sampras' racquet

[agarasbattier]

I was looking through the posts trying to find spects on his custome racquets but couldn't. I know he used 1/4 in lead tape at 3 and 9 o'clock. How long were the pieces? Did he use a piece below and above the grommet or just one piece with the grommets punched through the lead?

 

[chiru]

above and below, the grommets, no holes punched, just two strips. each strip about 6.5" in lenght with several layers, not sure how many, guessing around four. he also counterbalanced the handle such that the racket was balanced evenly and his grip was totally customized by nate ferguson (his racket guy). used babolat vs 17g natural gut at around 75 lbs tension (usually, 18g (squash strings) on grass).

 

[DavisI]

I saw Pete in a World Team Tennis match the other day and he seems to be using a Tour 90 now, at least that's what it looked like to me. And he is very rusty. Still good to see him in action though.

 

[chiru]

yeah he is using some tour 90 right now (lets not get into the ncode vs. graphite argument) but im tlaking about when he was using his trusy 6.0 85. i must say, if im to choose which racket setup to emulate sampras now or then, i say then. he sucks now.

 

[quest01]

yeah he is using some tour 90 right now (lets not get into the ncode vs. graphite argument) but im tlaking about when he was using his trusy 6.0 85. i must say, if im to choose which racket setup to emulate sampras now or then, i say then. he sucks now.

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk. Stick with the Ncode tour 90, because if he went back into playing with his original racquet he would be losing love and love.

By the way why doesnt Sampras add lead tape to the 12 oclock position? Why just 3 and 9?

 

[Soundbyte]

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk.

I think you may have just started a fire...

 

[uxnaitoahz]

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[PBODY99]

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk. Stick with the Ncode tour 90, because if he went back into playing with his original racquet he would be losing love and love.

By the way why doesnt Sampras add lead tape to the 12 oclock position? Why just 3 and 9?

To increase torsional stabilty. 12 o'clock incrases swingweight.

 

[SFrazeur]

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk.

Have you even used a PS 85?

If you have, and just could not use it properly, that does not mean that it is junk.

If you cannot use a stick shift, that does not mean that stick shift cars are junk.

I think you may have just started a fire...

Understatement.

HAHAHAHAH.........

Well put.

 

[chiru]

alright ps 85 boys, lets have at him. lol. actually im having trouble with teh ps 85, but its only my second day, surprisingly, i miss the stability of my ncode tour 90!! also the bigger headsize allows more spin on my groundies, my eastern forehand is way better than ever with the 85, but not my usual inbetween eastern and semi-western. blasted, just gotta use it some more i guess.

 

[sureshs]

alright ps 85 boys, lets have at him. lol. actually im having trouble with teh ps 85, but its only my second day, surprisingly, i miss the stability of my ncode tour 90!! also the bigger headsize allows more spin on my groundies, my eastern forehand is way better than ever with the 85, but not my usual inbetween eastern and semi-western. blasted, just gotta use it some more i guess.

Hey Karthick is jumping ship at least you might be replacing him

 

[Greg Raven]

I was looking through the posts trying to find spects on his custome racquets but couldn't. I know he used 1/4 in lead tape at 3 and 9 o'clock. How long were the pieces? Did he use a piece below and above the grommet or just one piece with the grommets punched through the lead?

Here are some photos of one of Pete Sampras' racquets, with some close-ups of the lead tape application. I hope you can tell from these photos how immaculate Nate Ferguson's work is.

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

 

[ericsson]

great pics greg, but i found it strange his grip don't look so huge as it should be according to some talk here on the board and things i read from nate ferguson. they were talking about an L 7

 

[LoneGun]

alright ps 85 boys, lets have at him. lol. actually im having trouble with teh ps 85, but its only my second day, surprisingly, i miss the stability of my ncode tour 90!! also the bigger headsize allows more spin on my groundies, my eastern forehand is way better than ever with the 85, but not my usual inbetween eastern and semi-western. blasted, just gotta use it some more i guess.

