13 Year old Tennis Player looking for racquet.

M

MarkZepa

Rookie
Hello.
My name is Mark and I am a 13 year old tennis player looking to buy a new tennis racquet with my christmas money. I play up to 15-20 tournaments a year and train 4 days a week. I have quite a high ranking in my age group. I don't really mind moving brands from Wilson (currently) to whatever. The racquet that I am using at the moment is a Wilson Six One Team with a headsize of 95sq inches and a weight of 289. I am looking for a tad heavier racquet with possibly more of a oval shaped head. Possibly 95sq inches to 100 sq inches.
Could any of you guys recommend a racquet for me and I will be happy to demo it and test it out.
Thanks! :)
 
H

Head Pegger

New User
There are many rackets you could try out.
Look at tenniswarehouse store online and look for a racket with your desired specs
 
dyldore

dyldore

Rookie
MarkZepa said:
Hello.
My name is Mark and I am a 13 year old tennis player looking to buy a new tennis racquet with my christmas money. I play up to 15-20 tournaments a year and train 4 days a week. I have quite a high ranking in my age group. I don't really mind moving brands from Wilson (currently) to whatever. The racquet that I am using at the moment is a Wilson Six One Team with a headsize of 95sq inches and a weight of 289. I am looking for a tad heavier racquet with possibly more of a oval shaped head. Possibly 95sq inches to 100 sq inches.
Could any of you guys recommend a racquet for me and I will be happy to demo it and test it out.
Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

What kind of game do you have/want to have?
 
vsbabolat

vsbabolat

G.O.A.T.
MarkZepa said:
Hello.
My name is Mark and I am a 13 year old tennis player looking to buy a new tennis racquet with my christmas money. I play up to 15-20 tournaments a year and train 4 days a week. I have quite a high ranking in my age group. I don't really mind moving brands from Wilson (currently) to whatever. The racquet that I am using at the moment is a Wilson Six One Team with a headsize of 95sq inches and a weight of 289. I am looking for a tad heavier racquet with possibly more of a oval shaped head. Possibly 95sq inches to 100 sq inches.
Could any of you guys recommend a racquet for me and I will be happy to demo it and test it out.
Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Look into Demoing the:
HEAD IG Radical Pro
Dunlop Bio M 3.0
Dunlop Bio F 3.0 Tour
Donnay Pro one 97 16x19
Yonex Vcore XI 98
 
dyldore

dyldore

Rookie
I would recommend the Head Radical MP. It's not exceptional at anything, but it is a great all around racket. I learned groundstrokes/serves/volleys with it and can't say I would change what racket I learned all of it on, even if I could.
 
canadad

canadad

Semi-Pro
Hey Mark, welcome to Talk Tennis! Here are my two cents:
When I was 13, I made the mistake of going for racquets that were too demanding for me. I started with a Boris Becker Super and went to a Prince Graphtech DB 90. Both very cool at the time, both small heads and both too demanding for me. The only benefit was in the long run I had to really develop my strokes, but in the short term my competition was using easier, more forgiving racquets. You can develop good strokes with tweener racquets. When My kids are old enough, that is what I will buy them. If I were you I would get something forgiving and easy to play with. My biggest suggestion to you is to not get caught in the brand loyalty trap. If you like the feel of Wilson racquets, that is great and reason enough to go with Wilson. However, if you were to buy it because you think Roger Federer is cool and therefore you should buy a cool Wilson, that is the wrong way to go. There is a guy who plays where I do with a 6.1 90, which he bought because he is Fed's number one fan, but it is clearly too much for him.
Here are some suggestions:
Wilson Steam S and Pro Open
Wilson Pro Staff 100
Babolat APD and PD series
Head Radical and Extreme series
Dunlop 500
Prince Warrior
Volkl 8 315
Prince Rebel 98
Wilson Blade 98 16x18
Yonex Vcore 98

All the best!
 
