Is 11.5 oz strung weight too much for girl in 13-15 range?

[LeeD]

Remember, SWING WEIGHT is also very important. A lightweight racket with a high SW still swing sluggish for someone small of stature.
But I have to reiterate. The incoming balls she sees at 13-15 is nowhere near the speed of WTA balls. WTA pros, bigger and stronger than her, are using 11.5 oz rackets. Sharapova is 6'2". Serena is 5'9" and 175 lbs. Even Azerenka is 5'11" and 140 lbs.
And also, stiffness itself might be less important. A thick beamed racket of say...65 stiffness PLAYS stiffer and more harsh than a thinner beamed racket of 65 stiffness.
The modern game appears headed towards stiffer rated rackets....of thinner beams.

[Dr. Perry]

Serena Williams's is 10.7 oz. Given her physical, I wonder why she chose such a light one. By the same token, is 11 oz average a more reasonable choice after all?

[klu375]

Originally Posted by Dr. Perry

Serena Williams's is 10.7 oz. Given her physical, I wonder why she chose such a light one. By the same token, is 11 oz average a more reasonable choice after all?

Doc, do not read too much into what racket model a particular pro is using. Most of them use a different racket that their paint would indicate and they all are heavily customized. You keep asking the same question for which we have no answer. We do not know how tall and strong your daughter is and how she plays. 11oz 1pt HL or 11.2oz 5pt HL? - we do not know. You have to try and find out what works best. Read TW University to familiarize yourself with basic racket specs. and how they affect performance.

[Pro_Tour_630]

Originally Posted by ga tennis

PRO TOUR my daughter isnt going to be with me this weekend. She has some kinda girl scout camping crap saturday night.

too bad was looking forward to hitting with my son, sort of north against south battle can she come another day Friday or sunday?

[TCF]

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[TCF]

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[TCF]

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[LeeD]

REP's can know very little. They are the people representing the companies to try to sell more stuff to the shops.
Think for yourself.
Say you have a given tube, it's diameter and it's length.
Now increase it's diameter. You need to thin the wall thickness, of course. It's stiffer.
Now decrease the diameter. You would need to increase it's wall thickness, to keep the same weight. Now it's got slower REFLEX.

[LeeD]

Think of bicycles.
Steel bikes can have different tube diameters. The smaller diameters are more flexy, while the bigger diameters more stiff.
Same with aluminum and carbon frames.
Now we're not talking comparing steel to carbon, or aluminum to steel.
LIKE materials.

[julian]

Originally Posted by LeeD

REP's can know very little. They are the people representing the companies to try to sell more stuff to the shops.
Think for yourself.
Say you have a given tube, it's diameter and it's length.
Now increase it's diameter. You need to thin the wall thickness, of course. It's stiffer.
Now decrease the diameter. You would need to increase it's wall thickness, to keep the same weight. Now it's got slower REFLEX.

I am NOT negating your conclusion.
The reasoning is NOT 100% correct because
frame A can different from B by the fact that both of them are partially empty
or filled ,say,with a foam like material of a varying density.
If my explanation is NOT very clear I will try to do a better job tomorrow.
Have a good night

[Pro_Tour_630]

Originally Posted by TCF

Protour...can you address this? We have spent hours with racquet reps and they tell us with modern materials, stiffness is stiffness, regardless of thin or thick frames. Is Lee correct here that a 65 stiffness thick plays harsher than a 65 stiffness thick? Thinking back, I do not think that is my experience. I have played with some thicker Wilson frames that played very, very soft.

stiffness rating is tricky, some flex at throat, some at hoop depending on measurement tool. also you have to consider material which has dampening effects, for example Kevlar and Twaron, they are not stiff but they dampen the shock to the arm. Also the layup plays a major role along with handle construction, throat shoulder construction, tapered, grommet type etc...