I think that's the reason why wilson change the characteristics of pro staff. More stability is needed for today's fast baseline games and for returns scuds like the ones from Roddick. Wilson didn't change the charateristics just to incorporate "nano" technology, which IMO is not a real nano technology and just a bunch of BS, they changed it to sacrifice feel for stability. I don't think it's a wrong strategy, but it would definately **** off old ps users. I guess it's up to you to decide whether this sacrifice is worth it.

 

[Greg Raven]

great pics greg, but i found it strange his grip don't look so huge as it should be according to some talk here on the board and things i read from nate ferguson. they were talking about an L 7

I hadn't read that. The racquet in the photos has a grip that is exactly 4-5/8 inches, with the Tournagrip.

 

[Mike Cottrill]

I hadn't read that. The racquet in the photos has a grip that is exactly 4-5/8 inches, with the Tournagrip.

Greg, what string is in that raq?
Thanks
Mike

 

[PrestigeClassic]

great pics greg, but i found it strange his grip don't look so huge as it should be according to some talk here on the board and things i read from nate ferguson. they were talking about an L 7

Nate Ferguson would never have said anything like that. As Greg Raven mentioned, Sampras used a size in between a 4 and a 5 (before overgrip).

 

[travlerajm]

Has anyone else tried the Sampras setup besides me? I had tried it with 15 g at 3 and 9 and 12g at the top of the handle at 7" from the butt (before I saw Greg Raven's pictures confirming that my setup was close). It was a nice stick for every shot, much better than stock, but very high swingweight. If you have the time to train your shoulder gradually until you can handle it without needing rest days, I highly recommend it. I don't have my PS85 anymore, but I still have most of my other racquets set up with the same weighting style as the Sampras setup, just not quite as high SW.

 

[Greg Raven]

Greg, what string is in that raq?
Thanks
Mike

It's some generic string that USRSA put in there for the U.S. Open Kids' Day, a few years back. It's a nylon of some sort, and you'll note that the Babolat stencil is incorrect. Oops! Definitely NOT a Nate Ferguson string job.

 

[Greg Raven]

Has anyone else tried the Sampras setup besides me?[...]

I hit with this racquet a few years back. I was using a heavier racquet at the time, which had a much lower swingweight. To me, it felt exactly like a Wilson Pro Staff Original 6.0 Midsize that had been weighted up, which is to say that I didn't care for it much. To my way of feeling, the Pro Staff 6.0 Midsize has a funny vibration on impact that I could never get used to, although to be fair, I never spent much time trying to do so.

With that said, however, we've got an old Pro Staff Midsize with a 15 mm beam, mains that are just about evenly spaced, and a flex of 44 RDC. If you don't string it up to about 70, it is a ball launcher, but I actually like the way that racquet feels. If it had Wilson's proportional string spacing (whatever Wilson calls that technology), this could be a heck of a racquet.

 

[chiru]

Has anyone else tried the Sampras setup besides me? I had tried it with 15 g at 3 and 9 and 12g at the top of the handle at 7" from the butt (before I saw Greg Raven's pictures confirming that my setup was close). It was a nice stick for every shot, much better than stock, but very high swingweight. If you have the time to train your shoulder gradually until you can handle it without needing rest days, I highly recommend it. I don't have my PS85 anymore, but I still have most of my other racquets set up with the same weighting style as the Sampras setup, just not quite as high SW.

did sampras counter balance it at 7" from the butt? how does that work? also greg is that like 3 layers of lead tape, am i right in saying that the longest stretch is about 6.5" long. just eyeballing the second one looks like about 6" and the next one maybe 3"ish? so if you put all that tape you need to counterbalance? and if so where and how/ how much?

 

[Galactus]

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk. Stick with the Ncode tour 90, because if he went back into playing with his original racquet he would be losing love and love.

By the way why doesnt Sampras add lead tape to the 12 oclock position? Why just 3 and 9?

Two classic examples of 'I-don't-know-what-I'm-talking-about'.

