Courier Gear Interview

[Nostradamus]

Originally Posted by realplayer

weight is nothing. swingweight counts. Point is that Nadals racket is not headlight. period.

i got that in reverse. roger has a super low SW. i was wrong, i thought he was like pete sampras and had super heavy racket

[paulorenzo]

Originally Posted by bjsnider

I watched this when it was posted on tennis.com, and I thought Courier's statement that he tells rec players to use poly is strange. The stuff dies after a few hours, and is hard on the arms. He should be telling people to use gut, dammit.

i dont think he's recommending anyone who uses gut to switch to a full bed of poly. he goes on to say he doesn't like using a full bed of poly since it makes finishing a point harder with his already spinny strokes. he instead uses a cheap nylon/synthetic in the mains with a co-poly cross which is a pretty comfortable setup, IMO.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

335 is pretty low for a top tour level player. these guys do so much training that even at SW of 350, i was told racket feels like feather to them. Their Core and shoulder strength is very high. Us amateurs will never know that kind of strength and conditioning.

At 335, the racket must feel like ping pong paddle to Nadal

Well, that would explain why Nadal plays tennis like it was ping pong.

He uses those "ping pong-like" forehand topspin strokes. Wasn't Uncle Toni a former ping pong champ or something?

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by Sinner

JC: Yeah, 385g, all in. Pete was like 400g, and Andre was, I think, right around where I was. Some players are a little lighter. Like Rafa now, he’s in the 330s, very light. But he’s got a racquet that’s hollow and very powerful. And obviously, being such a strong guy, he has unbelievable acceleration with that light frame.

I guess that proves that a heavier racquet is superior to a lighter one since Sampras used to beat both Courier and Agassi on a regular basis. LOL

[paulorenzo]

glad that's cleared up, all this time i thought sampras was just the better player. now to look for some lead tape.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by paulorenzo

glad that's cleared up, all this time i thought sampras was just the better player. now to look for some lead tape.

Maybe Sampras was the better player because he was more able to handle a heavier racquet?

[TennisCJC]

I think Jim's assessment of Roger and Rafa's rackets are wrong. I also think the specs for Rog and Raf in this thread are not quite right.

Rafa is HL but only 2-4 points HL, with static weight under 12 oz and SW in the 350-360 range.

Roger is HL but around 6-8 points HL, with static weight around 364 grams, and SW in the 350-360 range. I have seen several analysis of Roger's racket and never saw a 330 SW. See Greg Raven's analysis and other TW threads.

I agree with Jim that good 3.5+ level and above players can benefit from poly if they use it wisely. My opinion is using poly as a cross is good for most of us if you want more directional control, a touch more spin, and far less string movement. You will need to change strings every 10-20 hours. If you have a really fast swing or a really powerful tweener style racket than using poly mains with a synthetic cross is fine for rec players.

I was last rated 4.0, was rated 4.5 about 2 decades ago and played 5.0 USTA league 30 years ago and won about 30-40% of matches but official ranking never went to 5.0. I like playing with poly strings for the reasons cited above.

[CDestroyer]

Originally Posted by Wilander Fan

I am going to agree with Jim in that Nadal\'s racket is headlight. Ive played with the stock APDs and they are extraordinary headlight. If you lead them up, it just reduces swingspeed so its not a big improvement...still Nadal probably does lead them up somewhat or he would be push around all over the courts on returns.

You and Jim are wrong. Nadals racquets are only 2 points head light. Courier should have said they are light weight(static weight) but 2 points is not very head light at all.

[RF20Lennon]

Originally Posted by realplayer

Jim Courier says Nadal plays with a very headlight racket compared to the norm because he needs to create head acceleration to do what he does and Federer on the contrary has a heavier racket in the head because he is driving the ball more through the court and he is an allcourt player so people at home can take a lesson from that.

Ok, can anybody explain what Jim is saying here cause Nadal has a racket with a much more higher swingweight(360 plus) than Federer(330 plus) and Federer has a much heavier and much more headlight racket than Nadal.

This sounds like the opposite of what Jim is describing??!!

Nadal switched to a heavier one this year long after the quote

[realplayer]

Originally Posted by TennisCJC

I think Jim's assessment of Roger and Rafa's rackets are wrong. I also think the specs for Rog and Raf in this thread are not quite right.

Rafa is HL but only 2-4 points HL, with static weight under 12 oz and SW in the 350-360 range.

Roger is HL but around 6-8 points HL, with static weight around 364 grams, and SW in the 350-360 range. I have seen several analysis of Roger's racket and never saw a 330 SW. See Greg Raven's analysis and other TW threads.

I agree with Jim that good 3.5+ level and above players can benefit from poly if they use it wisely. My opinion is using poly as a cross is good for most of us if you want more directional control, a touch more spin, and far less string movement. You will need to change strings every 10-20 hours. If you have a really fast swing or a really powerful tweener style racket than using poly mains with a synthetic cross is fine for rec players.

I was last rated 4.0, was rated 4.5 about 2 decades ago and played 5.0 USTA league 30 years ago and won about 30-40% of matches but official ranking never went to 5.0. I like playing with poly strings for the reasons cited above.

