Created my own pro stock Babolat

teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
As a lot of you know pro stocks are incredibly expensive .
I had an old VS AERO , laying around the pro shop so I decided to have some. Fun .
As I have an ex D1 student of mine who loves to the aero storm but had to give it up due to the weight and stiffness . He’s in his early 30’s I presume .
But he just can’t handle the aero anymore and he can’t seem to find anything close to it .
So.
I decided to do some surgery on one of our old ones .
this particular racquet was used by my director of tennis . He used it to feed and play , so it was very beat up...


Anyway .

I asked my client as to what would he want his dream racquet to be ?
He said my aero storm with a lower weight and more soft.
So I went to work on it.
Finished it this morning and let him demo my finished product . He absolutely loved it and now wants 3 more ..
A little backstory on me .
I do a ton of surgeries on my own sticks so I know my way around tennis rackets inside and out .
I can and have done many times shaved off RA points up to 10 -12 points to make softer .
I have done this so many times I can ( if the rackets start out at the same RA) can duplicate it over and over to make 2 rackets match up with the same new more flexible RA . No I’m not being silly I’m serious. I’ve given symposiums on this for the local USRSA MRT’s here to show them too how to do it .
You have to know the rackets skeleton is the main deal . If you don’t then there’s too Many variables to mess up .
I am able to shave off material in certain. Spots to achieve this .
I had not had any clue of the Babolat aero storm so I had one laying around so I cut it up andpower sanded down to the prepreg and then I sanded down to where I went all the way thru the walls .
that gave me an idea to how deep Ican go ..
So now with that info I started on one of my clients .
He gave me one of his that hadn’t even been played with much .
So I pulled off the head guard and some grommets ..
That gets rid of a ton of weight right there..I power sanded down the whole head 3 layers down uniformly and some of the throat too .
Making notes along the way . In case I need to do this again .
Finished product
Weight - 10.5 oz strung
Balance -9 Pts head light
RA frame started at 67
I got it down to —-56 Ra
Silicone in the handle ..
IT PLAYS GREAT TOO !!
I’m gonna do another one soon for him and myself .

https://imgur.com/hMk4Fyk
 
joah310

joah310

Professional
Wow it looks great. Wish I could do that with some of my rackets. Plusher feel and new paint.
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
joah310 said:
Btw how do you paint rackets? I have a bunch of really chipped rackets and I want to paint it to look brand new.
Click to expand...
It’s easy . Sand off the factory paint . Buy a can of flat black paint +primer all in one .. paint the racket thin light coats. Done
The real trick to this is the right paint . Flat black works best as it dries quick and when scrapes happen it is more durable than gloss paint in my experiences
 
joah310

joah310

Professional
teachingprotx said:
It’s easy . Sand off the factory paint . Buy a can of flat black paint +primer all in one .. paint the racket thin light coats. Done
The real trick to this is the right paint . Flat black works best as it dries quick and when scrapes happen it is more durable than gloss paint in my experiences
Click to expand...
Thanks! Just wondering because I read this somewhere, but does the new paint affect the weight and feel alot? And happy new year!
 
Dan D

Dan D

Rookie
Great thread! Thanks for sharing!

IMO the new painting should not affect the weight too much because you sand off the factory paint!

The new paint may influence the feeling very little, but for a recreational player should not be so noticeable.

@teachingprotx how do you lower the RA? And how do you measure the RA?
 
Last edited:
FedGR

FedGR

Professional
Good job man, that's pretty cool! Can you please post more pics of the process? Would be super interesting to see!
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Dan D said:
Great thread! Thanks for sharing!

IMO the new painting should not affect the weight too much because you sand off the factory paint!

The new paint may influence the feeling very little, but for a recreational player should not be so noticeable.

@teachingprotx how do you lower the RA? And how do you measure the RA?
[/QUOTE
Thank you all for the kind words . I love doing it and I love showing tennis players that appreciate it !
If you paint a racket without sanding the old paint off you will DEFINITELY ADD WEIGHT!
But if you sand down the old factory paint to bare graphite first layer then you re-paint it you can achieve the same factory weight .
But it’s not that easy , but can be done.
Sanding down the first couple layers of the graphite will decrease stiffness. The deeper you go the more flex you will gain .
However it can be dangerous to go too deep as you can go too deep and break thru into the wall . Leaving a hole!
No good there.
You have to really know how the racket was made and how many layers of graphite the racket that is being used has , before attempting to decrease stiffness .

but yeah man . You too can decrease stiffness by sanding the racket .
I use a power Milwaukee hand power multi tool to do the sanding . I use 50 grit to 120 grit to achieve maximum RA drop. Ive done a ton of frames using this process and it works well.
Click to expand...
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Dan D said:
Great thread! Thanks for sharing!