 

[SFrazeur]

Two classic examples of 'I-don't-know-what-I'm-talking-about'.

Yep. Also, Quest01 still will not answer my question. Where is he hiding?

 

[The ball was in]

Hi all,

I take it this isn't a proper match spec racquet (altho, i will probably start a war after saying that lol). The only reason for saying that is because I always thought Sampras used power pads....again, he might well have changed that late on in his career but I do remember seeing them on his racquets before.

Apologies if this information is incorrect.

Greg, great pics by the way.

 

[Original 6.0]

Nah the 6.0 85 racquet to todays standard is a piece of junk.

YOU're a piece of junk maybe... :roll:

 

[Greg Raven]

[...]I take it this isn't a proper match spec racquet (altho, i will probably start a war after saying that lol). The only reason for saying that is because I always thought Sampras used power pads.[...]

Did you miss my post where I mentioned that neither the strings nor string job were "original"?

 

[Greg Raven]

did sampras counter balance it at 7" from the butt? how does that work? also greg is that like 3 layers of lead tape, am i right in saying that the longest stretch is about 6.5" long. just eyeballing the second one looks like about 6" and the next one maybe 3"ish? so if you put all that tape you need to counterbalance? and if so where and how/ how much?

I don't know if there is additional weight under the grip, and I'm NOT going to take this racquet apart to find out. If you had the original specs for the racquet, you could calculate (or at least, guestimate) whether there was any additional weight under the grip because: 1) you'd need more weight somewhere in the racquet, and 2) the balance and swingweight would be off from the measured specs of this racquet.

Even if you just knew the balance of the unmodified version of this racquet, you'd have a pretty good idea if there was extra weight under the grip. Unfortunately, I don't have an original, unmodified St. Vincent Pro Staff Midsize against which to compare.

 

[acetennisman]

I dont understand how he got even balance. I once used an n six one tour 90 with about idk... 1.4 oz of lead from 9-12 and 12-3 and i didnt even get the balance close enough to even. You said that nate added some counter balance under the grip. Are you referring to balancing out the lead tape that was added.

 

[acetennisman]

sorry double post

 

[quest01]

Have you even used a PS 85?

If you have, and just could not use it properly, that does not mean that it is junk.

If you cannot use a stick shift, that does not mean that stick shift cars are junk.




Understatement.



Well put.

Thats why i said to todays standard. That racquet is about 20 years old, give me a break.

 

[stormholloway]

I'm surprised to hear that Pete is playing with a different racquet than the one that he used to win 14 majors...

BUT, why don't you people just play with what feels good instead of worrying about what Pete used? There's no magic combination of lead tape and string tension that will make you better.

It stinks of wannabe.

 

[The ball was in]

Did you miss my post where I mentioned that neither the strings nor string job were "original"?

Apologies for that Greg...as mentioned i probably skimmed over that part....looked at the pics straight away!!

As mentioned, great pics and info on the racquet

 

[KBalla08]

i saw his racquet today at WTT up close and it looked exactly like federer's... cause i looked at the pics of fed's before i left and it was the same..

 

[chiru]

I don't know if there is additional weight under the grip, and I'm NOT going to take this racquet apart to find out. If you had the original specs for the racquet, you could calculate (or at least, guestimate) whether there was any additional weight under the grip because: 1) you'd need more weight somewhere in the racquet, and 2) the balance and swingweight would be off from the measured specs of this racquet.

Even if you just knew the balance of the unmodified version of this racquet, you'd have a pretty good idea if there was extra weight under the grip. Unfortunately, I don't have an original, unmodified St. Vincent Pro Staff Midsize against which to compare.

yeah i didn't expect you to take it apart, just asking if it was common knowledge or soemthing how he counter weighted it. in fact if you took it apart looking for lead and crap, i might just have to declare you insane.

 

[harryz]

What is "today's standard?"

"Thats why i said to todays standard. That racquet is about 20 years old, give me a break."- Quest

I'm curious, Quest. Why is today's standard relevant for equipment? It seems to me that most top players ignore today's racquets and "advancements," using paint jobs and older frames. Racquets were pretty damn good 20 years ago and many top pros use the same technology. Training and preparation among pros, top juniors and college players are what has changed, more than the technology. Kids are cross training and weight training, working on flexibility and eating better. They are bigger, stronger and more fit than before.

As for equipment, it's interesting how guys tend to stay with frames for years once they find racquets that work. I'm thinking of Philippousis and the PC 600, Safin with same, Fed with painted/custom 6.0, Hewitt with RD Tour, Blake with custom 200G MW or similar, and so on... much of which is 10+ year old technology. Look at the top guys' equipment and you'll largely see thinner beams (22mm or less) and more control oriented frames. The PC 600 hasn't changed much since it was the Prestige Pro 20 years ago, the nCode 90 (or the paint job Fed uses) is still very close to the 6.0 85 and the Yonex frames used by Hewitt and Nalbandian are still pretty old school. Not to mention the super popular nCode 6.1, still very close to the 15-20 yr old 6.1 classic. And what about all of the guys who broke through with the POG OS, including Agassi, Costa, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Ferrero, Spadea etc...?

I say hit the gym, get stronger, stretch more, eat better and take better all around care of the body and mind. Equipment is secondary at best. Given that, nice string and control oriented, heavy frames do seem to help IMO...

Go to a challenger event and you'll find that it's still a control game, by the way. At a bigger event, watch the hard hitting qualifiers and guys trying to break through and you may notice that the top guys simply miss less and play smarter-- most don't hit as hard. That's been a constant I've seen over the past 20 years. I remember guys hitting serves in the 130s+ in the early to mid 80s with older racquets, so it's not strictly a technology issue IMO. Does anyone today hit harder than Becker 10-15 years ago? I'd doubt it. So it ain't just power, and racquet technology is not as important as some may think.

 

[magilligan]

Harryz, that post is right on! Being the tennis nut I am, and a science nerd, I was enrolled in a 3 year science research program and decided to make my basic project on what you just said, and that's pretty much the hypothesis that I had. I didn't get to finish this project since I transferred schools and my new school didn't have this kinda of program. But during some of teh "research" that I did, I was able to get Jay Schwied to run several racquets for me to get some specs to give an idea of the difference between today's recreational racquets, "player's frames" a top pro's frame (safin) and a wood frame. (This was when McEnroe and Navratilova were pushing for the return of wooden frames, they probably still are, so that's a moot point). I can't find the specs at the moment, but I'd be more than happy to post them if you want, if anything to further prove Harryz point. Being a junior player myself, I can tell you that fitness, not neccesarily power, is wins you tournaments. For those that don't know, most sectional tournaments are played on weekends, so us kids wont miss much school, if any. And at least in New England, most draws are roughly 32 player draws, which means that you potentially have to win FIVE best of 3 set matches in 2 1/2 days. Fitness is arguably THE biggest factor in tennis today, not racquets.

 

[travlerajm]

"Thats why i said to todays standard. That racquet is about 20 years old, give me a break."- Quest

I'm curious, Quest. Why is today's standard relevant for equipment? It seems to me that most top players ignore today's racquets and "advancements," using paint jobs and older frames. Racquets were pretty damn good 20 years ago and many top pros use the same technology. Training and preparation among pros, top juniors and college players are what has changed, more than the technology. Kids are cross training and weight training, working on flexibility and eating better. They are bigger, stronger and more fit than before.

As for equipment, it's interesting how guys tend to stay with frames for years once they find racquets that work. I'm thinking of Philippousis and the PC 600, Safin with same, Fed with painted/custom 6.0, Hewitt with RD Tour, Blake with custom 200G MW or similar, and so on... much of which is 10+ year old technology. Look at the top guys' equipment and you'll largely see thinner beams (22mm or less) and more control oriented frames. The PC 600 hasn't changed much since it was the Prestige Pro 20 years ago, the nCode 90 (or the paint job Fed uses) is still very close to the 6.0 85 and the Yonex frames used by Hewitt and Nalbandian are still pretty old school. Not to mention the super popular nCode 6.1, still very close to the 15-20 yr old 6.1 classic. And what about all of the guys who broke through with the POG OS, including Agassi, Costa, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Ferrero, Spadea etc...?

