Kimiko Date's 385g racket!

uk_skippy

uk_skippy

Hall of Fame
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I took these at Wimby this year. Def felt heavy. It had to be strung a certain way, not just as to S-Fit pattern but also to how she wanted it with the name on the throat and the why the stencil was applied.

Regards

Paul
 
N

nickarnold2000

Hall of Fame
I can't think of another current female pro or male pro either(except maybe doubles) playing with such heavy racket. And she's 40 years old!!
 
Sinner

Sinner

Professional
uk_skippy said:
I took these at Wimby this year. Def felt heavy. It had to be strung a certain way, not just as to S-Fit pattern but also to how she wanted it with the name on the throat and the why the stencil was applied.

Regards

Paul
Click to expand...

Hey Paul, do you recall what the balance was like?
 
H

Hominator

Hall of Fame
It also goes to show how you don't have to be strong in the traditional non-tennis sense to use a heavy racquet.
 
ilian

ilian

Semi-Pro
nickarnold2000 said:
I can't think of another current female pro or male pro either(except maybe doubles) playing with such heavy racket. And she's 40 years old!!
Click to expand...

Believe me, there are a lot of pros out there playing with heavier racquets. By the way, I strung Jim Courier's racquet a week ago and it was not as heavy as I thought. He is using the new Donnay racquets now. By the way, I didn't measure the weight or balance. There was lead at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions. ;)
 
uk_skippy

uk_skippy

Hall of Fame
From my pics you can see that there's no visible signs of lead. Therefore any additional weight would be lead under the bumper (I don't recall seeing any) or silicon in the handle.

This could mean that the frame has been built especially for hermit based on the s-fit frame.

Regards

Paul
 
B

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
If it's true, 13.5 oz isn't crazy heavy. Yes, it's much more than a lot of players use today, but I still don't find it that unbelievable. Her strokes are extremely compact. She's not taking Soderling or Nadal cuts at the ball. So, she can play with a heavier frame not worrying about being late on a massive swing. And, her game is based on redirecting other player's pace, and a heavy frame is perfect for that.

I read once that Sabatini's Prince OS frame was 14.1 oz. Mandlikova's Ultra 2 was around 13 oz. And, think of all those women with bulky wood frames in the past. If you develop your game with a certain type of frame, you'll get used to it. Date is obviously used to the weight. If you have good technique, a heavy frame is doable. It does a lot of the work for you in a way a light frame can't.
 
N

nickarnold2000

Hall of Fame
ilian said:
Believe me, there are a lot of pros out there playing with heavier racquets. By the way, I strung Jim Courier's racquet a week ago and it was not as heavy as I thought. He is using the new Donnay racquets now. By the way, I didn't measure the weight or balance. There was lead at the 3 & 9 o'clock positions. ;)
Click to expand...
What other current singles pro is using such a heavy racket?
 
BreakPoint

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
bluetrain4 said:
If it's true, 13.5 oz isn't crazy heavy. Yes, it's much more than a lot of players use today, but I still don't find it that unbelievable. Her strokes are extremely compact. She's not taking Soderling or Nadal cuts at the ball. So, she can play with a heavier frame not worrying about being late on a massive swing. And, her game is based on redirecting other player's pace, and a heavy frame is perfect for that.

I read once that Sabatini's Prince OS frame was 14.1 oz. Mandlikova's Ultra 2 was around 13 oz. And, think of all those women with bulky wood frames in the past. If you develop your game with a certain type of frame, you'll get used to it. Date is obviously used to the weight. If you have good technique, a heavy frame is doable. It does a lot of the work for you in a way a light frame can't.
Click to expand...
I agree with the benefits of a heavy racquet.

Sampras' PS 6.0 85 was about 14 oz. Most wood racquets back in the day were 13 oz. to 14 oz.

Oh, and Roman Prokes of **** once stated that the heaviest racquet of any pro that he strung for, man or woman, was Gabriela Sabatini's. :shock:
 
thebuffman

thebuffman

Professional
i took a look at kimiko's strokes and see why she plays with a heavy racquet. she is a definite pusher. she doesn't have any loop at all on the forehand. the stroke starts from the ground with a short up stroke/push. pretty much her racquet does all the work for her. seems to work just fine for her.
 
ryushen21

ryushen21

Legend
BreakPoint said:
I agree with the benefits of a heavy racquet.

Sampras' PS 6.0 85 was about 14 oz. Most wood racquets back in the day were 13 oz. to 14 oz.

Oh, and Roman Prokes of **** once stated that the heaviest racquet of any pro that he strung for, man or woman, was Gabriela Sabatini's. :shock:
Click to expand...

IIRC, I read some where that some of his frames were even heavier. Around the 16 oz. mark. I'll do some digging and see if I can find that.

Just for shiggles though, I played with a 396g frame for a while. Stability was killer.
 
mtommer

mtommer

Hall of Fame
thebuffman said:
i took a look at kimiko's strokes and see why she plays with a heavy racquet. she is a definite pusher. she doesn't have any loop at all on the forehand. the stroke starts from the ground with a short up stroke/push. pretty much her racquet does all the work for her. seems to work just fine for her.
Click to expand...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDfDE496OM&feature=related
Go to 3:30 to 4:05. She's not a pusher. Pushers don't go for winners. They rely entirely upon their opponent missing.

