Kimiko Date's 385g racket!

[bluetrain4]

If it's true, 13.5 oz isn't crazy heavy. Yes, it's much more than a lot of players use today, but I still don't find it that unbelievable. Her strokes are extremely compact. She's not taking Soderling or Nadal cuts at the ball. So, she can play with a heavier frame not worrying about being late on a massive swing. And, her game is based on redirecting other player's pace, and a heavy frame is perfect for that.

I read once that Sabatini's Prince OS frame was 14.1 oz. Mandlikova's Ultra 2 was around 13 oz. And, think of all those women with bulky wood frames in the past. If you develop your game with a certain type of frame, you'll get used to it. Date is obviously used to the weight. If you have good technique, a heavy frame is doable. It does a lot of the work for you in a way a light frame can't.

[uk_skippy]

Also, IIRC she had 1 strung @ 61lbs and the other at 63lbs in VS gut 1.3

Regards

Paul

[nickarnold2000]

Originally Posted by ilian

Believe me, there are a lot of pros out there playing with heavier racquets. By the way, I strung Jim Courier's racquet a week ago and it was not as heavy as I thought. He is using the new Donnay racquets now. By the way, I didn't measure the weight or balance. There was lead at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions.

What other current singles pro is using such a heavy racket?

[ilian]

Originally Posted by nickarnold2000

What other current singles pro is using such a heavy racket?

I am not sure about the most famous players, but there are thousands of people on the tour and some of them have their racquets leaded to the point where you wouldn't believe...

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by bluetrain4

If it's true, 13.5 oz isn't crazy heavy. Yes, it's much more than a lot of players use today, but I still don't find it that unbelievable. Her strokes are extremely compact. She's not taking Soderling or Nadal cuts at the ball. So, she can play with a heavier frame not worrying about being late on a massive swing. And, her game is based on redirecting other player's pace, and a heavy frame is perfect for that.

I read once that Sabatini's Prince OS frame was 14.1 oz. Mandlikova's Ultra 2 was around 13 oz. And, think of all those women with bulky wood frames in the past. If you develop your game with a certain type of frame, you'll get used to it. Date is obviously used to the weight. If you have good technique, a heavy frame is doable. It does a lot of the work for you in a way a light frame can't.

I agree with the benefits of a heavy racquet.

Sampras' PS 6.0 85 was about 14 oz. Most wood racquets back in the day were 13 oz. to 14 oz.

Oh, and Roman Prokes of RPNY once stated that the heaviest racquet of any pro that he strung for, man or woman, was Gabriela Sabatini's.

[sureshs]

Might account for her awkward forehand

[VGP]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Might account for her awkward forehand

No, her forehand looks awkward because she's naturally left handed.

[thebuffman]

i took a look at kimiko's strokes and see why she plays with a heavy racquet. she is a definite pusher. she doesn't have any loop at all on the forehand. the stroke starts from the ground with a short up stroke/push. pretty much her racquet does all the work for her. seems to work just fine for her.

[ryushen21]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

I agree with the benefits of a heavy racquet.

Sampras' PS 6.0 85 was about 14 oz. Most wood racquets back in the day were 13 oz. to 14 oz.

Oh, and Roman Prokes of RPNY once stated that the heaviest racquet of any pro that he strung for, man or woman, was Gabriela Sabatini's.

IIRC, I read some where that some of his frames were even heavier. Around the 16 oz. mark. I'll do some digging and see if I can find that.

Just for shiggles though, I played with a 396g frame for a while. Stability was killer.

[15_ounce]

Originally Posted by nickarnold2000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCF9n...eature=related

Has any one done a thread on this before? Check out her bagcheck and her very heavy sticks!

And my racquet is around 400 g

[slice bh compliment]

Originally Posted by 120mphBodyServe

Heavy racquets are good.
Anyone who disagrees is a pansy.
THE END.

Hahahahaaaa, it's funny because it's true.

It's a 40 yr old lady with a heavier racquet than most pansies can bear to use.

[mtommer]

Originally Posted by thebuffman

i took a look at kimiko's strokes and see why she plays with a heavy racquet. she is a definite pusher. she doesn't have any loop at all on the forehand. the stroke starts from the ground with a short up stroke/push. pretty much her racquet does all the work for her. seems to work just fine for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDfD...eature=related
Go to 3:30 to 4:05. She's not a pusher. Pushers don't go for winners. They rely entirely upon their opponent missing.

