RF 97 - Why not switch the grip?- Why not tame the beast?

What grip do you prefer on the RF97?

  • Leather

    Votes: 25 53.2%

  • Synthetic

    Votes: 9 19.1%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 1 overgrip

    Votes: 8 17.0%

  • 2 overgrips

    Votes: 5 10.6%
  • Total voters
    47
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
The RF97 is a beast of a racquet, but if you take off the leather and add a synthetic grip or something other than leather. It will lighten the weight.

I personal love leather but it does start to hurt the hand after a while for me. so i was looking for a soft yet rough grip. I found it in the Diadem vintage feel hybrid grip. It part synthetic and leather. it made my 1st gen RF to 353gram/12.3oz. it made the beast easier to use.

Has anyone else done this? or tried something different?

if you are using the RF97, let me know why? and how you handle it!

i know wilson QC sucks, so it might not be the same for everyone.

I played with the pro staff 85,88,90 & 95. i still thing that the ncode & kfactor were the best lines.
 
G

golden chicken

Hall of Fame
(Way) Back in college my friend and I took some Pro Staff 6.0 85s and added a ton of lead to the hoop at 3 and 9 and replaced the leather grip with synthetic. It was an absolute axe but it crushed the ball.
 
TennisManiac

TennisManiac

Hall of Fame
I just purchased an RF97. And I plan on replacing the leather grip with a light synthetic replacement grip. I figure it will drop the static weight by about 7 or 8 grams. It should also move the balance from 9 pts hl to 7 pts hl. Which is a good thing imo.
 
P

Povl Carstensen

Legend
I just bought me a RF black version. Went up one size in grip, from 3 to 4. Took of the leather grip, and play it with just two overgrips (which player is it that does that also, Nadal?). Wilson pro on top of Tournagrip. So now I have a RF97 at 340 g, 32,7 (5 pts) balance strung, as opposed to about 360 grams, 31,5 (9 pts) with leather and overgrip. Very happy.
 
D

Deleted member 766578

Guest
Just bought an RF97 from someone, had 2 overgrips on top of the leather, I almost thought it was a fake because it felt like a toy, but then I weighed it and it was 370g, but it was so headlight, felt so easy to move around

Now I've taken off the leather, just put on a head hydrosorb synthetic since it was all I had, it's about 360g with overgrip and dampner now

Feeling like I should put it back up to 370g for super headlight balance, but I was surprised to see there was no trap door on the buttcap, and i can't really be bothered adding lead underneath :eek:

But I may switch to Kimony leather or Wilson feather thin to reduce another 7-8g , to experiment
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
golden chicken said:
(Way) Back in college my friend and I took some Pro Staff 6.0 85s and added a ton of lead to the hoop at 3 and 9 and replaced the leather grip with synthetic. It was an absolute axe but it crushed the ball.
Click to expand...
I did the same thing to my Wilson kfactor 90 lol.
Didn’t have a scale back then but I added about 10 grams to the top. It was like a hammer and I loved every second of it
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
TennisManiac said:
I just purchased an RF97. And I plan on replacing the leather grip with a light synthetic replacement grip. I figure it will drop the static weight by about 7 or 8 grams. It should also move the balance from 9 pts hl to 7 pts hl. Which is a good thing imo.
Click to expand...
You are choosing a light synthetic grip, are you gonna go for thinnest or thickness on. The replacement grip?
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
Povl Carstensen said:
I just bought me a RF black version. Went up one size in grip, from 3 to 4. Took of the leather grip, and play it with just two overgrips (which player is it that does that also, Nadal?). Wilson pro on top of Tournagrip. So now I have a RF97 at 340 g, 32,7 (5 pts) balance strung, as opposed to about 360 grams, 31,5 (9 pts) with leather and overgrip. Very happy.
Click to expand...
Wow. That sounds nice. If only they had a 5/8 I would of done the same.
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
diddyac said:
Just bought an RF97 from someone, had 2 overgrips on top of the leather, I almost thought it was a fake because it felt like a toy, but then I weighed it and it was 370g, but it was so headlight, felt so easy to move around

Now I've taken off the leather, just put on a head hydrosorb synthetic since it was all I had, it's about 360g with overgrip and dampner now

Feeling like I should put it back up to 370g for super headlight balance, but I was surprised to see there was no trap door on the buttcap, and i can't really be bothered adding lead underneath :eek:

But I may switch to Kimony leather or Wilson feather thin to reduce another 7-8g , to experiment
Click to expand...
I think it’s cause of the sharpe buttcap the RF has. That the 2 overgrip son leather work so well
 
A

Anthony Kirk

New User
My RF97s all have the original grips plus one Gamma supreme grip. The stock leather grips provide the appropriate weighting needed and a good base for an overgrip. No reason to switch if it works for my application.

I also do the samething with my new 305 XTCs, overgrip on top of the stock grip.
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
Anthony Kirk said:
My RF97s all have the original grips plus one Gamma supreme grip. The stock leather grips provide the appropriate weighting needed and a good base for an overgrip. No reason to switch if it works for my application.

I also do the samething with my new 305 XTCs, overgrip on top of the stock grip.
Click to expand...
Which do you use more?
 
A

Anthony Kirk

New User
shaneno said:
Which do you use more?
Click to expand...

