an L7 ? :grin:

 

[PrestigeClassic]

Tennis Magazine has been so lame, though in 1995 they weren't as bad. In this little article, they didn't notice Agassi had a non-stock string pattern and in any case wrote that it is an open pattern and the reason for Agassi's spin, along with a large headsize. They say Sampras used a much larger gripsize than he did. String-savers as a damping device? Also says that Sampras used coated gut, which was not at all his staple. The only interesting thing here is the short strips and likely only one layer of lead on this particular frame of Sampras'.

 

[gsquicksilver]

early in his career, sampras did use a lot less lead tape than toward the mid to late of his career.

 

[PrestigeClassic]

The pic was recent to the article: I recognize the shirt. By 1995, Sampras' specs were up there. The help prove, the stringjob is also tubed, which might point to Sampras' high tensions with thinner gut, which sort of correlated with his beefier specs. Very strange, the particular frame must have started very heavy or Sampras was trying a higher number of but shorter strips.

 

[hoodjem]

That would be an L7 ? :grin:

Not L but H7.

 

[Greg Raven]

edberg used bumperless frames.

no, this is not an actual sampras racquet, but a representation of his setup.

go to http://homepage.mac.com/gregraven/tennis/PhotoAlbum21.html and it will tell you that.

No, this was one of Sampras' actual racquets. By "representative," I meant to say that although Sampras did change the modifications during his career, the specs on this racquet are going to be close to those of others of his racquets.

The strings are not gut, and this racquet was not strung by Nate Ferguson, but otherwise, this was one of Pete's racquets.

 

[Jack & Coke]

Hi Greg,

so did Sampras use this particular racquet in a match, or was it just one of his practice sticks?

Thanks

 

[Greg Raven]

Hi Greg,

so did Sampras use this particular racquet in a match, or was it just one of his practice sticks?

Thanks

I don't know, but it was clearly used when USRSA got it.

 

[TNT16]

how much lead tape

There is a photo of Sampras in the current issue of Tennis Week with Sampras leaning on his racquet (1996); the racquet and particularly the amount and placement of lead tape is exactly as shown in the picture

http://homepage.mac.com/gregraven/tennis/PhotoAlbum21.html

 

[quest01]

From that article i didnt realize Agassi used such a heavy racket. Thats got to kill your arm swinging a racket that weighs 13 ounces or more.

 

[Jack & Coke]

Thats got to kill your arm swinging a racket that weighs 13 ounces or more.

not really.. depends all on how you swing it. (i.e. technique)

 

[TNT16]

I understand wood racquets were in the 14 ounce range . . . I don't recall my Maxply feeling heavy . . . Thomas Muster played with 14 ounce plus (400 g) modern racquet and described the new 12 ounce plus Kneissl racquet which he endorses as "a toy"

 

[War Safin!]

From that article i didnt realize Agassi used such a heavy racket. Thats got to kill your arm swinging a racket that weighs 13 ounces or more.

Depends on where/how the swingweight is distributed. I'm in my 30s, use a LiquidMetal Prestige with 15g of lead added to it, making it just over 13oz.....I can swing it for 2 hours without even noticing it....

 

[Smasher08]

Given that his vibration dampener was also his racket's balance point, it may very well have been very close to even balanced.

 

[austintennis2005]

Given that his vibration dampener was also his racket's balance point, it may very well have been very close to even balanced.

hingis looks mesmerized

 

[HRB]

Given that his vibration dampener was also his racket's balance point, it may very well have been very close to even balanced.

No way! The racquet is 27 inches long (assuming a standard), like all racquets, putting 13.5" as the "even" balance point...pretty much BELOW the grommets.

The "balance act" your looking at is Pete putting his finger in the hole of his famous "O-Ring" style dampener, and he is moving around, you're looking at a static photo.

The reality is when we are talking "points head light" or the opposite, we are talking 1-1.5" inches north or south of 13.5" at the most! 1 "point" is an 1/8th of an inch...therefore even the balance of an extremely head light stick (Say 11 points) only correlates to 1 and 3/8" inch below 13.5"!

A balance point at that dampener would be a good 2" above even...making that stick 16 points HEAD HEAVY...ouch...talk about swing weight!!!! Arm Breaker:twisted::twisted::twisted: