Why so much interest in what the pros use?
 

I'm curious as to why there is so much interest in what the pros use. There was a time when racquet manufacturers made racquets that appealed to pros then marketed them to the general public essentially saying 'if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for you'. Then racquets were all named after pros, i.e. the Jack Kramer, the Pancho Gonzalez, the Tony Trabert, the Chris Evert, the Stan Smith, the Arthur Ashe, and on and on. That all changed when Prince came out with the oversized racquet. The pros did not immediately take to them yet the public bought them like hotcakes. Just a couple years ago the best selling Wilson racquet world-wide was a Triad when not a single pro on either the men's or women's tours used one. Is what a pro uses so important? Are people still so starstruck that they will rush out and buy a racquet for no other reason than their favorite pro uses it?

No one buys their favourite pro's racquet these days, because we know they use paintjobs. Well I speak for most people on these boards.

I show interest in what the pro's use because its interesting to know and fun to see if any pro's use YOUR racquet :p

'Cause we are all tennis tragics!

pretty much

You'd be pretty stupid to buy a racquet just because your favourite player etc uses it. I think it's more because they are pros and what there using must be a good racquet. Plus yer its interesting to know how they have their setups.

i'm actually wondering if any player uses the frame we see it, i get the feeling (specially when i read this forum) that all frames are pj's. is there any top 100player using what we see (i'm not talking about customizing)?

There are top 100 players who use what you see, mostly 03 users and babolats as they are hard to paintjob.

Yes (to a lot of people) and yes (I submit as evidence, the 'K-factor' thread in the Racquets section LOL).

they are famous people want to know. Why do you think tabloids sell so much.

I guess its part of the fun of tennis. Watching Fed hit sweet backhands with his nCode makes me want to hit the same type of backhand. So I figure if I'm going try to resemble his stroke mechanics I mind as well have the racquet as close as possible to what he uses.

Because people have the false belief that using a racquet that a pro uses will automatically benefit their own game.

In fact I would bet my life that if a study was done, it would be determined that people who use racquets that their favorite pro uses play worse with that racquet than if they used one that was based on what feels best for them.

lots of people around here seem to define themselves as tennis players because of what they use rather than their ability. this forum isnt indicative of how things are in the real tennis world.

Yeah, but as ridiculous as we are, golfers are a whole different asylum...

...MAXIMUM SECURITY!!!

Notice how the Racquets forum has well over double the number of threads as the Tennis Tips forum.

I used to go to some guitar player forums and it was the exact same way over there. People buy all this fancy equipment (based on what their favorite bands use), yet they suck horribly and wonder why they can't reproduce the same sound as the bands.

aye..that's one of the reasons why i've retired from golf, in addition to expensive, time consuming, fattening, etc

ya man..i can see it. lots of people who can basically only play 3 chords trying to school professionals on the forum. the equivalent happens around here

I wonder if any other sport has paintjobs. Cricket just cannot, you just can't paint wood to look like another bat....

i think paintjobs exist all over the place and in different professions. maybe the guitar guy in this forum will confirm, but a musician friend of mine claims guitars are sometimes paintjobbed.

Are you talking about painting the racquet to look like a different racquet than they are actually using? If so, how common is this? And are they usually using an older racquet model by the same brand or are they using a completely different brand than what the paintjob appears? If you get on the ATP site and it lists their racquet, is that the paintjob of the racquet or the real racquet?

The disproportionate focus on pros' racquets is due to people's unwillingness to acknowledge that 'it's the Indian, not the arrows'.

People are always looking for short cuts...maybe if they get Federer's setup, then maybe some of that magic dust will rub off on them...hell, it's a lot easier than practicing.

It's the same reason why people ask stars for an autograph. They want a personal connection to the player. "I use the same racquet Andre Agassi does".