Anyway, she has no loop because she needs no loop to mentally help her track the ball and coordinate that physically. I know you may think she's letting her racquet do all the work but take it from someone who uses a 381 gram racquet, she's not.
 
thebuffman

thebuffman

Professional
mtommer said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDfDE496OM&feature=related
Go to 3:30 to 4:05. She's not a pusher. Pushers don't go for winners. They rely entirely upon their opponent missing.

Anyway, she has no loop because she needs no loop to mentally help her track the ball and coordinate that physically. I know you may think she's letting her racquet do all the work but take it from someone who uses a 381 gram racquet, she's not.
Click to expand...
i disagree respectfully. pushers do go for winners especially the short ball (at least at the professional level). i do see your point though of her not being a pusher. i will concede that. she does however use the weight of the racquet to her advantage which is smart i might add since it works for her. a full loop is not about tracking the ball though. tracking the ball is the duty of the left hand not the racquet. the full loop allows for effortless power as it uses gravity to help generate incredible speed.

oh and i use to play with 385-398g racquets. i used a full loop.
 
BreakPoint

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
ryushen21 said:
IIRC, I read some where that some of his frames were even heavier. Around the 16 oz. mark. I'll do some digging and see if I can find that.
Click to expand...
Nope. Nate Ferguson stated that he used to customize Sampras's ProStaffs to be close to 400g, which would make them about 14 oz.
 
BreakPoint

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
slice bh compliment said:
Hahahahaaaa, it's funny because it's true.

It's a 40 yr old lady with a heavier racquet than most pansies can bear to use.
Click to expand...
Not only that she's 40 years old, but she's also a small, skinny, petite little lady (5' 4", 117 lbs.). :shock:

Now you have 20 year-old, 6' 2", 200 lb. men complaining that 10 oz. racquets are too heavy for them. How funny. :)
 
BreakPoint

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
thebuffman said:
she does however use the weight of the racquet to her advantage which is smart i might add since it works for her.
Click to expand...
Well, of course it's smart. I mean why use a heavy racquet if you're not going to use the weight to your advantage, right? That's the whole point of adding weight to your racquet, isn't it?
 
mtommer

mtommer

Hall of Fame
thebuffman said:
a full loop is not about tracking the ball though.
Click to expand...

Probably not but it is for me. *shrug*

thebuffman said:
the full loop allows for effortless power as it uses gravity to help generate incredible speed.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I'm not so sure. More to the point I'm not so sure gravity is a significant factor in achieving swing speed as opposed to someone deciding when to "turn on" their racquet speed as they strike at the ball. By this I mean that watching her hit she obviously isn't lacking any power or racquet head speed and I doubt she'd gain anything more by having a "full" loop or that her mechanics would be changed if she played with a 10 ounce racquet.

From my own experience of just playing around I've found that my shots maintain their speed and spin etc. so long as I have allowed myself enough time to get my "okaaaaayyy aaaannndddd swing NOW" point matched with my timing to ball contact. The additional distance of a loop vs a short (or just let the racquet head drop and settle) take back changed nothing however I feel more comfortable using a loop in my take back which has to do with my timing the ball strike as I want it.

At any rate, I'm just relating my own experiences. Your "mileage" obviously varies. :)
 
Big_Dangerous

Big_Dangerous

Talk Tennis Guru
BreakPoint said:
Not only that she's 40 years old, but she's also a small, skinny, petite little lady (5' 4", 117 lbs.). :shock:

Now you have 20 year-old, 6' 2", 200 lb. men complaining that 10 oz. racquets are too heavy for them. How funny. :)
Click to expand...

Who complained that a 10 oz racket is too heavy? Really? All the top rackets that sell on TW in Babolat, Head, Wilson etc that aren't for juniors are over 10 oz unstrung.
 
Wombat_Joe

Wombat_Joe

New User
thebuffman said:
i took a look at kimiko's strokes and see why she plays with a heavy racquet. she is a definite pusher. she doesn't have any loop at all on the forehand. the stroke starts from the ground with a short up stroke/push. pretty much her racquet does all the work for her. seems to work just fine for her.
Click to expand...

You must be a kid?

Kimiko beat Graf and always gave her a run for her money. Even on Grass...

She is no pusher. But she is an "old school" baseliner...

Her strokes are the way they are, because she hits flat and precise. The way it used to be until the early 90's when the game completely changed...
 
PimpMyGame

PimpMyGame

Hall of Fame
I went up to around 375g-380g and my rackets felt very solid, very plush. Problem was I think my game was beginning to suffer for it overall. Cut back to 350g and that weight feels good. We all have our optimum setups.
 
Wombat_Joe

Wombat_Joe

New User
For me, I was a life long Puma 93"/Wilson 90"/Head 90" mid user (in that order) with frames around the 370g range..

Now I use the Adidas Barricade Tour Light's at 98inch, and honestly don't know the weight..

Now in my mid 30's, I don't play or practice like I did in my teens and early 20's. So I have had to compensate weight for comfort due to lack of training and competition....

I will say however. If I was to take the sport seriously again like a Date, or Muster. Then I would most probably end up back in that range and head size after I got back into the swing of training and playing again...

To be brutaly honest.. If I was to have a crack at the big time again at my age.. I would buy up all the Puma Becker Winners I could find and use that again as my main stick!
 
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