are low-powered racquets better for developing your strokes?

[barnes1172]

This occurred to me when I was watching a friend hit with the Wilson K90 6.1. He has very long fast strokes, good extension, and steps into the ball to drive his groundstrokes. He actually has the best strokes of the people I play with and watch locally.

When I play with a tweener type frame, I feel like I cannot let loose on my swings. I am a 4.0 guy.

Can anyone suggest another low-powered racquet that fits in this mold? I am currently using the Dunlop Aerogel 4D 300.

[mrmike]

That new Wilson Blade 93 looks mighty sweet. But then again, you could just alter your setup on the Dunlop with either more tension, or a stiffer string type to see how that works out before going to a different frame.

[robbo1970]

I think the answer to your question is yes. As you allude to, you can hit with more force and still keep the ball in.

Good idea though to try a higher tension with your 300, im a Bio 300 user and its very versatile with a different tension set up.

[Orion3]

Pure Storm ltd GT for one

[Power Player]

Low powered sticks are awesome, but you will get beat a lot while developing due to short balls being much more common.

I like the happy medium, players tweener type sticks. I always come back to those.

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Low powered sticks are awesome, but you will get beat a lot while developing due to short balls being much more common.

I like the happy medium, players tweener type sticks. I always come back to those.

Frames like Dunlop 400 Tour, Wilson BLX Pro Open.. PK 5G series

[pkshooter]

Dunlop Aerogel 200 or 100? the 100 is nice and cheap, i just bought myself two.

[Maui19]

Interesting question. I tend to like low-powered sticks even though I am not a powerful hitter. I should be playing something more powerful, but I've just never liked those racquets for some reason. I just got a new racquet, and after reading the label about the kind of player it is designed for, I'm having second thoughts. But I'm sure it will be fine.

[MikeHitsHard93]

Originally Posted by Maui19

Interesting question. I tend to like low-powered sticks even though I am not a powerful hitter. I should be playing something more powerful, but I've just never liked those racquets for some reason. I just got a new racquet, and after reading the label about the kind of player it is designed for, I'm having second thoughts. But I'm sure it will be fine.

What is it?

[makinao]

My experience with so called "low" and "high" powered racquets is reversed. For a long time I used what could be called classic thin beam, heavy, flexy, head-light "low" powered racquets and could hit as hard and long as I wanted with my medium-length but fast swing. Then I changed to what was supposedly a "powerful" tweener racquet, a Pure Drive + Cortex. Suddenly all my shots became short and wimpy, and I had problems returning heavy balls. Even my serve and overheads lost their sting. I'm now back to a Head Radical OS Limited Edition, which people have called "low powered". Since I bought it a month ago I have not only won all my games, but I've done so by forceful, penetrating hitting which bully opponents in my same class into submission.

I can't figure out what in my swing works only with classic low-power racquets, and is mysteriously not made for high power tweeners. So I can't understand why most people consider many tweeners powerful. Can anyone explain this?

[TimothyO]

OP is correct.

The reason powerful frames exist is so you DON'T have to use proper form. Just tap the ball using your wrist, forearm, and elbow and the ball goes very deep over the net. In fact, I've noticed that many rec player simply play table tennis on a huge table top. This vastly expands the market for tennis products. Anyone can pickup a powerful frame and start tapping the ball over the net.

The downside is that these frames make it far more difficult to control the ball using proper, full strokes. It's too easy to hit the ball long. So using these wristy strokes means lots of inconsistency...and tennis elbow.

[ATP100]

Originally Posted by barnes1172

are low-powered racquets better for developing your strokes?

Easy Answer: Yes

[samarai]

Recently switched from pure drives to Dunlop bio 400, and I can honestly say my game has improved dramatically. After playing with this stck for 2 weeks, my partners have even commented on the improvement. Serves improved, forehand just has a lot more zip, backhand has way more pace. Didn't realize a switch in stick would add so much more confidence to the game. 3.5 player able to rally and play, even take games from 4.0 players now.

[fuzz nation]

Originally Posted by TimothyO

OP is correct.

The reason powerful frames exist is so you DON'T have to use proper form. Just tap the ball using your wrist, forearm, and elbow and the ball goes very deep over the net. In fact, I've noticed that many rec player simply play table tennis on a huge table top. This vastly expands the market for tennis products. Anyone can pickup a powerful frame and start tapping the ball over the net.

The downside is that these frames make it far more difficult to control the ball using proper, full strokes. It's too easy to hit the ball long. So using these wristy strokes means lots of inconsistency...and tennis elbow.

Good answer I think.

The tricky issue with labeling a racquet as "low powered" is that it's hard to know just what that means. I find that softer racquets have less "pop", but lighter racquets, soft or stiff, can have a diminished capacity to really thump the ball, even with a full stroke. Blah-blah-blah... enough about me.

I've had GREAT success with using very heavy and also very soft LM Prestige mids as sort of training frames. I took up with these a few years back when I was really rebuilding my ground strokes and immediately found out how much my mechanics were lacking when I tried to play with these for more than 15 or 20 minutes. My arm and shoulder would quickly wear out, so I obviously had to get better timing and a proper kinetic chain working in my favor to use these "low powered" racquets with any success.

It wasn't easy, but at least for me, it was necessary and also quite valuable for my development. I needed about two months of deliberate work to improve the leg drive and core rotation that I now use with my shots and still like to get those racquets out now and then for personal maintenance. Sure, good mechanics can be learned without swinging a low-powered frame around, but I believe there's a big advantage to learning good habits with a racquet that can only produce good shots with good timing and a more complete stroke.

[SteveI]

Originally Posted by samarai

Recently switched from pure drives to Dunlop bio 400, and I can honestly say my game has improved dramatically. After playing with this stck for 2 weeks, my partners have even commented on the improvement. Serves improved, forehand just has a lot more zip, backhand has way more pace. Didn't realize a switch in stick would add so much more confidence to the game. 3.5 player able to rally and play, even take games from 4.0 players now.

The 400 Tour is not really a tweener ..it is in the class of the light players frames. Another one being a PK 5G. Both frames are 8-9 points HL and very close to 12 oz. Both offer a nice balance of power and control. You need to have decent strokes to get the most out of these.. but the lower swing weight and 100 headsize make the frame a bit more user friendly for the 3.5 to 4.5 user. While using a true players frame is wonderful to develope strokes, you still have to have "the goods" to win with them. If you do not have great footwork, fast hands and good strokes.. taking a true players frame into matchplay might put you at a disadvantage. There is a reason TW lists it frames with a user rating. The short answer is yes.. low powered frame are better for grooving your strokes.

BTW.. I use the 400 Tour and it is very nice frame..

[gplracer]

Have you thought about stringing your racket tighter?

[NLBwell]

Remember "Low Powered" rackets are high powered rackets and "High Powered" rackets are often low powered rackets.

Since, for a given swing speed, weight adds a lot to power, rackets like the 6.1 95, which is pretty stiff and heavier than most are the most powerful rackets. Many light stiffer rackets actually have less power available if you have a decent swing.
Having a racket where you can take a decent swing at the ball and not poke it out will definitely help your strokes.

[sansaephanh]

I think finding the perfect tension with any given string/racket combo is essential.

Had to string multi/synthetics@ 64 in my RDiS 200's before i could start swinging out on them in my own comfort zone. Polys had to be around 56-58.

[thecrusher956]

I think the answer is yes. I've used "high" powered racquets and they respond badly to correct strokes. If you have the strokes and the power yourself, that low-powered racquets will really work for you.

[gplracer]

Some might consider my 6.1 95 to be a low powered racket. That is only because it is a heavy racket and they do not have the strokes to swing it. Some tweeners to me have no power because they have no weight....