I say hit the gym, get stronger, stretch more, eat better and take better all around care of the body and mind. Equipment is secondary at best. Given that, nice string and control oriented, heavy frames do seem to help IMO...

Go to a challenger event and you'll find that it's still a control game, by the way. At a bigger event, watch the hard hitting qualifiers and guys trying to break through and you may notice that the top guys simply miss less and play smarter-- most don't hit as hard. That's been a constant I've seen over the past 20 years. I remember guys hitting serves in the 130s+ in the early to mid 80s with older racquets, so it's not strictly a technology issue IMO. Does anyone today hit harder than Becker 10-15 years ago? I'd doubt it. So it ain't just power, and racquet technology is not as important as some may think.

In the last 20 years, the biggest advance in pro racquet technology has been that every top pro now has high swingweight with finely tuned weight and balance. It used to be that only the top few guys were in on the secret, and the rest used stock frames. But now it's the top 200 guys. This a major reason why the depth of men's tennis has increased a lot during this period.

 

[PrestigeClassic]

In the last 20 years, the biggest advance in pro racquet technology has been that every top pro now has high swingweight with finely tuned weight and balance. It used to be that only the top few guys were in on the secret, and the rest used stock frames. But now it's the top 200 guys. This a major reason why the depth of men's tennis has increased a lot during this period.

The depth of men's tennis is stronger than 20 years ago because of an RDC machine. And I'm Santa Claus.

No, you're only seeing a part of a general trend where every detail is scrutinized and controlled, which is the reason why the biggest thing that separates guys around No. 200 is mental toughness. Even that is studied much more than before. This is all just a product of technology, insight. Twenty years ago, was there even an RDC? How many people studied or cared about sports science, nutrition?

High swingweight? Relative to...?

 

[travlerajm]

The depth of men's tennis is stronger than 20 years ago because of an RDC machine. And I'm Santa Claus.

No, you're only seeing a part of a general trend where every detail is scrutinized and controlled, which is the reason why the biggest thing that separates guys around No. 200 is mental toughness. Even that is studied much more than before. This is all just a product of technology, insight. Twenty years ago, was there even an RDC? How many people studied or cared about sports science, nutrition?

High swingweight? Relative to...?

I think you didn't read what I wrote very carefully. I didn't say it was the biggest reason for the increase in depth. I just said it was a major reason. And the main point of my post was what I think is the biggest advance in racquet technology for the pro game. Your comments about mental toughness, training, and nutrition are venturing off topic.

What do YOU think is the biggest advance in racquet technology in the laast 20 years? Or is your contention that racquet technology has not advanced at all as far as the pros are concerned?

 

[Galactus]

Has anyone else tried the Sampras setup besides me? I had tried it with 15 g at 3 and 9 and 12g at the top of the handle at 7" from the butt (before I saw Greg Raven's pictures confirming that my setup was close). It was a nice stick for every shot, much better than stock, but very high swingweight. If you have the time to train your shoulder gradually until you can handle it without needing rest days, I highly recommend it. I don't have my PS85 anymore, but I still have most of my other racquets set up with the same weighting style as the Sampras setup, just not quite as high SW.

Travler,
I have mine setup as follows:
* 36g of lead-tape (Babolat double-thickness) at 3 and 9 o'clock - in 6-7" strips (it adds up to 3 layers in total) but not layered at various lengths as Sampras' racquet in the photos.
I have no added weight inside the buttcap or on the pallet/handle.

* I have it strung with Babolat VS17 Natural Gut at around 62-64lb tension.

* The racquet's overall weight is then 390g.


I can't begin to tell you how well it plays on all strokes....

 

[ricecooker1280]

Here are some photos of one of Pete Sampras' racquets, with some close-ups of the lead tape application. I hope you can tell from these photos how immaculate Nate Ferguson's work is.

