So I finally bought some power pads... now what?

[hpaiste]

I know how to install them and such, but would you recommend it for a Babolat Aero Pro Drive GT? Would it be pointless and waste, or will it actually be beneficial?

Thanks~

[smiggle]

waste, for the apdgt or any babolat there is no point because the power pad is pretty much the babolat woofer system.

[kkm]

Originally Posted by hpaiste

I know how to install them and such, but would you recommend it for a Babolat Aero Pro Drive GT? Would it be pointless and waste, or will it actually be beneficial?

Thanks~

IMHO not much point on Babolat racquets

[ReopeningWed]

It was introduced for use with natural gut. If you're stringing using anything else, it is essentially a manly, brown tassel on your racket.

[Steve Huff]

The raised semi-circles on Babolat woofers are essentially built-in power pads. People who were stringing back when rackets were wood remember a lot of the power pads were hard plastic, not just leather.

[joe sch]

Originally Posted by Steve Huff

The raised semi-circles on Babolat woofers are essentially built-in power pads. People who were stringing back when rackets were wood remember a lot of the power pads were hard plastic, not just leather.

Yep, all kinds of cool powerpad are used by creative stringers like Steve. I personally like the rolled leather. Tubies can also perform even better string protection. I think the plastic looks cheap.

[coachrick]

It took EXACTLY ONE clear plastic power pad, breaking under string tensioning and flying across the shop at warp speed, to make me quit using plastic. This was back in the '70s and I'm sure 'plastic' has come a long way, but I'm all about leather or proper grommet channels when they are necessary. I'd use a rolled grip leftover if I had to but would rather use 'belting' leather cut into squares/rectangles.

[jim e]

Originally Posted by coachrick

It took EXACTLY ONE clear plastic power pad, breaking under string tensioning and flying across the shop at warp speed, to make me quit using plastic. This was back in the '70s and I'm sure 'plastic' has come a long way, but I'm all about leather or proper grommet channels when they are necessary. I'd use a rolled grip leftover if I had to but would rather use 'belting' leather cut into squares/rectangles.

I use to use wide rawhide laces and cut into rectangles back in the 60's.As you know coachrick, wooden racquets took those on each of the center mains.Been many years since I used any.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by jim e

I use to use wide rawhide laces and cut into rectangles back in the 60's.As you know coachrick, wooden racquets took those on each of the center mains.Been many years since I used any.

Yep, we were all about using Fairway 'ends' in the '70s. I was 'introduced' to belting leather in '80 or so...a real pain to cut but you could use the same pads for 10 restrings, if you needed to . I remember the first laces I saw, much like baseball glove laces. That was actually later in the '80s. I thought they were pretty cool and a lot easier to cut than 'blocks' of leather from Tandy. I still have a couple of sheets of synthetic pads(black) from Babolat in the mid-'80s and quite a few tan pre-cut pads from Century Sports ca. 1985.

I also recall the first 'Teflon' black tubing...thinner diameter and thinner walls...looked MUCH better in the Prince Graphite and Wilson Stings and C-6 Traberts from the pre-grommet era. It's amazing to think how much time and effort went into tubing frames in the late '70s to mid-'80s. The good old days!

[Steve Huff]

I went to a shoe repair shop and bought some pieces of thick, scrap leather. He charged me for it too, but at least he cut it into strips so that all I had to do was cut each piece off.

[joe sch]

Originally Posted by coachrick

It took EXACTLY ONE clear plastic power pad, breaking under string tensioning and flying across the shop at warp speed, to make me quit using plastic. This was back in the '70s and I'm sure 'plastic' has come a long way, but I'm all about leather or proper grommet channels when they are necessary. I'd use a rolled grip leftover if I had to but would rather use 'belting' leather cut into squares/rectangles.

funny I have also seen those cheapo plastic tabs partially crack and thus leave a sharp edge against some expensive gut strings that would surely cut the string if left in place.

[MAX PLY]

Never thought the plastic ones made any sense--exactly why I have never bought a hard plastic pillow--not much of a pad. I recall that I used to be able to get precut leather pads but then then changed to some sort of sythetic--so I went back to the old tried and true method of cutting from leather grips or belting leather sheets I could get from a shoe repair shop.

[coachrick]

Funny how the mind works...while reading this thread, the material name 'rilsan' came to mind. Does anyone recall the material used by Bancroft in their nifty RED power pads from the '70s? I know it wasn't 'zytel', that was the material used in throat pieces like the one in the Red Head. This is going to bug me all day .