Heaviest racquet used by a pro?

[Frank Silbermann]

I used to believe that the heaviest racquet ever used by a highly ranking player was that of Don Budge, whose was 16 oz. Recently, though, I read that Pete Sampras' racquet was also 16 oz. If that's so, then maybe someone had a heavier one.

So, what's the heaviest racquet ever used by any pro?

[Shaolin]

I thought Samps' prostaff was more like 14oz, which is still a club.

[Anonymous]

No no no. Sampras' racket was a bit under 14 ounces. I heard of some Jack Kramer Pro Staff or something or another that was made for Jack Kramer himself, almost 17 ounces or therabouts.

[Rabbit]

Sampras' racket was weighted very closely to the Jack Kramer ProStaff.

I heard one of the pros on TV say that Johann Kriek played with a 16 ounce frame.

[@wright]

I bet you'd get used to that kind of a club after awhile. If you could lift it up to serve, you could hit a seriously heavy ball.

[deflori]

i only say "thomas Muster"

i dont know how much,but that was a big hammer: )

[Frank Silbermann]

I know that Sampras' racquet weighs less than 16 ounces new. I meant 16 ounces after he applies the lead tape. Whose racquet was heaviest _after_ customization?

[joe sch]

I have not heard of any of the current players leading up thier rackets over 14 oz's and I thought Sampras was in the 13+ range. Many of the players in the wood era would weightup the stock 13 oz rackets by a few ozs and some had custom produced wood rackets like Borg and Kramer. The custom JK autograph was about 17 oz's. The standard Donnay Borg Pro was 13oz so the one that was made for Bjorn with the extra wood laminations on the throat lower hoop must have added atleast 1..2 ozs, maybe more like the Kramer ? I have one of the JK auto rackets made for Jack and it is approx 17 oz.

[galain]

Not that I know this through any personal experience, but from what I've heard and read here, both Taylor Dent and Mark Philippousis swing a pretty heavy frame. I don't know what the specs are though - maybe Takumi or Thomas might be bale to help out?

[Rabbit]

Nate Fergueson, Sampras' racket technician, said that Sampras' rackets after customization weigh close to 14 ounces. His rackets are weighted and balanced like a Jack Kramer ProStaff (the wooden model) which weighed around 14 ounces in the Medium weight.

[Richard Parnell]

I remember having Thomas Musters racquets in my hand and they were about 400 grms (seriously heavy).How much is 16oz anyway.Have a great one..

[mach1]

400.000 gram [g] 14.12000 ounce [oz]
&
16.000 ounce [oz] 453.60000 gram [g]

[Ronaldo]

Read Ivan Lendl loaded up between 16 to 18 oz when playing on clay. Bet that stick could deliver a melonshot that would send you straight to palookaville, Termination complete.

[Rabbit]

<clearing throat> I have a couple of Ivan Lendl's frames. They go at around 14.5 ounces.

[@wright]

18 frickin oz? Geez, he must have had tree trunk hitting arm syndrome real bad.

[joe sch]

Rabbit raised a point that all of the customized frames, like the bosworth lendl frames, were not leaded up until Warren would actually string them for Ivan. Thus for clay events, he added an extra oz or so. It would be a nightmare to be on the other side of the court against a hard flat hitter like Lendl or Connors. I would image it would be sorta like trying to return Sampras serve for a match.

[Rabbit]

I'm not so sure that he added an extra ounce or better. Lendl's frames never had any visible lead on them, and I think I remember reading that early on, Bosworth would actually inject lead into the frame. It would be interesting to know how much additional work was done on the frames that Bosworth sold. Later in Lendl's career, he most certainly would have had frames sent from the factory to a closer spec to what he wanted. I suspect that the rackets are very close to what Lendl wanted as the final product with just a little tweaking.

[Deuce]

I've got mine up to 390 grams, which is about 13.75 oz. It only feels 'heavy' after I pick up my opponent's racquet.

[Sean Dugan]

Yea, me too. My frames are all 390 to 400m grams. As long as the balance is an inch, or so, head light, I can still whip them around rather fast. I haven't noticed any decrease in swing speed. The real difference for me is the frame is much more stable. If you hit with hard hitters, it makes a huge difference, as a heavy racquet doesn't recoil the way a lighter one does. If I hit with a sub 13 ounce frame, it feels like a toy now. I don't see how any male touring pro could play with a sub 13 ounce frame, as those guys hit the ball so hard, and with so much spin.

[PureCarlosMoyaDrive]

My racquet was 13.4 ounces, pretty heavy. Now like 13.1, but it feels fine. I hate using lighter racquets now too.