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

Excellent pics Greg. Thanks for putting that up

 

[tnkGod4tns]

"Thats why i said to todays standard. That racquet is about 20 years old, give me a break."- Quest

I'm curious, Quest. Why is today's standard relevant for equipment? It seems to me that most top players ignore today's racquets and "advancements," using paint jobs and older frames. Racquets were pretty damn good 20 years ago and many top pros use the same technology. Training and preparation among pros, top juniors and college players are what has changed, more than the technology. Kids are cross training and weight training, working on flexibility and eating better. They are bigger, stronger and more fit than before.

As for equipment, it's interesting how guys tend to stay with frames for years once they find racquets that work. I'm thinking of Philippousis and the PC 600, Safin with same, Fed with painted/custom 6.0, Hewitt with RD Tour, Blake with custom 200G MW or similar, and so on... much of which is 10+ year old technology. Look at the top guys' equipment and you'll largely see thinner beams (22mm or less) and more control oriented frames. The PC 600 hasn't changed much since it was the Prestige Pro 20 years ago, the nCode 90 (or the paint job Fed uses) is still very close to the 6.0 85 and the Yonex frames used by Hewitt and Nalbandian are still pretty old school. Not to mention the super popular nCode 6.1, still very close to the 15-20 yr old 6.1 classic. And what about all of the guys who broke through with the POG OS, including Agassi, Costa, Hewitt, Nalbandian, Ferrero, Spadea etc...?

I say hit the gym, get stronger, stretch more, eat better and take better all around care of the body and mind. Equipment is secondary at best. Given that, nice string and control oriented, heavy frames do seem to help IMO...

Go to a challenger event and you'll find that it's still a control game, by the way. At a bigger event, watch the hard hitting qualifiers and guys trying to break through and you may notice that the top guys simply miss less and play smarter-- most don't hit as hard. That's been a constant I've seen over the past 20 years. I remember guys hitting serves in the 130s+ in the early to mid 80s with older racquets, so it's not strictly a technology issue IMO. Does anyone today hit harder than Becker 10-15 years ago? I'd doubt it. So it ain't just power, and racquet technology is not as important as some may think.

Very well said, I like the part where you said that fitness is the key, just what like Edberg said that tennis is more of a running game than a hitting game. It's amazing that at the rec. level we pay more attention on practicing our strokes and having the latest gear. I am at that point where I am pretty much satisfied with my strokes and I'm working now on getting fitter. Mainly my goal right now is to lose some pounds, get my legs and core muscles stronger to improve my balance, improve my footwork, eat right, hit the weight room, and making sure that I give my body enough rest and recovery time before I hit the courts. If I can accomplish most of those things I feel that everything about my tennis falls into the right places.

 

[jackson vile]

I was looking through the posts trying to find spects on his custome racquets but couldn't. I know he used 1/4 in lead tape at 3 and 9 o'clock. How long were the pieces? Did he use a piece below and above the grommet or just one piece with the grommets punched through the lead?

Don't forget to sprinkle the magic generously

 

[chiru]

Don't forget to sprinkle the magic generously

how sweet would it be if greg raven posted his pics saying "check out the magic stick" man i hate $.50, blast him and his damn "hoes" stupid pop culture!

 

[maverick1]

Travler,
I have mine setup as follows:
* 36g of lead-tape (Babolat double-thickness) at 3 and 9 o'clock - in 6-7" strips (it adds up to 3 layers in total) but not layered at various lengths as Sampras' racquet in the photos.
I have no added weight inside the buttcap or on the pallet/handle.

* I have it strung with Babolat VS17 Natural Gut at around 62-64lb tension.

* The racquet's overall weight is then 390g.


I can't begin to tell you how well it plays on all strokes....

36g at 3'o clock and 9 clock sounds like an arm-injury waiting to happen. I think you want almost that much weight near the handle to preserve the headlight balance.

