UK TT racquetaholics and tennis bums
- Thread starter Dave M
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jazar
Professional
To be honest, I don't care what those people think; most of them are complete idiots. All I know is I have the exact unstrung specs of Rafa's rackets.
crosscourt
Professional
Very interesting. We should play a sort of game where we all say what we have read about his specs and then see which if any of them is right. I was told his racket is one of the APD line, grip size 1, with 12 grams of lead in the head. Expect hysteria if you do post the specs and dont expect to be believed (other than by us). Is he still playing with the original APD without cortex?
Are you stringing for Gulbis? Whart happened to one of his rackets against Ferrero? He handed it to Canas during the match but Canas didnt seem to do more than put another overgrip on.
As to Wilson is there any news of a new line of rackets? I have gone back to playing the BLX95 18x20 because the strings in my Yonexes broke. I am hitting the ball well with it but there is scope for something with a bit more weight and a bit more flex in the head.
How is the weather there? The Djokovic match was rained off last night i think?
cc
Are you stringing for Gulbis? Whart happened to one of his rackets against Ferrero? He handed it to Canas during the match but Canas didnt seem to do more than put another overgrip on.
As to Wilson is there any news of a new line of rackets? I have gone back to playing the BLX95 18x20 because the strings in my Yonexes broke. I am hitting the ball well with it but there is scope for something with a bit more weight and a bit more flex in the head.
How is the weather there? The Djokovic match was rained off last night i think?
cc
jazar
Professional
That guessing game on Nadal's specs sounds fun; you should do it. I have no intention of posting the specs in the pro's equipment section. If I post them in this thread it will be on the condition that no one makes reference to it in any other thread.
I am stringing for Gulbis. Less than an hour before the Ferrero match Canas brought me four rackets for him. At least he apologised. Didn't receive any off court from him.
No news an any new Wilson rackets.
Weather has been good until yesterday. It's been very hot and humid. Yesterday evening it started raining at about 6 and steadily got worse until it was absolutely pelting down when I left at about 10.
prostaff junkie
Rookie
One of my sisters lives at near East Ham/Canning Town. They (her + husband) were driving down the road only to confronted by about 100 youths being chased towards them by riot police. Then a load of locals stood outside the local shops and confronted the yobs. There was riot police on one side and some very angry local residents and shopkeepers on the other. The yobs all legged it.
The worlds gone mad!
origmarm
Hall of Fame
Fine thanks. A few smashed up/burnt shops nearby (Clapham Jnct) but all ok with us and in our immediate vicinity. Drove past my old house yesterday. Brixton was looking pretty smashed. Last night was quiet by all accounts near us. We have a friend staying with us who was evacuated from his Clapham flat, he should be back there tonight or tomorrow.
EDIT: I'm not commenting too much as the "London Riots" thread had a record short lifespan yesterday
crosscourt
Professional
All ok in my bit of North London. While there obviously have been awful acts of criminality and while it is right that these are condemned some of the responses - particularly from the PM, the Evening Standard and some others - have been some way over the top. Only the genius of the Met Police has managed to convert what started as serious but essentially minor disorder into national crisis. They are probably too busy selling celebrity phone numbers to The Sun to bother apprehending teenage boys with 50 inch plasma TVs under their arms.
Cc
Cc
Being indifferent towards them I imagine would really upset them!
Would it seem to be the sort of racket that you could play with or some magical beast of a frame?
I tuned into sky sports to watch a match, it said "live" in the corner but had Nadal v Agassi on court, I was confused so went to bed!
Meaghan
Hall of Fame
Didn't fabfed post his specs when he bought his racket......
jazar
Professional
Being indifferent towards them I imagine would really upset them!
Would it seem to be the sort of racket that you could play with or some magical beast of a frame?
It's an original APD. Specs seem quite manageable.
