Racket matching and balancing

[Irvin]

I made two videos on matching racket here is the thread link. If you try it please let me know what you think of it.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=378175&highlight=racket+matching

EDIT: The video(s) are way longer than I think they need to be. If you feel the same let me know. This is very simple and it works.

Irvin

 

[struggle]

yeah, maybe longer than needed but not painfully so.

i understand the 10cm you chose yet the dowel lengths seem arbitrary to me. care to explain how you came up with those?

I'm about to match my three sticks and while i won't do it the same way, it was helpful. i'll be using one scale only and a balance board, i guess.

lastly, hope you didn't need the heimlich maneuver at the end of part 2!!

thanks for posting/ making those.

 

[Irvin]

10 cm is because that is the industry standard for computing swing weight. What I was looking for is the same force in each racket where it is balanced in your hand. The other two points are just because it is easy 40 and 60 cm instead of 43.8 or whatever.

Irvin

 

[Irvin]

...I'm about to match my three sticks and while i won't do it the same way, it was helpful. i'll be using one scale only and a balance board, i guess...

Curious why you would want to use a balance board since it only tells you where the balance point is but gives you no useful information as to where to put the weight or how much weight to add.

Irvin

 

[struggle]

the scale will give me total weights and the balance board will help tell me where to add weight.

i'll use the TW customizer page as well.

what am i missing?

 

[Irvin]

Let's assume you only have two rackets to match up and Racket A weight 5 grams more than Racket B and the balance points are about the same. Where do you add the weight? More than likely you will put 5 grams of weight on the rackets and keep moving it around until you get the rackets to balance at the point you want. If it is impossible to get the rackets to balance at the point you want you will add maybe 10 grams to Racket B and 5 grams to Racket A and move it around willy nilly until the rackets balance at the point you want them to balance at. No matter what you will add 5 grams more to the lighter racket. To you that makes perfect sense but I think your rackets may be more out of balance then when you started.

If you use the TW tool there is a lot more work to do figuring out the swing weights and if you don't have an app for your iphone it is going to introduce more error.

Using my method let's assume Racket A a weighs +2 grams at the handle and +3 grams at the head. Using my method I know I need to add 2 grams to Racket B at the handle and 3 grams at the head and the balance will be perfect and the swing weight will be so close you can't tell the difference.

The more tools you use the more you are going to introduce errors. I weighed the two rackets I used and added 3 grams to the head. The scales have a tolerance of +/- 1 gram so the rackets could have been off 1 gram. When I tested using the the TW calculator for SW the rackets were 329 and 330. When I used an RDC they were off 6 Kgcmcm. Using the RDC I could have matched them both up to a SW of 334 using 1 gram of lead.

Irvin

 

[cmendez79]

Let's assume you only have two rackets to match up and Racket A weight 5 grams more than Racket B and the balance points are about the same. Where do you add the weight? More than likely you will put 5 grams of weight on the rackets and keep moving it around until you get the rackets to balance at the point you want. If it is impossible to get the rackets to balance at the point you want you will add maybe 10 grams to Racket B and 5 grams to Racket A and move it around willy nilly until the rackets balance at the point you want them to balance at. No matter what you will add 5 grams more to the lighter racket. To you that makes perfect sense but I think your rackets may be more out of balance then when you started.

If you use the TW tool there is a lot more work to do figuring out the swing weights and if you don't have an app for your iphone it is going to introduce more error.

Using my method let's assume Racket A a weighs +2 grams at the handle and +3 grams at the head. Using my method I know I need to add 2 grams to Racket B at the handle and 3 grams at the head and the balance will be perfect and the swing weight will be so close you can't tell the difference.

The more tools you use the more you are going to introduce errors. I weighed the two rackets I used and added 3 grams to the head. The scales have a tolerance of +/- 1 gram so the rackets could have been off 1 gram. When I tested using the the TW calculator for SW the rackets were 329 and 330. When I used an RDC they were off 6 Kgcmcm. Using the RDC I could have matched them both up to a SW of 334 using 1 gram of lead.

Irvin

Hi Irvin,

One question...

In the RDC machine I often see the get the SW without strings in the raquects. What is best to have or not to have strings in the raquect at the momento to get the SW in this RDC machines , like Prince Tune center, etc.

Of it does not affect at all??

Thanks

 

[Irvin]

Have fun today and worry about the small stuff tomorrow - S O'Hara

I guess it is six of one and a half dozen of the other. If I start thinking any harder I may have a brain cramp. Keep it simple. I really don't care too much about swing weight. If I did I would have matched mine up instead of leaving them at 228 and 334 swing weights. I plan to get some scales that will measure +/- 0.1 grams and check them again. I think if the weights are that close the Swing weight will be very close. What the heck that is what swing weight is all about weight distribution. And if the two weights I use are even the balance point is identical. What more is there to worry about?

My scales right now are +/- 1 gram and 1 gram added to the racket is 0 to 5 Kgcmcm on my rackets.

Irvin

 

[drummerdan]

Thanks for the video. Even though I do very similar things, I am striving to be more consistent and accurate so I think I'll be making some jigs this weekend!!

 

[fortun8son]

Swingweight affects the speed of your swing. If you are going to match the racquets, you should match this too. I know. Another variable. My brain hurts, too.

 

[Irvin]

Swing weight may effect the speed of your swing. If you get the total weight, balance and weight distribution the same the swing weight will be close enough if not the same. The scales I used are accurate to +/- 1 gram which means the weight could be off as much as a gram. That just happens to be the weight I need to match the rackets up on the RDC. First I want to see what happens when I get new scales.

Irvin

 

[JavierLW]

So if you only have one scale, do you just make a "jig" that raises the racquet at the same height as the one on the scale, take a measurement, and then flip the racquet around and take another measurement?

 

[Irvin]

Good question but let's say you have a 300 gram racket and you place it on two support points and one supports 190 grams. What do you think the other will suppot? You guessed it the two have to add up to 300 grams. You don't have to have two scales just use one. The main weight you are trying to get right is the head weight because that is what you feel. Get that right and you are well on your way.

Irvin

 

[rich s]

So if you only have one scale, do you just make a "jig" that raises the racquet at the same height as the one on the scale, take a measurement, and then flip the racquet around and take another measurement?

to get accurate measurements you do need a jig or some sort of device to lift the racquet to level it while you are weighing the head or handle ends, however you do not need to turn it around to measure the weight at the other end.... simply subtract the weight of the one end from the total weight as Irvin suggets.