Vibration Dampeners -- My experience with this dozen +

[Power Player]

Ahhh, the worm style for me is too much dampening. I like the happy medium.

[Drrjjj]

Thank you for posting this!

[Torres]

I prefer the grommet style dampers - those worm damps mute the feedback too much for my liking. Of the grommet types, I tend to select them for the specific racquet / string pattern. For an open pattern, I tend to go for something firmer. For a closed pattern, something softer.

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Pro's Pro Vibra Stop - very, very soft, squidgy, material. Doesn't provide major dampening - tends to filter the minor vibrations only. Blue is a darker royal blue rather than a lighter blue in the photos. Good if you want only minimal interference from the dampener. 2g



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Tourna Sampras 'O' damp - not too stiff, not too soft. Like baby bear's porridge, just right. Good dampener without losing feedback. Just a shame it doesn't come in different colors. 1.6g



The comments above are for the red/black ones. Tourna have recently released some white colored O rings. Exactly the same design but the white ones are MUCH stiffer than the red (softest) and black (soft).

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Babolat Custom Damp - stiffer material than the Sampras O damp, and provides a bit more dampening, firming up of the strings. Good dampener without losing too much feedback. 2g



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Pacific 'Vibra-Damper' - larger size O ring which you have to force into any denser stringing pattern. Feels quite brittle and doesn't feel like it filtering much vibration due to its brittleness. Disappointing.

[Torres]

Wilson ProFeel Plus - not to be confused with the ProFeel which is different. The Plus is made from a very, very, soft, squidy silcone material - the softest I've ever seen. The problem is because its so soft, it doesn't seem to press against the strings sufficiently. Absolutely minimal vibration dampening. Disappointing. 2g

[corbind]

I bought some more dampeners and added my thoughts and the weights to the original thread .....


Babolat Custom II (square)
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babo...AB-BCD2YB.html
It is an improvement over the circular ones they used to sell as this square one stays in better. It’s soft rubber, medium weight, expensive but good.

Dunlop (square)
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Dunl...LOP-DVIBE.html
Looks cool and the rubber is soft but still harder than most other damps I’ve tested so not recommended.

Gamma TNT Core (2.5")
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Gamm...A-GTVTDBK.html
Only seeing it online I was prejudiced against this from the start figuring the name is a joke. When I got it in on the strings I liked its soft rubber as it is the softest of all I’ve ever tested. It applies to the racquet nicely and looks good. Yea Gamma.

Head Smartsorb (4.25")
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Head...AD-HSZVIB.html
I swap back and forth with this and the generic TW damp. The Head is flatter, shorter and has very short “fingers” to grip the strings. This one compares much to the TW generic damp and, between the two, I still like the TW damp slightly better.

[SharkysMV1]

Huge fan of the Tourna Sampras 'O' damp in red on my K90s. Softer than the black one, doesn't really interfere with the feel, and plus, it matches the racquet.

[ArliHawk]

My favorite 2 dampeners right now are the Prince Beast dampener and Babolat loony damp goldfish. Using the Beast Dampener.

[nskatp]

Originally Posted by VGP

I still have Unique Sampras dampeners from several years ago. I'm not sure but it's going on 10+ years.

The original Sampras dampener is the rubber cable grommet. I'm sure that's what he was using when he was younger. Then Unique started to market their version with his name on them. I've got both and don't mind too much switching between them depending on the frame.

I still have some in their package from when they came two black ones per pack. I bought them for 50 cents a pack on discount at a K-mart once.

On my current playing frames, I use a "black tennis ball" circle dampener that came with Wilson Ultra Wrap overgrip a few years ago. Black ones were packaged with pink and orange overgrip, yellow dampeners came with the black overgrip. The Wal-marts near me carried these packages. They dampen to the same level as the black Sampras dampener. I didn't care much for the yellow ones and figured they'd get dingy looking after at while.

When those were starting to disappear from the shelves, I bought a bunch of them to stock up. I like them because I haven't seen them anywhere else and they're less poseur-ey than the Sampras dampener when you use a PS85, kPS88, or black Wilson mid.

