Racquet weight and Volley skills

[kevhen]

While playing with my 4.0 friends, we exchanged racquets and the other guys complained that my racquet is too heavy at 12 ounces. I noticed I was quicker at getting to vollies with their 11 ounce racquets although I could feel more twisting. So I am thinking about lightening my racquet but still keep as much power in the frame for serving and groundstrokes so I will need to add the weight mostly to the head and remove the weight I have added lower on the frame.

I weighed and balanced my 2 frames and they are
12 ounces, 8 pts HL Volkl Tour 8
11.7 ounces, 4 pt HL Dunlop 200GX

If I add any more weight to the head they become too heavy and more difficult to volley with. What else can be done to improve volley quickness without reducing power?

[Ten_is]

good question.
I am currently struggling with this too. I find my raquet is too light and it's even balanced. Is it better to have head light raquet rather than head heavy? I say I would prefer about a 9pt head light raquet over my even balanced Head Flexpoint Fire. (102 sq in.)

[MasterTS]

Headlight = maneuvarability


You don't want to volley with something like a baseball bat, do you?

[kevhen]

They say the pros mostly use head heavy racquets but they are mostly playing a baseline game and not so much doubles either. Since I do play my share of doubles, maybe I should switch to a lighter more headlight racquet since volleying is the weakest part of my game. The guys I play with are pretty aggressive at net and also aggressive with returns so a lighter racquet might help quite a bit for me at net and help reduce my error count.

Maybe Bungalow Bill can tell us how he vollies with that 15 ounce racquet against the heavy hitters. I think I would do better on vollies with a headlight 11.5 ounce racquet but do prefer the 12 ounces for groundstrokes.

[Mike Cottrill]

Originally Posted by kevhen

They say the pros mostly use head heavy racquets but they are mostly playing a baseline game and not so much doubles either..

Most play with head light. But heavy. HL is anything with BP between the handle and the mid distance of the stick.

[oldguysrule]

Originally Posted by kevhen

While playing with my 4.0 friends, we exchanged racquets and the other guys complained that my racquet is too heavy at 12 ounces. I noticed I was quicker at getting to vollies with their 11 ounce racquets although I could feel more twisting. So I am thinking about lightening my racquet but still keep as much power in the frame for serving and groundstrokes so I will need to add the weight mostly to the head and remove the weight I have added lower on the frame.

I weighed and balanced my 2 frames and they are
12 ounces, 8 pts HL Volkl Tour 8
11.7 ounces, 4 pt HL Dunlop 200GX

If I add any more weight to the head they become too heavy and more difficult to volley with. What else can be done to improve volley quickness without reducing power?

Kehven, I am 47, 155lbs., and play with a 12.3 oz. racquet, 10 pts HL. My 4.0 pponents are always commenting on my quick hands and reaction time at the net. It is my opinion that how you use your eyes and legs (where is the ball going? how am I going to get there?) has more to do with this than a less than 10% difference in the weight of your racquet. However, can't discount your experience. I would suggest that the short time you played with the lighter racquet maybe didn't give you a valid comparison.

To answer your question, I would, first of all, leave your racquets alone. Second, I would spend a lot of time working on close contact volleys. Focus on 1. keeping racquet up and in front of you. 2. small movements of the racquet. 3. using your feet to put yourself into position for the volley. 4. Seeing where the ball will be quicker.

If you still feel like the racquet is holding you back, I would keep the weight and go more HL to reduce the SW. This goes against the opinion of some posters here... My preference is a 12 oz racquet with a SW of 320 vs. a 11oz with SW of 320. btw, I have no problem playing multiple matches in one day.

[kevhen]

I think I mostly just have problems with the younger aggressive 4.0s with bigger forehands and quick vollies. I handle pace from the baseline very well but not as well at net and some could be bad technique but from what little I played with their 11 ounce racquets, I felt like I had a lot more control and reacted much quicker and placed the ball where I wanted instead of just reacting and being late to the ball. So I think racquet weight reduction could help my vollies but I don't want to hurt my serve or groundstrokes either.

What you are saying is to put less weight in the head but just move it down some. So far I have gone the other way by putting more weight in the head but reducing the overall weight of the racquet. I will test that out some tonight.