My XTC 305s were customized to match the RF97s, I was looking for a more modern racquet with more control, larger sweetspot, and better build quality. I haven't touched my RF97s since I got my XTC 305s back in January. The biggest thing that was eye opening to me was the amount of touch and control I have with the XTCs.
 
R

Rally

Professional
I play with my RFs in stock form with a Wilson Pro Overgrip. They're matched frames with specs of 12 ounces unstrung, 11 HL, and 303 SW. After the strings are put in and the overgrip is slapped on, it's 12.7 ounces strung, 9 HL, and I'm guessing close to 335 SW. I like it in this form because the racquet is more manageable for my extreme eastern forehand and eastern one-handed backhand when the racquet is this headlight. If the racquet had less mass at 3 and 9, I'd go closer to 6 or 7 points headlight just like my Pro Staff 90s. The RFs are a little cumbersome on the serve after a while, but if I focus on my new technique, I can put up with it.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
TennisHound

TennisHound

Legend
IMO, the serve has a lot to do with it. If you can serve for 2 hrs of hard play and not have problems then go for the weight. If you have problems serving, either less rhs on second serves, or having to radically change your ball toss, or extra stress on the shoulder, then its too heavy. While HL helps, you are still swinging the weight over your head.
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
Rally said:
I play with my RFs in stock form with a Wilson Pro Overgrip. They're matched frames with specs of 12 ounces unstrung, 11 HL, and 303 SW. After the strings are put in and the overgrip is slapped on, it's 12.7 ounces strung, 9 HL, and I'm guessing close to 335 SW. I like it in this form because the racquet is more manageable for my extreme eastern forehand and eastern one-handed backhand when the racquet is this headlight. If the racquet had less mass at 3 and 9, I'd go closer to 6 or 7 points headlight just like my Pro Staff 90s. The RFs are a little cumbersome on the serve after a while, but if I focus on my new technique, I can put up with it.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Did you play with pro staff 90?
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
TennisHound said:
IMO, the serve has a lot to do with it. If you can serve for 2 hrs of hard play and not have problems then go for the weight. If you have problems serving, either less rhs on second serves, or having to radically change your ball toss, or extra stress on the shoulder, then its too heavy. While HL helps, you are still swinging the weight over your head.
Click to expand...
Very true. Serve is a big part.
HL does make racquet feel less than they are
 
F

FIRETennis

Professional
I found the original thin leather to not be very comfortable nor shock absorbing.
I've switched the Wilson Leather grip (~22g installed on L3) to Wilson Sublime (~13g installed on L3) and it feels fantastic.
Also previously tried the Babolat Syntec Feel on there ~14g and was similar to Sublime but not as comfortable.

Added 1.5g lead to the tip and the final specs are 357g 340SW 31.9cm 7.5HL.
 
Last edited:
SeeItHitIt

SeeItHitIt

Professional
Remove the upper third of the leather. You dont use it anyway. Add an overgrip. Hit with it, gut poly 58/55 and smile.
 
J

jayserinos99

Hall of Fame
Povl Carstensen said:
I just bought me a RF black version. Went up one size in grip, from 3 to 4. Took of the leather grip, and play it with just two overgrips (which player is it that does that also, Nadal?). Wilson pro on top of Tournagrip. So now I have a RF97 at 340 g, 32,7 (5 pts) balance strung, as opposed to about 360 grams, 31,5 (9 pts) with leather and overgrip. Very happy.
Click to expand...

I thought it was Guga Kuerten?

Anyway, my red/black RF97s have Skin Feel grips on them which make the frame swing faster, but my frames are lighter and more HL than normal RF97s and are strung with TB18, so they swing more like the older PSC6.1s than a normal RF97, which normally swung as if they had weight in the throat.
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
jayserinos99 said:
I thought it was Guga Kuerten?

Anyway, my red/black RF97s have Skin Feel grips on them which make the frame swing faster, but my frames are lighter and more HL than normal RF97s and are strung with TB18, so they swing more like the older PSC6.1s than a normal RF97, which normally swung as if they had weight in the throat.
Click to expand...
lets be host, we want these new version with bigger headsizes to swing like the older models lol i want my RF to be the same weight like my Ksixone 90
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
FIRETennis said:
I found the original thin leather to not be very comfortable nor shock absorbing.
I've switched the Wilson Leather grip (~22g installed on L3) to Wilson Sublime (~13g installed on L3) and it feels fantastic.
Also previously tried the Babolat Syntec Feel on there ~14g and was similar to Sublime but not as comfortable.

Added 1.5g lead to the tip and the final specs are 357g 340SW 31.9cm 7.5HL.
Click to expand...
Sublime comfortable but no feel for me, how do you feel anything?
 
F

FIRETennis

Professional
shaneno said:
Sublime comfortable but no feel for me, how do you feel anything?
Click to expand...

Depends who you play. Against high spin heavy hitters, the Wilson leather felt too harsh on the palm to me.
Sublime is much more comfortable.
I guess you could play without any base grip and just two overgrips but that felt too harsh.
To each their own.
 
shaneno

shaneno

Professional
FIRETennis said:
Depends who you play. Against high spin heavy hitters, the Wilson leather felt too harsh on the palm to me.
Sublime is much more comfortable.
I guess you could play without any base grip and just two overgrips but that felt too harsh.
To each their own.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Leather is harsh but that feel is one of
A kind
 
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