IMO the new painting should not affect the weight too much because you sand off the factory paint!

The new paint may influence the feeling very little, but for a recreational player should not be so noticeable.

@teachingprotx how do you lower the RA? And how do you measure the RA?
Click to expand...
Sand Off racket material/ graphite to get more flex :)
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
Dan D said:
How deep do you sand dawn to decrease the RA from 67 to 56?
Click to expand...
Well the frame was used so it measured out to 64 RA just from it being strung .
It was in great shape barely any use .
So I sanded it down at first uniformly all 2 levels down on the entire frame not just the hoop . That means I sanded the entire frame once . Then again that’s 2 ..
then again in certain spots . That makes it 3 mostly ..
I did not ever see gray or any opaque colors which means fiberglass.

so that’s what I did to achieve this .
Now if I do this again I would have to throw it on the rdc machine .check the numbers and see what I would need to do . Make any changes etc ...
 
topspn

topspn

Legend
Pretty interesting but you’re changing the playing characteristics as well. You are shaving off material reducing weight and twist weight so stability overall and enhancing feel and flex. The people that play a Bab are looking for that easy powerful forgiving playability which you’re affecting.
 
joah310

joah310

Professional
topspn said:
Pretty interesting but you’re changing the playing characteristics as well. You are shaving off material reducing weight and twist weight so stability overall and enhancing feel and flex. The people that play a Bab are looking for that easy powerful forgiving playability which you’re affecting.
Click to expand...
you can always add weight at 3 and 9 if it lacks twist weight so I think the lower flex is alot more important than the twist weight
 
joah310

joah310

Professional
fritzhimself said:
Well, I haven't gone to that extreme of preprage to weaken it.
I don't think that's a good idea. Think it'll shorten the lifespan.
Here are some pictures of the Pure Aero, which I personified for a former Top 250 ATP player without affecting the RA.
Click to expand...
damn those look slick
 
topspn

topspn

Legend
joah310 said:
you can always add weight at 3 and 9 if it lacks twist weight so I think the lower flex is alot more important than the twist weight
Click to expand...
No, it is not that simple and I am not an aero fan anyway. You are changing a tweener into more of players frame and altering its playability and it is not just RA. You are altering static weight, SW, TW and beam width. My point is people who want to play an aero do so for its tweener playability and while his experiment is interesting but it takes away what is fundamentally a tweener.
 
Zoolander

Zoolander

Hall of Fame
teachingprotx said:
Sand Off racket material/ graphite to get more flex :)
Click to expand...

Nice work TP! Couple of questions on the sanding tho. Can you tell how many layers you go through when your actually sanding, or are you just guessing based on how thick the graphite is? I have a racquet i cut up its throat to see how thick it is, but how can you tell how deep you have sanded when your doing it?

And how deep do you go anyways to get a noticeable reduction in flex? Half way through?
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
topspn said:
No, it is not that simple and I am not an aero fan anyway. You are changing a tweener into more of players frame and altering its playability and it is not just RA. You are altering static weight, SW, TW and beam width. My point is people who want to play an aero do so for its tweener playability and while his experiment is interesting but it takes away what is fundamentally a tweener.
Click to expand...
Yes top is 10000000%correct here .
This racket in stock form is powerful. By modding the way I have takes inherent power away .
Which was the exact purpose ..
Client wanted a lighter and softer more controlled response from his Aeros. And that’s what I gave him .
So all is good. Now does this affect the play ? Yes exactly the point of the mod.
does this make the frame weaker ?
Yes of course. But you would be very surprised how much the rackets of today can with stand .
Case in point .
My now ex junior director was ranked top 900 in the world . He used the Babolat pure control 95 .
He too wanted to take off weight and add flex .
We did this to his frame .
I got the racket down to 11.3 strung .
And shaved off 4 points from the factory RA . Which was RDC VALUE OF -60 RA..
Tw had it at 58 I believe .. but my rdc valued it at 60 RA.
We got it down to 56 RA . And he used it and still does to this day we made him 3..
Still no cracks or fractures .. but yes of Course it voided his warranty.
But this type of mod is niche . For sure .. and the clients who ask this completely understand the parameters in which I need to work in and it’s not a gaurantee that it won’t break in the future . That is the FIRST thing that is communicated with said client .
Just like it is if a stringer goes above rec string tension .
Example/
I have a client who strings his
85 pro staff OG WILSON pro staff at 82 lbs tension with prince pro blend . He is fully aware it voids it . But he cannot find a Stringer willing to string it that high . But I will and have No problem doing so . As long as everyone is on the same page .
I was shocked at how well the pro staff responded at that tension with Kevlar of all things. Sure control was there . But it could straight crack the ball too. I wish I could have found a competent stringer back in the day when I used to tournament with my 85 pro staff. The highest anyone would go was 72 lbs , back then .i too always asked if they could go higher . But to no avail .
I always thought that stick would shine ( FOR ME )
At mid 80’s lb tension , and after a short baseline hit with my clients frame , I was convinced unequivocally..
For me for me for me ..
 