M

MarkZepa

Rookie
canadad said:
Hey Mark, welcome to Talk Tennis! Here are my two cents:
When I was 13, I made the mistake of going for racquets that were too demanding for me. I started with a Boris Becker Super and went to a Prince Graphtech DB 90. Both very cool at the time, both small heads and both too demanding for me. The only benefit was in the long run I had to really develop my strokes, but in the short term my competition was using easier, more forgiving racquets. You can develop good strokes with tweener racquets. When My kids are old enough, that is what I will buy them. If I were you I would get something forgiving and easy to play with. My biggest suggestion to you is to not get caught in the brand loyalty trap. If you like the feel of Wilson racquets, that is great and reason enough to go with Wilson. However, if you were to buy it because you think Roger Federer is cool and therefore you should buy a cool Wilson, that is the wrong way to go. There is a guy who plays where I do with a 6.1 90, which he bought because he is Fed's number one fan, but it is clearly too much for him.
Here are some suggestions:
Wilson Steam S and Pro Open
Wilson Pro Staff 100
Babolat APD and PD series
Head Radical and Extreme series
Dunlop 500
Prince Warrior
Volkl 8 315
Prince Rebel 98
Wilson Blade 98 16x18
Yonex Vcore 98

All the best!
Click to expand...

Thank you for this.
Also in response to your "following Roger Federer" I do not choose Wilson because of him. I simply choose Wilson because I have been with Wilson ever since a young age and just have grown into it.
I was just wondering, in your advice to get the Wilson Pro Staff 100, what do you think of the Wilson Pro Staff 95?
 
canadad

canadad

Semi-Pro
MarkZepa said:
Thank you for this.
Also in response to your "following Roger Federer" I do not choose Wilson because of him. I simply choose Wilson because I have been with Wilson ever since a young age and just have grown into it.
I was just wondering, in your advice to get the Wilson Pro Staff 100, what do you think of the Wilson Pro Staff 95?
Click to expand...

Well, you are a more together 13 year old than I was. I totally bought into whatever hype was being sold. If Bo Jackson picked up tennis and played with a hockey stick, I probably would have switched to that. Good for you for not buying hype.

To be honest I have not played with the 95, but yeah it looks solid. I actually never really considered it as an option for myself, but looking at the specs I like what I see. It is flexible, a weight that I like and an open string pattern. It seems low powered, I wonder how low powered it really is? I played with a 95 inch Wilson for 7 years. I love the 95 6.1 and considered switching to that, but I have arm problems and play with Prokennex.

If you like the way Wilson racquets feel, if I were you I'd wait until the new Steams came out. The Steam 99S has a interesting ultra open string pattern.
 
db10s

db10s

Hall of Fame
Dunlop Bio Max 200G... Go to the Dunlop website and apply for D-Squad... The price reduction is really helpful for highly ranked juniors.
 
Seth

Seth

Legend
Welcome to the forums! It's a breath of fresh air to have a teenager on here who isn't trolling or being obnoxious. Keep it up!
 
M

Midguytenis

New User
I would say if you are more a base liner serve and volley you could like closer patterns more, since you are more aggressive.

If you use a two handed back hand I'd recommend bigger for more rooms for errors with one handed you can go lower.

I am very impressed with Yonex rackets, very easy to play very arm friednly, great feeling rackets. Maybe some Head radical could be good for you as well.

Use something light stick with it for a couple years develop your game.
 
canny

canny

Rookie
Im 18 and ive been playing with head for the past 3 years and Extreme the past 2. I can vouch for the extreme being a great aggressive baseline stick while still being stable at the net. I have fast long strokes and hit with moderate spin. I string in the high 50's usually with poly. the extreme 2.0 had a stellar review on tw. exactly why I just ordered one. Worth a demo.
 
Bowtiesarecool

Bowtiesarecool

Rookie
You're gonna get 1,000 different answers if you wait long enough. The only thing you can do is comb through the pages of TW, looking for racquets that have the specs you want. It's important to know what changes, if any, you want/need beforehand.