Anyway, she has no loop because she needs no loop to mentally help her track the ball and coordinate that physically. I know you may think she's letting her racquet do all the work but take it from someone who uses a 381 gram racquet, she's not.

[thebuffman]

Originally Posted by mtommer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDfD...eature=related
Go to 3:30 to 4:05. She's not a pusher. Pushers don't go for winners. They rely entirely upon their opponent missing.

Anyway, she has no loop because she needs no loop to mentally help her track the ball and coordinate that physically. I know you may think she's letting her racquet do all the work but take it from someone who uses a 381 gram racquet, she's not.

i disagree respectfully. pushers do go for winners especially the short ball (at least at the professional level). i do see your point though of her not being a pusher. i will concede that. she does however use the weight of the racquet to her advantage which is smart i might add since it works for her. a full loop is not about tracking the ball though. tracking the ball is the duty of the left hand not the racquet. the full loop allows for effortless power as it uses gravity to help generate incredible speed.

oh and i use to play with 385-398g racquets. i used a full loop.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by ryushen21

IIRC, I read some where that some of his frames were even heavier. Around the 16 oz. mark. I'll do some digging and see if I can find that.

Nope. Nate Ferguson stated that he used to customize Sampras's ProStaffs to be close to 400g, which would make them about 14 oz.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by slice bh compliment

Hahahahaaaa, it's funny because it's true.

It's a 40 yr old lady with a heavier racquet than most pansies can bear to use.

Not only that she's 40 years old, but she's also a small, skinny, petite little lady (5' 4", 117 lbs.).

Now you have 20 year-old, 6' 2", 200 lb. men complaining that 10 oz. racquets are too heavy for them. How funny.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by thebuffman

she does however use the weight of the racquet to her advantage which is smart i might add since it works for her.

Well, of course it's smart. I mean why use a heavy racquet if you're not going to use the weight to your advantage, right? That's the whole point of adding weight to your racquet, isn't it?

[mtommer]

Originally Posted by thebuffman

a full loop is not about tracking the ball though.

Probably not but it is for me. *shrug*

Originally Posted by thebuffman

the full loop allows for effortless power as it uses gravity to help generate incredible speed.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure. More to the point I'm not so sure gravity is a significant factor in achieving swing speed as opposed to someone deciding when to "turn on" their racquet speed as they strike at the ball. By this I mean that watching her hit she obviously isn't lacking any power or racquet head speed and I doubt she'd gain anything more by having a "full" loop or that her mechanics would be changed if she played with a 10 ounce racquet.

From my own experience of just playing around I've found that my shots maintain their speed and spin etc. so long as I have allowed myself enough time to get my "okaaaaayyy aaaannndddd swing NOW" point matched with my timing to ball contact. The additional distance of a loop vs a short (or just let the racquet head drop and settle) take back changed nothing however I feel more comfortable using a loop in my take back which has to do with my timing the ball strike as I want it.

At any rate, I'm just relating my own experiences. Your "mileage" obviously varies.

[Big_Dangerous]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

Not only that she's 40 years old, but she's also a small, skinny, petite little lady (5' 4", 117 lbs.).

Now you have 20 year-old, 6' 2", 200 lb. men complaining that 10 oz. racquets are too heavy for them. How funny.

Who complained that a 10 oz racket is too heavy? Really? All the top rackets that sell on TW in Babolat, Head, Wilson etc that aren't for juniors are over 10 oz unstrung.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by Big_Dangerous

Who complained that a 10 oz racket is too heavy? Really? All the top rackets that sell on TW in Babolat, Head, Wilson etc that aren't for juniors are over 10 oz unstrung.

Read all 5 million posts on this board and you'll find out.

[Wombat_Joe]

Originally Posted by thebuffman

i took a look at kimiko's strokes and see why she plays with a heavy racquet. she is a definite pusher. she doesn't have any loop at all on the forehand. the stroke starts from the ground with a short up stroke/push. pretty much her racquet does all the work for her. seems to work just fine for her.

You must be a kid?

Kimiko beat Graf and always gave her a run for her money. Even on Grass...

She is no pusher. But she is an "old school" baseliner...

Her strokes are the way they are, because she hits flat and precise. The way it used to be until the early 90's when the game completely changed...