I do agree with Lee, that modern game is heading towards stiffer thin beams with open pattern and a bit longer say 27.25, it used to be thin flexible with dense pattern not too long ago ala Pro Tour 630, the pro tour 630 was the most popular frame on the pro tour in the 90's and 2000 but now the game is too powerful and fast, a frame like the original head extreme is ideal http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/REVI...MGXReview.html

[ga tennis]

Originally Posted by Pro_Tour_630

too bad was looking forward to hitting with my son, sort of north against south battle can she come another day Friday or sunday?

I didn't think your wife was gonna let him miss school. I will try to figure something out.The problem is we live 2 and a half hours away from Atlanta. if not Heath has 4 or 5 other girls at the same level as my daughter that he can play.

[t135]

Yeah depends on the child a lot. My daughter competes against girls the same age who are 8" taller than her. And some 6" shorter and 40 lbs lighter.

It would be hard to imagine a 13-15 year old couldn't handle an 11-ish ounce frame though.

[Llefty]

Julian, I'm curious why you don't recommend the Pure Storm GT. My 9 year old daughter has been using the Pure Storm Team GT, which is just a bit lighter, for about a year now. I've got it strung with Technifibre X-One 18 guage at middle of the range.

[Dr. Perry]

I wonder what happened to TCF's posts, they are all edited and gone. Hope nothing bad happened.

I think I am going to have my daughter demo a few as juding spec may not lead to the right choice. Thank you all for the inputs!

[julian]

Originally Posted by Llefty

Julian, I'm curious why you don't recommend the Pure Storm GT. My 9 year old daughter has been using the Pure Storm Team GT, which is just a bit lighter, for about a year now. I've got it strung with Technifibre X-One 18 guage at middle of the range.

I know couple little things
1.Pure Storm rackets do require that power be provided by a player
2.If power is NOT provided by a player it will change shots into blocking shots
i.e shots which have little turn of shoulder,etc (little unit turn),little follow through
3.I do NOT know whether the Pure Storm Team GT has problems
described by #1 and #2 IN ALL cases but general belief is that does
4.I would advice to talk to a coach/instructor of your daughter
to check whether her preparation is early and follow through long enough
5.If the next racket bought will be of Babolat probably Aero Pro or Pure Drive
would be a better type
6.Please let me know whether my response is clear enough.
Please note that in my posts for Dr.Perry I was dealing with a pre-sale situation.
Your scenario is a bit different because you have a racket already

[hhollines]

"No reason to use a 11.5 oz racket when the incoming balls are not WTA level, as the WTA PROS use 11.5 oz rackets. The balls she sees are much slower, so maybe a 10 oz racket is plenty heavy, and it would aid her swingspeed even when forced to run and stretch"

My daughter is 12 yrs. old and I'm very cautious. She uses the Pure Drive Lite (10.3 oz. strung weight) (same racquet as Radwanska) which is very much on the light end of the spectrum. I'm very cautious with the racquet and strings (Wilson NXT control 16) as I want to be careful as her body is developing and, we are more focused on control and placement than power at this point. I'm sure we are robbing her of power but she is consistent and she has never had an injury.

[sundaypunch]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Everyone stresses about handling the 11.5 oz racket.
Maybe the weight of her racket should be based on the speed and spin of the incoming balls she sees.
No reason to use a 11.5 oz racket when the incoming balls are not WTA level, as the WTA PROS use 11.5 oz rackets. The balls she sees are much slower, so maybe a 10 oz racket is plenty heavy, and it would aid her swingspeed even when forced to run and stretch
Just like in men's tennis, the pros are using an average weight around 12 oz. WE do not face the pro level shots, and don't need anywhere near that weight of racket. At men's 4.0, I think 10oz is more than heavy enough to rip winners from anywhere on the court and to return winner attempts.

This is fine if it works for you but it really comes down to personal preference. Many people feel that they play better with a heavier racquet than the bare minimum they can get by with. I would let a girl this age decide for herself what she is comfortable with.

I don't think there is a problem with an 11.5 oz. racquet if she is comfortable with it. If anything, she will be less likely to have elbow/shoulder issues than with a 10 oz. racquet.