My friend Vic made this vid recently. Tired of hearing about racquet companies bragging about faster racquets.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=025aUsaAaAI
What do you guys think?
What do you guys think?
Faster racquets = Less time to recover = quicker movements. Really didnt feel like it was that complicated.
The PLAYERS are bigger, stronger, more fit, and taught the game more than ever.
Faster racket speed =\= faster ball speeds necessarily.
These faster rackets generally become this way by reducing their mass. With less mass you can apply less force to the ball with the same racket speed. The way I see it, the faster rackets just effect the amount of spin you can impart on the ball, not necessarily the power. We all know heavier rackets have more power or "plow through".
If anything, it's the strings to blame for increased ball speeds because it allows players to generate more spin and be able to control shots that are hit harder and harder.
You think Raonic would be able to serve like he is now with old rackets? LOLThe PLAYERS are bigger, stronger, more fit, and taught the game more than ever.
You think Raonic would be able to serve like he is now with old rackets? LOL
Correct. Racquets are not the problem. Many pro's do not use what we would consider a powerful setup.
Why do you say pros don't use a "powerful setup". There's a thread here at TW that has a list of pro racket specs - balance, length, and weight. Average strung weight is 12.6, average length is 27.3 and average balance is 7.9 HL. These specs would result in a racket far more powerful than the retail rackets that we buy. ATP swing weight is high but I don't have an actual average. My experience based on what I've read is ATP players are typically in the 340-390 range for swing weight. Even Nadal who plays a lighter racket - around 12 oz - has been documented as having a swingweight in the 350-360 range as his racket is far less HL. So, pros have a swingweight say around 360 and their racket head speed is much higher than us mere mortals. A swingweight of 360 with a fast RHS would really wallop the ball - very, very powerful.
Basically, the pros are playing with heavy and powerful rackets.
I stood about 30' from ColinDibley in 1977 when he hit 149mph at the GoldenGatewayTennisClub in SF. Colin is an ape armed monkey, maybe 6'3", but only when he was slouched over, normal for him. His wingspan was probably just under 7'6".....almost like MichaelJordan's.
PrimoCarnera glassed his DunlopMaxply with extra glass at the throat thru to include the whole head, but only laminates, not a wrap. I watched that too, from FTC's stringing booth.
Colin was maybe in the top 30 men's pro at the time. VictorAmaya, a lefty monster at 6'6", served serveral serves at 144, but broke TWO rackets in less than 20 serves.
Milos, if he could get a racket that lasted, would serve harder, but not much more than a couple mph's.
Sweetspot on wood rackets were much higher, farther from the player's hand, and players could change string tension to match their preferences with the old softer wood rackets.
Agree with this. But if the ATP sped the balls and courts up to shorten the points, it would help.Gains in athleticism, fitness, and strength are the reasons the game is so physically grueling...these guys would hit a rocket ball with anything, it is just in the modern game their opponents have the speed and strength to actually get to it!
Speed measurement was still coming along at the time as well. I know it's virtually impossible to ever verify this, but when compared to just the evolution of other sports (think pitching speed, vertical leaps, 100 meter dash times), I doubt anyone in the wood racquet era hit much harder than 140 mph, if that. None of these numbers thrown out were from reliable speed measuring devices.