Hi TennisCJC

Here is the link from Greg Raven's website. He has measured two of Federer's rackets.
The specs are accurate.

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

[ben123]

Originally Posted by realplayer

Hi TennisCJC

Here is the link from Greg Raven's website. He has measured two of Federer's rackets.
The specs are accurate.

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

lol... specs got measured unstrung, ever thought about this? smart guy...

n btw i do not trust this site to 100%. why should i when there is a thread with real photos in this forum? that guy bought nadals/djokers/federers and other racquets.. and he showed with pics how he measured the specs etc..

nadals weight is around 340+ now he said himself he added 3 gram at the top to the beginning of this season. swingweight will be around 360
federers weight is always 364,2g with swingweight around 355
etc etc blabla

[Shangri La]

I think Courier meant Nadal's racquet is light in weight, not headlight. Then all his comments are in line with what's agreed here on the boards.

[Setmatch45]

No doubt that JC knows his stuff and he is a nice guy as well I played in a pro-am he did. As far as poly being good for everyone we know that can't be. But overall a good inteerview.

[realplayer]

....................

[realplayer]

Originally Posted by ben123

lol... specs got measured unstrung, ever thought about this? smart guy...

n btw i do not trust this site to 100%. why should i when there is a thread with real photos in this forum? that guy bought nadals/djokers/federers and other racquets.. and he showed with pics how he measured the specs etc..

nadals weight is around 340+ now he said himself he added 3 gram at the top to the beginning of this season. swingweight will be around 360
federers weight is always 364,2g with swingweight around 355
etc etc blabla

Well Einstein, Maybe you should take a look again as it is definitely measured strung and I included the three grams of Nadal.

Here is another thread about the guy that you were talking about. He has the original and real racket of Federer.

The weight is 364 STRUNG!!!!!!!!!

Check post #173

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=347886
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...=347886&page=9

[drakulie]

Love Courier, but he is dead wrong.

I remember when Navratilova and Mcenore were commenting on the strings todays players use. They stated that the poly used today, is much more powerful than the natural gut they used. Clueless.

Fact is, most players and even commentators know sh!t about equipment. Nothing, zero, squat. They have no idea how poly could *enhance* spin, if in fact the players swings hard enough to get the benefit, which most recreational players can't.

What ends up happening is they get less power, less spin, less comfort. To add, they unlike pros, don't re-string every day, so end up playing with a dead string.

To give you an example of how often players re-string, Courier, who doesn't even play on tour anymore, had me re-string his frame 3 times for a champions series match (gosen og micro in mains, alu power in crosses).

[jackcrawford]

Originally Posted by BreakPoint

Maybe Sampras was the better player because he was more able to handle a heavier racquet?

Even Pete has joined the modern world, now using a 98 and poly

[sruckauf]

Courier is an ex-pro. You can't get much higher in skill set than a guy like him in his prime, and is still active and successful in post-pro tennis. He was able to wield and use a racquet with one of the smallest heads ever at the top of men's tennis, and able to generate incredible racquet head speed. He swung and met the ball like a bat and baseball, remember? Any idea how hard that is? But I'm getting off the point.

My point is, that means with an 85 sq. in. head he was able to nail the sweet spot over and over and over. So to a guy like him, poly makes complete sense. As long as you hit the sweet spot almost all the time, have awesome hand-eye coordination, and can generate the racquet head speed necessary to get the benefits of poly, ya do it at all levels.

The trouble is, the rest of the world doesn't hit the sweet spot all the time, even with 100 sq. in. heads.

Why would anyone take his opinion on what's good or usable for consumer level tennis? He probably means well, touting the obvious benefits of poly, but come on.

[This has nothing to do with my own opinion of poly, which I may or may not support. I'm just commenting on his value of opinion on equipment for consumer level tennis of 2.0 - 4.0, which probably accounts for most of the regular joe tennis world. If you're an accomplished 4.5+ level player, the benefits of poly in full or hybrid are obvious, if your body can handle it long term.]

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by jackcrawford

Even Pete has joined the modern world, now using a 98 and poly

No wonder Sampras hasn't won a Slam since he switched to the bigger racquet.

[BreakPoint]

Originally Posted by sruckauf

Courier is an ex-pro. You can't get much higher in skill set than a guy like him in his prime, and is still active and successful in post-pro tennis. He was able to wield and use a racquet with one of the smallest heads ever at the top of men's tennis, and able to generate incredible racquet head speed. He swung and met the ball like a bat and baseball, remember? Any idea how hard that is? But I'm getting off the point.

My point is, that means with an 85 sq. in. head he was able to nail the sweet spot over and over and over. So to a guy like him, poly makes complete sense. As long as you hit the sweet spot almost all the time, have awesome hand-eye coordination, and can generate the racquet head speed necessary to get the benefits of poly, ya do it at all levels.

Hmmm.....I guess you never saw Laver, Rosewall, Smith, Nastase, Ashe, Borg, Connors, McEnroe, etc. at the top of men's tennis with their 65 sq. in. racquets?