A recent Tennis Magazine article about the pros showed most women using 11 ounce frames that were slightly head heavy and the men using 12-13 ounce frames that were also just slightly head heavy. I didn't expect that but does explain how the game has become more of a power baseline game.

[Mike Cottrill]

Originally Posted by kevhen

A recent Tennis Magazine article about the pros showed most women using 11 ounce frames that were slightly head heavy and the men using 12-13 ounce frames that were also just slightly head heavy. I didn't expect that but does explain how the game has become more of a power baseline game.

Are you referring to this article? If so, I did not see pro in front of player.
Thanks

http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/gear/...al.aspx?id=889

[chess9]

Don't most of the doubles specialists have very heavy racquets? I've heard some of them are 14 oz., if I recall accurately.

I'm 6', 172 lbs, age 63, and I will play with a racquet between 12.5 oz. and 13.5 oz. depending on conditions.

Most of the volleys I hit are not limited by my ability to get the ball on the racquet, but to place it accurately. Most of the volleys I miss, I'd miss with an 8 oz. racquet. The notion that you are going to get more balls and win more points with a light racquet is not supportable by the evidence.

-Robert

[LuckyR]

I agree with using a heavy racquet with the same swingweight as a lighter racquet, but I would take a lower swingweight racquet over either of them. For me, as a doubles player, a higher percentage of the volleys I hit are "reaction volleys" off of poaches as opposed to singles S&V types who are getting 99% of their passing shots from some guy behind the baseline. In that case I wouldn't even care about the racquet being "good for volleys".

[kevhen]

No it was an article in the USTA's Tennis Magazine, I believe (unless it was Smash Magazine) about the pros using slightly head heavy racquets.

A lighter racquet should be much easier to maneuver when making reflex vollies when all players are at net. I am pretty quick overall but definitely seem to struggle with reflex vollies maybe due to the weight of my frame. Just trying to figure out what would help improve my net game. I am overall a decent doubles player playing against younger and quicker 4.0 and 4.5 doubles players who hit aggressively.

[LuckyR]

Weight and swingweight are related but not the same. You need to lower the latter, but not necessarily the former.

[oldguysrule]

Originally Posted by kevhen

No it was an article in the USTA's Tennis Magazine, I believe (unless it was Smash Magazine) about the pros using slightly head heavy racquets.

A lighter racquet should be much easier to maneuver when making reflex vollies when all players are at net. I am pretty quick overall but definitely seem to struggle with reflex vollies maybe due to the weight of my frame. Just trying to figure out what would help improve my net game. I am overall a decent doubles player playing against younger and quicker 4.0 and 4.5 doubles players who hit aggressively.

Let me preface this by saying, I am not a teaching pro or expert. I tend to look at things logically and visually. So picture with me if you will...

Your partner is returning serve. You are a foot inside the service line in the ready position watching your opponent at the net. The serve goes down the middle, partner makes a decent cross court return but the opponent at the net cuts it off and hits a solid volley towards your knees. You have to get your racquet in position quickly. If you are in a classic ready position, the racquet head is about level with your chest or neck and your hand/grip is about waist high. When you hit the volley, your knees bend, your racquet head drops to knee level, and your hand/grip goes down a bit to keep the racquet parallel to the ground.

If you can visualize this sequence, which part of the racquet did you have to move the greatest distance, the head or the grip? If you said the head then we are on the same page. (Don't know if it is the right page or not...others may have a different opinion) Now pick any type of reaction volley you can think of. Which part of the racquet has to move the greatest distance? Which part of the racquet is the hardest to move? The answer to both questions is the head of the racquet.

I think most pro doubles players use a relatively heavy, HL racquet. I don't know this for sure, but it makes sense to me if they do. This is what works for me. Would groundstrokes be better with more weight in the head? Possibly, but in doubles I try not to hit any groundstrokes. In singles, my groundstrokes keep me in the point until I can get to the net and end it there.

This seems to be logical to me and is backed up by my personal experience. I recognize others may have had different experiences.

[kevhen]

Yeah that makes good sense. I did lighten up my racquets last night and made them a little bit more headlight as well so hopefully things work better for me tonight and from now on.

So maybe a player should have a singles racquet and a doubles racquet? I always though maybe players should have a serving racquet and a returning racquet but it may be too much to adjust and you need a good racquet for groundstrokes on both sides anyway. It might make more sense specializing your racquets for playing singles and doubles.