Last edited:
topspn

topspn

Legend
teachingprotx said:
Yes top is 10000000%correct here .
This racket in stock form is powerful. By modding the way I have takes inherent power away .
Which was the exact purpose ..
Client wanted a lighter and softer more controlled response from his Aeros. And that’s what I gave him .
So all is good. Now does this affect the play ? Yes exactly the point of the mod.
does this make the frame weaker ?
Yes of course. But you would be very surprised how much the rackets of today can with stand .
Case in point .
My now ex junior director was ranked top 900 in the world . He used the Babolat pure control 95 .
He too wanted to take off weight and add flex .
We did this to his frame .
I got the racket down to 11.3 strung .
And shaved off 4 points from the factory RA . Which was RDC VALUE OF -60 RA..
Tw had it at 58 I believe .. but my rdc valued it at 60 RA.
We got it down to 56 RA . And he used it and still does to this day we made him 3..
Still no cracks or fractures .. but yes of Course it voided his warranty.
But this type of mod is niche . For sure .. and the clients who ask this completely understand the parameters in which I need to work in and it’s not a gaurantee that it won’t break in the future . That is the FIRST thing that is communicated with said client .
Just like it is if a stringer goes above rec string tension .
Example/
I have a client who strings his
85 pro staff OG WILSON pro staff at 82 lbs tension with prince pro blend . He is fully aware it voids it . But he cannot find a Stringer willing to string it that high . But I will and have No problem doing so . As long as everyone is on the same page .
I was shocked at how well the pro staff responded at that tension with Kevlar of all things. Sure control was there . But it could straight crack the ball too. I wish I could have found a competent stringer back in the day when I used to tournament with my 85 pro staff. The highest anyone would go was 72 lbs , back then .i too always asked if they could go higher . But to no avail .
I always thought that stick would shine ( FOR ME )
At mid 80’s lb tension , and after a short baseline hit with my clients frame , I was convinced unequivocally..
For me for me for me ..
Click to expand...
Yes, makes total sense if the expectation of the client to change overall playability. Interesting work doing that extensive of a transformation to a frame.
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
topspn said:
No, it is not that simple and I am not an aero fan anyway. You are changing a tweener into more of players frame and altering its playability and it is not just RA. You are altering static weight, SW, TW and beam width. My point is people who want to play an aero do so for its tweener playability and while his experiment is interesting but it takes away what is fundamentally a tweener.
Click to expand...
Yes top is 10000000%correct here .
This racket in stock form is powerful. By modding the way I have takes inherent power away .
Which was the exact purpose ..
Client wanted a lighter and softer more controlled response from his Aeros. And that’s what I gave him .
So all is good. Now does this affect the play ? Yes exactly the point of the mod.
does this make the frame weaker ?
Yes of course. But you would be very surprised how much the rackets of today can with stand .
Case in point .
My now ex junior director was ranked top 900 in the world . He used the Babolat pure control 95 .
He too wanted to take off weight and add flex .
We did this to his frame .
I got the racket down to 11.3 strung .
And shaved off 4 points from the factory RA . Which was RDC VALUE OF -60 RA..
Tw had it at 58 I believe .. but my rdc valued it at 60 RA.
We got it down to 56 RA . And he used it and still does to this day we made him 3..
Still no cracks or fractures .. but yes of Course it voided his warranty.
But this type of mod is niche . For sure .. and the clients who ask this completely understand the parameters in which I need to work in and it’s not a gaurantee that it won’t break in the future . That is the FIRST thing that is communicated with said client .
Just like it is if a stringer goes above rec string tension .
Example/
I have a client who strings his
85 pro staff OG WILSON pro staff at 82 lbs tension with prince pro blend . He is fully aware it voids it . But he cannot find a Stringer willing to string it that high . But I will and have No problem doing so . As long as everyone is on the same page
 
teachingprotx

teachingprotx

Legend
So hard to say so many variables. I’d have to look at it start to finish and factor what type of paint mote important how many layers did they use to paint it for commercial use
 