Probably, but I assume those would be the strung specs.
crosscourt
Professional
I think that Babolat maintains that he has a standard racket with some lead at the top of the hoop. Could be marketing dross but as a company they are quite keen to say that all their pros use stock frames which may then be customised.
cc
cc
He's never stuck a racquet on an RDC, so no flex or swing weight.
Talking of swing weight - is there a way to measure that on an unstrung racquet without the RDC? The only budget methods I've seen involve hanging it via the strings.
forthegame
Hall of Fame
Jaz, you want us to beg? You could post them as random numbers in different posts.
For example:
66
(next post) 320
(next post) 6 HL
etc.....
LOL!
For example:
66
(next post) 320
(next post) 6 HL
etc.....
LOL!
Meaghan
Hall of Fame
Unstrung? Surely not. I'm going for 333 as he's half a beast at the moment.
Meaghan
Hall of Fame
strung of course.....
jazar
Professional
jazar
Professional
We just had a speed stringing contest that was apparently live on Canadian TV. Stringing an Aero Pro Drive in syn gut. I won my semi-final in 11 minutes 26 seconds. Have the final on Saturday. Was all about speed and not quality. Weird think is that I've done rackets two minutes faster and much better quality.
crosscourt
Professional
I think the weight will be c355 grams, and the strung swingweight about 345.
cc
cc
I feel I should win by default for being the only one who can follow the rules of this game... ;-)
Good luck in the final. Hoping you take down our first ever ATP title!
LTA rating thing, how does that work?
Watching a bit of the 92nd Cromer Open a couple of days ago (would love to have entered but work prohibited it), I noticed people have things like '7.2' or 3.1 next to their name...I have been out of competitive tennis for years so this has passed me by, how does this work?
btw great tournament and good to see their lovely grass courts being fully utilised
Watching a bit of the 92nd Cromer Open a couple of days ago (would love to have entered but work prohibited it), I noticed people have things like '7.2' or 3.1 next to their name...I have been out of competitive tennis for years so this has passed me by, how does this work?
btw great tournament and good to see their lovely grass courts being fully utilised
They've had a similar rating scheme going on for years, they tried to simplfy (is that a word?) it a while ag and added more numbers in to make it easier to find people of a similar std of play, I can't remember if it is lower to higher number as you improve or the other way around though.
I think the lower the number the better you are but still seems overly complicated...
^ It is overly complicated. And doesn't really mean anything.
Lowest adult rating is 9.2. Highest is 1.1. Each number has 2 increments, so it goes:
1.1
1.2
2.1
2.2
.
.
.
9.1
9.2
Very few (if any?) doubles matches/tournaments are taken into account, so unless you're playing a large amount of singles tournaments or matchplay your rating won't improve. A 9.2 could be a complete beginner or someone who hasn't played matches.
Ratings can go up and down, however, if you ever get to 5.2 or higher then you can never drop below 5.2. Once you're above 5.2, your ranking (county/national/international) is likely to be more important than your rating.
In my experience, anyone 7.2 or above is going to at least have some sort of idea how to play. Anyone 5.2 or higher has been pretty serious about the game at some point. Those between 9.2 and 8.1 are a complete lottery; you'll have no idea how good or bad they may be, unless they've played a lot of tournaments and that's their natural level.
The reality is that for adults there are far too few tournaments for the rating to be meaningful. We'd be far better off if the LTA issued a series of guidelines and then coaches at clubs could assess players... whilst this may not be the best approach for tournament play, it would certainly help when trying to find hitting partners around the same level.
Lowest adult rating is 9.2. Highest is 1.1. Each number has 2 increments, so it goes:
1.1
1.2
2.1
2.2
.
.
.
9.1
9.2
Very few (if any?) doubles matches/tournaments are taken into account, so unless you're playing a large amount of singles tournaments or matchplay your rating won't improve. A 9.2 could be a complete beginner or someone who hasn't played matches.