I would go with a more headlight racquet for doubles for quicker manueverability with both frames weighing about the same, although maybe the singles racquet would be slightly heavier overall too as well as being more head heavy for more groundstroke power.

Something like
Singles 12 ounce, 4PT HL
Doubles 11.7 ounce 8PT HL

I'll keep experimenting, thanks for all the thoughts on this.

[Bungalo Bill]

Originally Posted by oldguysrule

Let me preface this by saying, I am not a teaching pro or expert. I tend to look at things logically and visually. So picture with me if you will...

Your partner is returning serve. You are a foot inside the service line in the ready position watching your opponent at the net. The serve goes down the middle, partner makes a decent cross court return but the opponent at the net cuts it off and hits a solid volley towards your knees. You have to get your racquet in position quickly. If you are in a classic ready position, the racquet head is about level with your chest or neck and your hand/grip is about waist high. When you hit the volley, your knees bend, your racquet head drops to knee level, and your hand/grip goes down a bit to keep the racquet parallel to the ground.

If you can visualize this sequence, which part of the racquet did you have to move the greatest distance, the head or the grip? If you said the head then we are on the same page. (Don't know if it is the right page or not...others may have a different opinion) Now pick any type of reaction volley you can think of. Which part of the racquet has to move the greatest distance? Which part of the racquet is the hardest to move? The answer to both questions is the head of the racquet.

I think most pro doubles players use a relatively heavy, HL racquet. I don't know this for sure, but it makes sense to me if they do. This is what works for me. Would groundstrokes be better with more weight in the head? Possibly, but in doubles I try not to hit any groundstrokes. In singles, my groundstrokes keep me in the point until I can get to the net and end it there.

This seems to be logical to me and is backed up by my personal experience. I recognize others may have had different experiences.

It makes perfect sense and good insight indeed. Most S&V players and doubles players prefer a head light racquet because of the weilding one has to do at the net to get the HEAD of the racquet into position.

Volleyers seems to prefer a heavier racquet and a headlight frame to absorb the blows and be able to get the head into position.

This of course is not to say one would not prefer a head heavy frame for volleys. It is simply more preferred to have a heavier frame and a light head to handle volleying.

You can test this by volleying against a backboard. You have to be quick and precise to control the volley against the wall and a head light frame helps a lot in being able to move the racquet around into position to control the ball.

[kevhen]

OK so maybe I should go with the heavier but more headlight frame for doubles then.

Monday when I hit with my Volkl it was weighted about 12.25 ounce and 7PT HL and I reduced some weight to the head so it is 12 ounce and 8PT HL so maybe it is better now for doubles.

[Bungalo Bill]

Originally Posted by kevhen

OK so maybe I should go with the heavier but more headlight frame for doubles then.

Monday when I hit with my Volkl it was weighted about 12.25 ounce and 7PT HL and I reduced some weight to the head so it is 12 ounce and 8PT HL so maybe it is better now for doubles.

Maybe, only you will be able to know and fine tune it to your game. In all the tennis I have played, for years I have only used a head light racquet with many of those years using the PS 85. I am sure it has to do with the all-court game and doubles game I believe in and was trained in.

If I only had to volley in tennis I would increase the grip size (thicken it up), lighten the head, and beef up the weight in the racquet as such to keep the lightness in the head.

[kevhen]

I went out and hit vollies and groundstrokes with all 3 of my racquets and noticed the one with the smallest grip seemed to volley best but I lacked power with my groundstrokes with that frame. Is a smaller grip better for vollies?

[Bungalo Bill]

Originally Posted by kevhen

I went out and hit vollies and groundstrokes with all 3 of my racquets and noticed the one with the smallest grip seemed to volley best but I lacked power with my groundstrokes with that frame. Is a smaller grip better for vollies?

It will always boil down to preference, but most people find the opposite to be true. The larger the grip the more solid the volley feels.

[TennsDog]

The heavier the racket is, the less work you have to do on volleys. When I volley with the PS 85, just sticking the racket out and letting the ball bounce off works well enough because it's so solid. An 11oz racket would just get pushed around a bit more because it has less mass to defend with. Obviously, as Bill said, it's all preference. This is just the experience I have had. I don't really have great volleys, so the added weight really helps pick up my slack, especially on those passing shots you barely get a racket on.