TennisHound

TennisHound

Legend
teachingprotx said:
As a lot of you know pro stocks are incredibly expensive .
I had an old VS AERO , laying around the pro shop so I decided to have some. Fun .
As I have an ex D1 student of mine who loves to the aero storm but had to give it up due to the weight and stiffness . He’s in his early 30’s I presume .
But he just can’t handle the aero anymore and he can’t seem to find anything close to it .
So.
I decided to do some surgery on one of our old ones .
this particular racquet was used by my director of tennis . He used it to feed and play , so it was very beat up...


Anyway .

I asked my client as to what would he want his dream racquet to be ?
He said my aero storm with a lower weight and more soft.
So I went to work on it.
Finished it this morning and let him demo my finished product . He absolutely loved it and now wants 3 more ..
A little backstory on me .
I do a ton of surgeries on my own sticks so I know my way around tennis rackets inside and out .
I can and have done many times shaved off RA points up to 10 -12 points to make softer .
I have done this so many times I can ( if the rackets start out at the same RA) can duplicate it over and over to make 2 rackets match up with the same new more flexible RA . No I’m not being silly I’m serious. I’ve given symposiums on this for the local USRSA MRT’s here to show them too how to do it .
You have to know the rackets skeleton is the main deal . If you don’t then there’s too Many variables to mess up .
I am able to shave off material in certain. Spots to achieve this .
I had not had any clue of the Babolat aero storm so I had one laying around so I cut it up andpower sanded down to the prepreg and then I sanded down to where I went all the way thru the walls .
that gave me an idea to how deep Ican go ..
So now with that info I started on one of my clients .
He gave me one of his that hadn’t even been played with much .
So I pulled off the head guard and some grommets ..
That gets rid of a ton of weight right there..I power sanded down the whole head 3 layers down uniformly and some of the throat too .
Making notes along the way . In case I need to do this again .
Finished product
Weight - 10.5 oz strung
Balance -9 Pts head light
RA frame started at 67
I got it down to —-56 Ra
Silicone in the handle ..
IT PLAYS GREAT TOO !!
I’m gonna do another one soon for him and myself .

https://imgur.com/hMk4Fyk
Click to expand...
So if I wanted to make my Blade more headlight, I can start sanding on the top of the frame and cover it up with the head guard? In essence
 
U

USPTARF97

Hall of Fame
No way to gauge precisely how much graphite is being shaved off or being able to do it uniformly over the entire frame. Looks like fun but too much guess work involved. Great tips with respect to painting the frames.
 
fritzhimself

fritzhimself

Professional
That was about two grams.
These 6 Racquets are part of a commissioned work for a continental tennis player.
The data now are unstrung SW 313, Balance 314 mm and total weight of 328,5 grams.
Only one racquet had a higher SW, so I had to make this adjustment.
How the modified racket plays I cannot tell you. Anyway, the RA is 4 points lower than the previous model.
According to the owner it plays very well.
 
JackSockIsTheBest

JackSockIsTheBest

Professional
fritzhimself said:
Well, I haven't gone to that extreme of preprage to weaken it.
I don't think that's a good idea. Think it'll shorten the lifespan.
Here are some pictures of the Pure Aero, which I personified for a former Top 250 ATP player without affecting the RA.
Click to expand...
Damn bro! I wish I could get something like that but I live in Hawaii & im fine with the normal 2019 Pure Aero which i am currently using & i dont really have specific numbers I would like........
 
fritzhimself

fritzhimself

Professional
So the data of these black beauties are unstrung on SW 312, balance 326mm to the total weight of 311.5 grams tuned. The RA was not changed and had 70.
 
WestboroChe

WestboroChe

Hall of Fame
What kind of sand paper do you use? How do ensure you’re not breathing in toxic resin and carbon dust or polluting the environment as you do this?
 
joah310

joah310

Professional
just wondering @teachingprotx do you remember where on the racket you shaved off to reach that RA? Im trying to repaint an apdgt and want it a little softer too. As well as the question of is it ok to leave a good amount of paint in the grommet holes, or does all of that have to go?
 
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