Ratings can go up and down, however, if you ever get to 5.2 or higher then you can never drop below 5.2. Once you're above 5.2, your ranking (county/national/international) is likely to be more important than your rating.
In my experience, anyone 7.2 or above is going to at least have some sort of idea how to play. Anyone 5.2 or higher has been pretty serious about the game at some point. Those between 9.2 and 8.1 are a complete lottery; you'll have no idea how good or bad they may be, unless they've played a lot of tournaments and that's their natural level.
The reality is that for adults there are far too few tournaments for the rating to be meaningful. We'd be far better off if the LTA issued a series of guidelines and then coaches at clubs could assess players... whilst this may not be the best approach for tournament play, it would certainly help when trying to find hitting partners around the same level.
prostaff junkie
Rookie
Just checked the LTA website.
Doubles matches don't count, so if you only play doubles matches/leagues then your rating will be in the 9's........like mine lol.
Doubles matches don't count, so if you only play doubles matches/leagues then your rating will be in the 9's........like mine lol.
prostaff junkie
Rookie
http://www.usta.com/Play-Tennis/USTA-League/Information/About_NTRP/
This system makes more sense to me, much simpler. You could just get a couple of mates to rate you.
This system makes more sense to me, much simpler. You could just get a couple of mates to rate you.
Meaghan
Hall of Fame
The system is crap. I know a recognized english coach who's a 10.2, also my 1st div friend is also......my coach who was 700 ish in the world is a 4.1.
As dags said its a lottery.....ratings put you in a certain category its prob rankings you should look at. Its also crap that there are very few singles leagues only doubles yet the doubles tourneys don't count for sh#t...
As dags said its a lottery.....ratings put you in a certain category its prob rankings you should look at. Its also crap that there are very few singles leagues only doubles yet the doubles tourneys don't count for sh#t...
forthegame
Hall of Fame
Soooo desperate for a hit today as the sun was shining. Gutted, no one to play with.
Watching the (rare) sunshine die down now and I'm kicking myself for not just going to practice serves at least.
I need a ball machine.....
Watching the (rare) sunshine die down now and I'm kicking myself for not just going to practice serves at least.
I need a ball machine.....
crosscourt
Professional
Perfect day for tennis today and had a superb couple of hours on court. Warm sunshine, light breeze, good footing on court. I even broke out some new balls in celebration!Something to remember in the middle of winter when the balls are wet and heavy and the racquet feels like a piece of two-by-four.
cc
cc
crosscourt
Professional
J - do you have access to an RDC machine in London? A couple of my rackets feel very different and I would love to know if it is me or them.
cc
Nice to branch out. Is that something you've had any sort of training/advice in, or did you just pick it up as you went along? I've done a spot of matching on my own sticks, but it's just restricted to sticking lead on where the TW calculator tells me. I'd be interested in techniques for injecting silicone correctly.
I know you matched your racquets on SW - is that the norm for pro customising? That would be virtually impossible without an RDC... perhaps that's why they cost so much!
crosscourt
Professional
How senior is senior?!
Disappointing that you missed out on nomination for "player using the highest number of different racquets of the year" award. You'll have to try harder next season.
Just completed my first ever 'do over' string job.
A chap I play with turned up with fresh strings, and broke them within 10 minutes. He wasn't best pleased, so I had a look at his racquet: there was nothing obviously wrong, except that the string in question was Babolat Addiction which I've found to be the least durable string I've ever played it. So we talked about strings for a bit, and it ended up with him giving me two racquets to string. I did one as a full syn gut job, the other a poly/syn gut hybrid.
I delivered them at our next hitting session, and said that if he broke either that day then I'd redo it for free. My main concern was whether the full syn gut would last long enough. He started with the hybrid, with some drilling from the baseline where he was hitting really cleanly. On to some points, and he came into behind a slightly ropey approach... I ripped it cross-court, he stretched, hit possibly the worst volley he could, and broke a string.
