Flat hitter

Serpententacle

Serpententacle

Hall of Fame
What's a good raquet for a "falt" hitter? By flat hitter, I men someone who doesn't spin much at all, but just smacks the ball flat.

Any feedback could help my wife.
 
D

dacrymn

Professional
anything with enough weight in the head with a (generally) dense string pattern. These are all guidelines, though, as there are many, many exceptions. If you don't have any idea, however, then go along with what i said.
 
D

dunlopfan

Rookie
All of the flat hitters on tour usually use like a 16x20 or 18x20 string pattern. I hit pretty flat but I love my RDS 003 which is 16x19. I guess it's all about the racquet and player type.
 
T

threed

New User
Try Yonex RDS003. It is very stable frame for a tweener. And far more comfortable than Babolats for example.
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
This is a tricky one as there are so many variables beyond just hitting flat. I hit very flat and use a PS 6.1 Classic with is really headlight and heavy with an open pattern so kind of going against a lot of the conventional wisdoms there. Generally something with a denser string pattern, some good weight in the head and relatively heavy compared to its peers is not a bad bet from what I understand
 
K

keithchircop

Professional
origmarm said:
Generally something with a denser string pattern, some good weight in the head and relatively heavy compared to its peers is not a bad bet from what I understand
Click to expand...

I disagree with this. Head-heavy racquets are powerful and designed for people with short, soft swings i.e. grannies. If the OP's wife were to give a long, hard swing with a head-heavy racquet, the ball would sail long. This because she hits flat. When applying decent power, to keep the ball in with such a racquet you have to use topspin.
 
Serpententacle

Serpententacle

Hall of Fame
Her swing style is not THAT fast. It's pretty steady, and I wouldn't say long and loopy. It's rather compact, but there's good follow-through.
 
I

IanRichardson

Semi-Pro
my prince 03 tour midsize works very well and i hit an extremely flat ball. The plus of this racquet however is you can when the need arises use topspin with ease.
 
G

gbt tennis acer

Banned
Hey if I were I would try the new Babolat Pure Storm Tour. I just got done hitting with it for a couple weeks and it is a racket that really allows you to flatten the ball out.
 
M

martin

Banned
A dense or open pattern doesn't make that much difference. It's all about the weight of the racket. A heavier racket makes it easier to hit a flat ball.
 
a_6m

a_6m

Rookie
Prince O3 Silver for Flat Hitter.

or one can consider, Head Heavy or only 1-2 pts(nt more) headlight racquets.
 
a_6m

a_6m

Rookie
I think one can go for textured strings. So that flat hitter can generate spin easily on slice or whatever.

Rest depends on your requirement for power, feel, durability and also the headsize of racquet. if she is soft hitter, go for a powerful gut or string a gut with a bit lower tension, to increase power(less control) and depth else vice versa.
 
Kirko

Kirko

Hall of Fame
I'm a "flat hitter" and the main ingredients are : head heavy frame & strung tight.the babolat pure storm is right there for this application. upshot you turn your racket into kinda a "paddle".
 
M

martin

Banned
Since Connors changed to the graphite models he uses rackets with an open pattern. He used rackets with a 16 x 19 pattern and 16 x 18.

String Pattern
14 x 18 Open
16 x 18 Open
16 x 19 Moderately Open
16 x 20 Moderately Dense
18 x 19 Dense
18 x 20 Dense
 
Serpententacle

Serpententacle

Hall of Fame
martin said:
Since Connors changed to the graphite models he uses rackets with an open pattern. He used rackets with a 16 x 19 pattern and 16 x 18.

String Pattern
14 x 18 Open
16 x 18 Open
16 x 19 Moderately Open
16 x 20 Moderately Dense
18 x 19 Dense
18 x 20 Dense
Click to expand...

Aaahh. Thanks, Martin.

Speaking of Connors—I can't beleive Connors uses a Prince Precision Mono, now. At least, that's the last I heard of what he uses. Anyone know different?
 
AlpineCadet

AlpineCadet

Hall of Fame
keithchircop said:
I disagree with this. Head-heavy racquets are powerful and designed for people with short, soft swings i.e. grannies. If the OP's wife were to give a long, hard swing with a head-heavy racquet, the ball would sail long. This because she hits flat. When applying decent power, to keep the ball in with such a racquet you have to use topspin.
Click to expand...

FYI: It also depends if she's hitting the ball too long/short. She may be a flat hitter, but that doesn't mean she would find a perfect fit with any dense string pattern racket.

The best racket for her would be something that will allow her to paint the back lines without having to force her strokes 100% of the time. A racket's power level, stiffness and spin production is what she should be considering, and the string pattern is just a by-product of what she'll end up choosing.
 
O

OneHander

Rookie
I use a Prince Graphite II and a Prince Original Graphite before that. I hit pretty flat and those rackets have an open string pattern and a relatively small head size compared to many rackets today. I am a 5.0-5.5 player. I don't think you can assign a racket to someone because of how they hit a ball. The best thing to do would be to demo rackets with different characteristics until you find one that is comfortable.
 
C

cukoo

Semi-Pro
So generally flat hitters would usually want a somewhat head heavy racquet (6 pt HL ), or head light racquet?
 
Shashwat

Shashwat

Semi-Pro
I would say most of the Head racquets.

Head Flexpoint Radical
Head Flexpoint Radical Prestige
Head Liquidmetal Radical

etc.
 
a_6m

a_6m

Rookie
cukoo said:
So generally flat hitters would usually want a somewhat head heavy racquet (6 pt HL ), or head light racquet?
Click to expand...

Head Heavy(6pt HL) or 6 Pt HH

Flat hitter would usually like feel of head heavy racquet or racquet balanced upto only 1-2 points Head light.

Most of the WTA pros use, 1-2 pts headlights only, and some configure them for more headheavy feel by adding weights etc.
 
M

martin

Banned
RB said:
Connors uses the Mono--16 x 21 string patern--I would hardly call that open....
Click to expand...

But he didn't use the precison mono when he was still active on the ATP tour. He used the wilson pro staff, slazenger panther ceramic and Estusa Aerosupra. All rackets with open pattern.
For Connors it obviously didn't make much difference.
 
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