Wwod frame or modern racket- which is better for comfort?

[Boricua]

I have a friend from the old, old school who still plays with a wood racket. He just went through shoulder surgery. What is better for him in terms of an arm friendly racket, a racket like the Volkl Power Bridge 10 or the wood racket?

[BHud]

Wood won't be very comfortable when you're getting your arse handed to you all the time!

[treblings]

Originally Posted by Boricua

I have a friend from the old, old school who still plays with a wood racket. He just went through shoulder surgery. What is better for him in terms of an arm friendly racket, a racket like the Volkl Power Bridge 10 or the wood racket?

if he can hit the sweetspot regularly with the woody there´s no reason to change. which racket is he playing anyway and what headsize?
good luck to your friend, a shoulder surgery is really serious for a tennis player

[realplayer]

He has to hit very hard to get some power out of that wooden racket and his shoulder won't like that. Obviously he has to change to a flexible racket with a headsize at least 100 inch. Not that he needs it technically but because of the comfort.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by realplayer

He has to hit very hard to get some power out of that wooden racket and his shoulder won't like that. Obviously he has to change to a flexible racket with a headsize at least 100 inch. Not that he needs it technically but because of the comfort.

i beg to differ. with a 13 ounce+ wooden racquet you can get lots of power if you can move the racquet around and hit the sweet spot regularly.
we don´t know enough to be more precise. a wooden racquet could be anything from a kramer pro staff to a prince woodie.
and we don´t know the playing style of the person in question

[realplayer]

Originally Posted by treblings

i beg to differ. with a 13 ounce+ wooden racquet you can get lots of power if you can move the racquet around and hit the sweet spot regularly.
we don´t know enough to be more precise. a wooden racquet could be anything from a kramer pro staff to a prince woodie.
and we don´t know the playing style of the person in question

The prince woodie is actually also a mix with graphite and it has a big headsize so that seems very armfriendly to me but I assume that OP is talking about a kramer pro staff or a dunlop maxply which should be very armfriendly because of the wood but in the modern game you have to hit very hard to keep up and to hit it in the sweetspot all the time especially with topspin you need very good technique.

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by treblings

i beg to differ. with a 13 ounce+ wooden racquet you can get lots of power if you can move the racquet around and hit the sweet spot regularly.
we don´t know enough to be more precise. a wooden racquet could be anything from a kramer pro staff to a prince woodie.
and we don´t know the playing style of the person in question

He hits flat. He has a few small head size wood rackets, maybe one is a Jack Kramer. It has a lot of weight in the handle.

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by realplayer

The prince woodie is actually also a mix with graphite and it has a big headsize so that seems very armfriendly to me but I assume that OP is talking about a kramer pro staff or a dunlop maxply which should be very armfriendly because of the wood but in the modern game you have to hit very hard to keep up and to hit it in the sweetspot all the time especially with topspin you need very good technique.

Yeah Kramer and Maxply, old school rackets I guess is what my friend uses. The Woodie came later.
Once I gave him a Yonex RDIS 100 MP to try and he liked it, said it reminded him of wood racket's feel but kept his wood rackets. Very resistent to change.

[corners]

Originally Posted by Boricua

I have a friend from the old, old school who still plays with a wood racket. He just went through shoulder surgery. What is better for him in terms of an arm friendly racket, a racket like the Volkl Power Bridge 10 or the wood racket?

The heavy woody might put more stress than his aging body can handle during the swing, especially on serve.

Different story on impact. On impact , the much, much more flexible woody transfer much less shock to the arm and shoulder. But it also vibrates much more. However, the vibration is probably filtered down by the time it gets to the shoulder, so shock is the thing to watch out for.

So it really comes down to figuring out if the shoulder is getting stressed during the swing or during impact. I would suspect that it's during the swing, unless he's late to contact and his arm is getting jarred. If it is the weight during the swing causing problems he could try a very flexible mid like the Vantage BC20 (wood core), Exo Tour, or one of the woods that came in relatively light and with low swingweight, like the Wilson Evert Pro Staff or Signature. I had an Evert Staff that was about 12.5 ounces and 320 swingweight.