I also used the "black tennis balls" that came with Wilson Ultra Wrap, had 8 of them that lasted me many years, now my last one is about to die, does anyone know where can I get these or something VERY similar?

Thanks

[Relinquis]

I like the babolat O style ones. They don't over dampen and seem light.

have any of you guys used power pads?

[corbind]

I've added my review to the original thread after testing this for a few months....

McMaster-Carr ½” Grommet (item 9600K22 )
A buddy gave me some to try and I was hooked. They’re taller, fatter, and weight more than other “O” ring damps and remarkably flexible. That squishiness coupled with being gummy (not sticky though) grips the strings so well.

I don’t understand why this one works so well but it’s now on all my racquets. Although only crazy people use more than one, I've experimented quite a bit using 1 to 5 at once. For some reason using 3 seems to feel best. Just put me in the looney bin.

[Double_Bagel]

Using the volkl and the big pacific "o" damps in some dense pattern rackets I have. I noticed now they are fitted, two of the mains are pushed noticeably out to the left and the right just to squeeze them in. Is this a big no-no? Should I swap them for a smaller damp so the mains/crosses sit flush?

[Carefree]

dampeners are kind of a strange thing. I don't feel that they do anything other than remove that ping sound. It's not like you hit harder or get more spin, or preserved your elbow so you can use stiffer string.

However, in my short experience, my favourite dampeners are the Yonex triangle and the round Babolat custom (haven't tried the square). I like the Yonex in my Prestige MP and the Bab in my IG Rad Pro. Don't know why, but not in love with them switched.

[ArliHawk]

I have a new dampener that I like. Bought some Karakal Button dampeners for nostalgic reasons; they look a lot like some Tecnifibre dampener I used when I was younger. They are very solid. Not sure they trump my Babolat Loony Damps, but they are worth a try.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Ahhh, the worm style for me is too much dampening. I like the happy medium.

Just bought the Wilson Shock Shield dampeners. You are correct, the string bed feels VERY muted with them.

[Lukhas]

Question: has someone tried the Pro's pro VIB Control? Because I was planning to get Babolat's Custom 2, but a bit expensive. EDIT: What are the advantages of "O" shaped dampeners? Seems very popular. EDIT2: Well we'll see for the Pro's Pro VIB Control. Ordered it along an awesome steal (http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showp...postcount=2866). Although an answer for the "O" shaped dampener question definitely still interests me.

[Double_Bagel]

In my experience, the smaller the better in terms of dampeners. The tiny "Prince - EXO 3" ones are great, as are the small opaque "W" Wilson damps (not the big ones). The small Yonex worms are pretty good. I like the worms as there's little chance of them falling off as you know you will NEVER find it once it comes off!

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Double_Bagel

In my experience, the smaller the better in terms of dampeners. The tiny "Prince - EXO 3" ones are great, as are the small opaque "W" Wilson damps (not the big ones). The small Yonex worms are pretty good. I like the worms as there's little chance of them falling off as you know you will NEVER find it once it comes off!

I lost my Prince Exo dampeners which is why I switched.

[Lukhas]

And then I go up the page and realise someone has tried the Pro's Pro...

[spinovic]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Just bought the Wilson Shock Shield dampeners. You are correct, the string bed feels VERY muted with them.

Haven't tried the Shock Shield, but I did try the Shock Trap. Didn't like it - too muted for me.

I prefer just the normal ones that go on the two center strings. I guess some people like smaller ones to retain more 'feel'. I honestly can't tell a huge difference from one dampener to the next - my main criteria is one that is durable and won't come off easily. I have a favorite, but I can use different ones if necessary.

[Lukhas]

Well, here they are, Pro's Pro VIB Control. Click for full view.




No blue dampener in my pack. It's indeed very soft. I only could hit on my knee () with the stringbed (rained this night), and it got rid of most if not all the nasty vibrations throughout the handle that I used to think it was due to a crack. Going to put one, then two in the same racquet to see if I can notice a difference. That would cost less than a pack of 2 Babolat dampener anyway: 2 Bab cost a little less than 6€, 5 Pro's Pro for less than 3€... Multiply by two to have an even number of damps. Rather put two Pro's Pro than one Bab given the price.