Posted this in another thread but its applicable here so yeah...
Just wanted to say thanks for the MR^2 formula, i've been trying to see what depolarization does for my game, given that im a shorter player (5'7) with an all court game, 1HBH. I've been using a slightly extended racket for the past 15 months and have been unable to get anywhere near close to 385 due to extended rackets being overly HL.
Before venturing into my current frame, I was always under the impression that high level players use small headsizes and heavy static weights, headlight balance (didn't know anything about swingweight)This led to me using a pro staff 85 for about a year or so, and a RF 97 for a while. My game pleatued and I was losing to players I know I could beat, Frustrated. I don't know why but i started demoing ligter rackets and saw that I played better with them in matches, but that was the only point of reference I had for choosing my next racket. Enter DR 98.
The DR 98 is a great stick, My serve actually became a weapon because of the extra length, and it's super comfortable. My only 2 gripes are the high launch angle and I feel the weight distribution could be a bit better, although most extended frames have a similar weight distribuiton so i don't know how reasonable it is to have a stock depolarized weighting for a extended frame. Most are 5+ HL with 11 oz static. I just so happened to use an extended length by accident, the DR 98's are .125 inch longer than standard rackets and i found that out after I bought it, cool. Atleast I got to try an extended frame.
throughout my time customizing my DR 98, I realized I don't like static weight above 340 grams, i lose too much RHS and my groundstrokes start spraying more than normal, so that is my limit personally for my phsique and strokes. I like a TW around 14-14.5, and I like my SW to be at least 335. Based on the MR^2 = 385 formula I needed a racket that was 2 pts HL if i wanted 340 grams static.
I looked around for rackets that could be weighted to that spec (which are not many) and found that the head mircogel radical could be modded to those specs seeing that it comes 2 pts HL stock and 312 starting static weight...so i went ahead and bought one, its only $89 so i figured why not, curiosity got the best of me. I leaded it up to 340 grams and the balance was 2 pts HL exactly! Perfect. I'm on my way to becoming an ATP Pro. Lol Jk.
I went out for a practice match today with the pre-strung synthetic gut...won 7-6, 6-3 against a guy i normally struggle with/lose to, first impressions compared to the DR 98, lower launch angle due to the string pattern, which was really helpful on chip return of serves and slice backhands. I have a 1HBH and I use my slice quite often and I felt more confident attacking with it. Definitely less errors than normal, but could be due to the string pattern also. For some reason though I had really good consistency with second serves, they were landing deep in the box with more spin than my DR 98's, only 1 double fault for me over a 2 set match is really good. Compared to the 5-6 i would normally hit with my DR 98. DR 98 definitely wins on flat 1st serves because of the extra reach, but I liked everything else with the mircogel. I will do more experimenting and report back.
I am looking for more control on groundstrokes, and to cut down on unforced errors. My DR 98's are great when im playing well, but when im slightly off my game, everything is magnified. That is my reason for searching for a more optimal set-up for my game. I may end up switching back, but im confident that with these specs I can play some good tennis, although my thoughts mean nothing and match-play is the only evidence of such a claim. Don't get me wrong...the DR 98 was a major upgrade from those heavy players rackets and has won me a lot of matches, but i still feel like I can squeeze a little more out of my game.
In summary im thankful that I have found some insight as to the type of racket I can play best with due to threads like these, I was not maximizing my skillset by playing with heavy player's frames that are overly HL with low SW's. I am a short guy and mostly play singles. So now it finally makes sense why I hated certain frames when I demoed them (93p, Dunlop Aerogel 200, etc...)