There is of course another side to this coin. You said you want something a little heavier (Let's ignore the want for a less round hoop because that's not really important, and not a great way to make a purchasing decision.). It may be beneficial to buy a roll of lead tape and, using the calculators here at TW university to play around with what you already have, rather than spending money to rent demo racquets and ultimately, buying a new stick you may decide later on that you shouldn't have bought.
 
M

MarkZepa

Rookie
canadad said:
Well, you are a more together 13 year old than I was. I totally bought into whatever hype was being sold. If Bo Jackson picked up tennis and played with a hockey stick, I probably would have switched to that. Good for you for not buying hype.

To be honest I have not played with the 95, but yeah it looks solid. I actually never really considered it as an option for myself, but looking at the specs I like what I see. It is flexible, a weight that I like and an open string pattern. It seems low powered, I wonder how low powered it really is? I played with a 95 inch Wilson for 7 years. I love the 95 6.1 and considered switching to that, but I have arm problems and play with Prokennex.

If you like the way Wilson racquets feel, if I were you I'd wait until the new Steams came out. The Steam 99S has a interesting ultra open string pattern.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your suggestion, may I ask when do the new Steams come out?
The Pro Staff 95 will definitely test out.


Seth said:
Welcome to the forums! It's a breath of fresh air to have a teenager on here who isn't trolling or being obnoxious. Keep it up!
Click to expand...
Thank you for this.
I love my tennis and would definitely not troll on these forums. I'm not much of a great one anyway.



Bowtiesarecool said:
You're gonna get 1,000 different answers if you wait long enough. The only thing you can do is comb through the pages of TW, looking for racquets that have the specs you want. It's important to know what changes, if any, you want/need beforehand.

There is of course another side to this coin. You said you want something a little heavier (Let's ignore the want for a less round hoop because that's not really important, and not a great way to make a purchasing decision.). It may be beneficial to buy a roll of lead tape and, using the calculators here at TW university to play around with what you already have, rather than spending money to rent demo racquets and ultimately, buying a new stick you may decide later on that you shouldn't have bought.
Click to expand...

I do not have to pay anything to demo racquets as there is a tennis shop 5 minutes from my house which offers free demoing.



The racquets which I will go out and demo (not all today) will be:
Head Radical MP (will new ones of these be coming out?)
Dunlop Bio Max 200G
Wilson Pro Staff 95
Wilson Blade 98
Wilson Steam S
Volkl 8 315

If anyone else has any other suggestions I would be grateful if they left a reply :)
 
M

MarkZepa

Rookie
Thank you guys for all the recommendations.
I have purchased my new racquet today, the Wilson Pro Staff 95, I am loving it. :)
 
mrc

mrc

Rookie
MarkZepa said:
Hello.
My name is Mark and I am a 13 year old tennis player looking to buy a new tennis racquet with my christmas money. I play up to 15-20 tournaments a year and train 4 days a week. I have quite a high ranking in my age group. I don't really mind moving brands from Wilson (currently) to whatever. The racquet that I am using at the moment is a Wilson Six One Team with a headsize of 95sq inches and a weight of 289. I am looking for a tad heavier racquet with possibly more of a oval shaped head. Possibly 95sq inches to 100 sq inches.
Could any of you guys recommend a racquet for me and I will be happy to demo it and test it out.
Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Donnay GOLD 99 X-DUAL
Is just an awesome stick..More forgiving than what you play with and awesome feel.
 
M

MarkZepa

Rookie
Hey guys, its been 4 months and i've recently turned 14 and am extremely disliking the Pro Staff 95 i purchased. It is giving me way too many tennis elbow problems.
Could anyone suggest any racquets via reading the thread.
Thanks
 
Lukhas

Lukhas

Legend
Well I wouldn't have recommended a Pro Staff (any model) for a young player personally... Unless you're extremely well built and physically in advance for your age. Say, what is the string, gauge and tension on the Pro Staff?
 