Last season, I played with a PS85 with about 28 gms total at 3/9/12 o'clock and found the racket amazing. However, I developed tennis elbow within a couple of weeks. Everything I had heard until then was that more weight = less risk of injury, so I kept playing with the same racket(s) but fewer hours each week. My tennis elbow would flare up after playing and subside to a manageable level in a couple of days. Then I read racketresearch.com; the message I got is head-heavy is very bad. I removed all the lead from the PS85. Now my Tennis elbow has all but disappeared. I think a month of rest in the winter will cure it. If I recover fully, I plan to try something like the Sampras setup(about which I have just learnt)

I am in my 40s. If you are younger, you might not feel anything now, but it could catch up to you at some point and really ruin your fun.

 

[Catalyst]

36g at 3'o clock and 9 clock sounds like an arm-injury waiting to happen. I think you want almost that much weight near the handle to preserve the headlight balance.

Last season, I played with a PS85 with about 28 gms total at 3/9/12 o'clock and found the racket amazing. However, I developed tennis elbow within a couple of weeks. Everything I had heard until then was that more weight = less risk of injury, so I kept playing with the same racket(s) but fewer hours each week. My tennis elbow would flare up after playing and subside to a manageable level in a couple of days. Then I read racketresearch.com; the message I got is head-heavy is very bad. I removed all the lead from the PS85. Now my Tennis elbow has all but disappeared. I think a month of rest in the winter will cure it. If I recover fully, I plan to try something like the Sampras setup(about which I have just learnt)

I am in my 40s. If you are younger, you might not feel anything now, but it could catch up to you at some point and really ruin your fun.

What exactly is the sampras set up? Where and how much? What's final swingweight/balance/static weight?

 

[maverick1]

What exactly is the sampras set up? Where and how much? What's final swingweight/balance/static weight?

See earlier posts, #12 & #18 in this thread

 

[Greg Raven]

[...]What's final swingweight/balance/static weight?

http://www.hdtennis.com/grs/pro_racquet_specs.html

 

[Galactus]

36g at 3'o clock and 9 clock sounds like an arm-injury waiting to happen. I think you want almost that much weight near the handle to preserve the headlight balance.

Last season, I played with a PS85 with about 28 gms total at 3/9/12 o'clock and found the racket amazing. However, I developed tennis elbow within a couple of weeks. Everything I had heard until then was that more weight = less risk of injury, so I kept playing with the same racket(s) but fewer hours each week. My tennis elbow would flare up after playing and subside to a manageable level in a couple of days. Then I read racketresearch.com; the message I got is head-heavy is very bad. I removed all the lead from the PS85. Now my Tennis elbow has all but disappeared. I think a month of rest in the winter will cure it. If I recover fully, I plan to try something like the Sampras setup(about which I have just learnt)

I am in my 40s. If you are younger, you might not feel anything now, but it could catch up to you at some point and really ruin your fun.

Weird to say, but this setup had the total opposite effect on my arm.
I'm in my mid-30s and was using the Prostaff Tour90 and nCode Tour 90 without any weight at all and my arm felt shredded after an hour.

Since I started with 36g of lead at 3 and 9 o'clock, on a Prosdtaff Original, I dont feel anything during or after a 2 hour match, 3x a week.

However, I'm all up for experimentation so I'm going to take 10g off the sides of the head and add it to the pallet and see the effect of that.

 

[War Safin!]

Weird to say, but this setup had the total opposite effect on my arm.
I'm in my mid-30s and was using the Prostaff Tour90 and nCode Tour 90 without any weight at all and my arm felt shredded after an hour.

Since I started with 28g of lead at 3 and 9 o'clock, on a Prosdtaff Original, I dont feel anything during or after a 2 hour match, 3x a week.

However, I'm all up for experimentation so I'm going to take 10g off the sides of the head and add it to the pallet and see the effect of that.

Try adding the same amount to a Prestige Classic 600 - the overall weight should be less by about 7g but the swingweight feels more.
However, you'll find you can serve heavier bombs.....volleying is pretty tough though!