I knew full well the break was almost certainly a result of the shank, but I figured that if I was him I'd still be disappointed that the string had only lasted 20 minutes, and as I'd made the promise at the start of the session it was clearly the right thing to do.
Having switched to the full syn gut stick, the next time he came to net he hit another almighty shank. I don't think I've ever seen someone who strikes the ball so well from the back be quite so bad at net... it was heart in mouth time whenever he came in, and I was convinced I'd be going home with both racquets in my bag. Fortunately we made it to the end, and the strings looked in good shape.
Still, glad to get that one out of the way. Off to play myself this afternoon, trying gut mains with ALU rough crosses for the first time.
A chap I play with turned up with fresh strings, and broke them within 10 minutes. He wasn't best pleased, so I had a look at his racquet: there was nothing obviously wrong, except that the string in question was Babolat Addiction which I've found to be the least durable string I've ever played it. So we talked about strings for a bit, and it ended up with him giving me two racquets to string. I did one as a full syn gut job, the other a poly/syn gut hybrid.
I delivered them at our next hitting session, and said that if he broke either that day then I'd redo it for free. My main concern was whether the full syn gut would last long enough. He started with the hybrid, with some drilling from the baseline where he was hitting really cleanly. On to some points, and he came into behind a slightly ropey approach... I ripped it cross-court, he stretched, hit possibly the worst volley he could, and broke a string.
I knew full well the break was almost certainly a result of the shank, but I figured that if I was him I'd still be disappointed that the string had only lasted 20 minutes, and as I'd made the promise at the start of the session it was clearly the right thing to do.
Having switched to the full syn gut stick, the next time he came to net he hit another almighty shank. I don't think I've ever seen someone who strikes the ball so well from the back be quite so bad at net... it was heart in mouth time whenever he came in, and I was convinced I'd be going home with both racquets in my bag. Fortunately we made it to the end, and the strings looked in good shape.
Still, glad to get that one out of the way. Off to play myself this afternoon, trying gut mains with ALU rough crosses for the first time.
jazar
Professional
Unfortunately I don't have one.
I've done balancing and customising for a few years now. It's something I picked up by watching more experienced people and by learning the theory.
I always match my rackets by swingweight and I advise pro players to do the same. Most of the time when doing it for a pro, you get everything (balance, weight and swingweight) the same. Swingweight is the most important thing though.
forthegame
Hall of Fame
Mental toughness....
Mental fragility matchwise at its best today.
Playing club championships first round, serving for the first set at 5-4. Somehow lost serve and it all went south after that. Lost the set 5-7 and proceeded to not win a single game again. Lost interest completely, lost focus, didn't want to be there. Very odd.
Lost 7-5, 6-0.
Annoyed with myself.
Mental fragility matchwise at its best today.
Playing club championships first round, serving for the first set at 5-4. Somehow lost serve and it all went south after that. Lost the set 5-7 and proceeded to not win a single game again. Lost interest completely, lost focus, didn't want to be there. Very odd.
Lost 7-5, 6-0.
Annoyed with myself.
Marcus
Semi-Pro
I've won that award unchallenged for the last 2 years straight !!
It's over 18's not the old knacker award, although I'm 41 !!
On closer inspection it's senior club player of the year...
Mark
jazar
Professional
Unfortunately the Bryan brothers winning streak with me stringing for them came to an end at 9 matches. Always a pleasure to string for them; their coach is a top bloke. Just popped to Centre Court to catch some of the singles final. Seems a pretty good match, but Novak is in control. Should be an easy straight sets win.
jazar
Professional
Didn't win. I did 11 minutes 9 seconds; the other guy did 8 minutes 7 seconds! I was never going to beat that. I would have gone under 10 minutes but the string kept getting stuck under the legs of the machine, I forgot to lock a base clamp and the string got stuck in the tension head, I kept on misweaving and having to go back and correct it, and I slowed down after the other guy finished. Not very bothered I didn't win as my main concern is always the player's rackets.