Same racket, different length

[kuzinrufus]

Hello! I bought 2 Head MicroGEL Radical OS rackets a little more than a year ago. Great rackets except... the other day I happened to notice that they aren't the same length! One is about 1/4 inch shorter. I haven't brought it back to the shop yet, but I'm a little concerned about what the answer will be. Don't know how long the warranty is if any. Anyway, the question is, what kind of difference will that 1/4 inch make? I'm about a 3.5 player so it's not like I'm making a living with these rackets. But seems like if it says 27" on the racket it should be 27", even if they don't make the model anymore and I bought them on closeout. Any thoughts?

[Ramon]

Since they are over a year old, you'll just have to keep them and make do with what you have. A couple things I want to point out are:

1) Racquet heads can deform due to a number of reasons, the most obvious being string tension. Over the course of a year, the deformation can potentially be very noticeable.

2) Manufacturers have specification tolerances. 1/4" does seem a bit much, but if it happens to be in their tolerances, it's not a defect by their definition.

[ThomasTerrible]

I measured my APDGT just now - it's 27" exactly. Maybe 0,1-0,2 mm off, but that can be forgiven..

A difference of 1/4 inches (6,35 mm) is huge. It's one thing to get the weight slightly wrong, since it involves lots of different materials with varying density, but I can't imagine the big companies having tolerances of +/- 1/4 inches in length.

[jnd28]

Make sure the but cap hasn't slipped on the one that is longer. Figure out which one is correct and either shorten the that is long or lengthen the one that is short.
Either is a simple mod and only take a couple of minutes.


jnd28

[Ennismt]

I have two Wilson Six One Teams that were 1/4 apart. One was 1/8 inch short of 27 inches, the other 1/8 too long. I ended up sawing the long one down a 1/4 inch. Wasn't real pretty but it worked out to get them the same length. I was told that the 1/8 inch difference was within tolerance and not considered a defect.

[movdqa]

I have a Pro Kennex Ki5 PSE that came in at 27 1/4 - I actually preferred the extra length. If you have two and one is longer with the same strings and tension (or you measure both without strings), then you could cut the longer one or just choke up a little on it.

As others mentioned, check the buttcap and pallets if you can. It is possible that the pallets are out a little further from the hairpin.

[Power Player]

Are you measuring them both unstrung? That is key.