S

Stardust

New User
MarkZepa said:
Hey guys, its been 4 months and i've recently turned 14 and am extremely disliking the Pro Staff 95 i purchased. It is giving me way too many tennis elbow problems.
Could anyone suggest any racquets via reading the thread.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Hey Mark, I only can share with you the experience of my 14 y.o. daughter who is like you an advanced tour player. For the last 2 years consecutively she’s been playing with Wilson Bold (customized), Dunlop 200 Light and Wilson Blade Team. As you can see, no one of the above mentioned sticks exceeds the stiffness value of 60 and SW of 310 and she never had arm problems except once when she decided to try RPM Blast.
Last month I bought for her mother a Pacific X-Feel Tour but it was tested by my daughter and confiscated immediately. Now she plays with the Pacific and her mother with Blade Team. I’m under pressure lately for a second identical Pacific for her tournaments.
Mark, please, do not feel hurt – I’m not trying to compare yourself to some awkward girl. :) I’m just writing this as a tennis father and I do hope you will catch what I’m trying to tell you.
 
fgs

fgs

Hall of Fame
try to get a playtest with the new blade98. i would rather suggest the 16mains string pattern, but if you develop good headspeed, the 18mains could also do the job.
 
Lukhas

Lukhas

Legend
^Blades are tiring sticks even for adults, so I cannot agree. SW is over 330 too, stiffness of 66RA, almost 320gr strung... 300gr strung is already a good weight. I doubt he'll face a Tsonga on court any soon, he doesn't need all the extra weight.
 
fgs

fgs

Hall of Fame
my son, getting 14 next month, and physically not "overdeveloped" (162cm height and not very muscular) would kindly disagree.

of course, everything depends on your timing and swings - if you tend to muscle the ball than your arm will fall off with the blade in less than an hour. if you got good timing and swing (technique) then the blade98 would be a good match.
 
fgs

fgs

Hall of Fame
a low swingweight leads to "wristing" the ball, specially when you have a very headlight stick. now definitely things very much depend on the player and his stroking technique but the pro staff 95 and the blade 98 are two very different kinds of breeds.
 
Lukhas

Lukhas

Legend
And a high swingweight leads to slower swing and racquet head speed. I guess we're not going to agree on this. Anyway, I'm still curious to know what his strings and tension are.
 
HRB

HRB

Hall of Fame
Lets please keep in perspective here that Tracey Austin was a wee tiny little thing and came up with a 14 oz plus wooden racquet as did most of the pro's prior to 1985!

The issue on the elbow probably has a lot more to do with stiffness, BAD TECHNIQUE, and string choices and tension than weight. Also balance can be a culprit...stay away from head heavy.

Heavy for an adult is an asset against TE (won't twist as easy and plows through heavy balls)...Yet for a child my only concern with weight is if fatigue sets in then form goes...and then when form goes then tennis elbow can suffer (being late, hitting off center).

Suggestion:

Go with an older Radical (MG, LM, FP)...they are cheap (all over the "Bay") and the great thing is they start with a low enough static weight that as you get older and stronger you can start to add lead and customize.
 
fgs

fgs

Hall of Fame
lukhas,

that's not exactly how it works the swingweight and racquet head speed stuff - there is a certain window were a player can get higher swingspeed with somewhat higher swingweight. once you get that stick moving it has a pretty high moment of inertia which basically helps your acceleration.

next up in that equation is the contact with the incoming ball, which will deflect or decelerate a higher swingweight stick less, thus also transferring less impact shock to the arm moving the stick.

this is quite a difficult "science" and until you haven't seen the person playing it's very difficult to tell.
 
T

TennisCJC

Legend
Try these

1. Volkl O10 - can add lead if you want more power and good for elbow.
2. Dunlop F3.0 - if you can handle the weight
3. Dunlop M3.0
4. Dunlop bio 300 - on sale, can add lead for more power
 
Lukhas

Lukhas

Legend
fgs said:
lukhas,

that's not exactly how it works the swingweight and racquet head speed stuff - there is a certain window were a player can get higher swingspeed with somewhat higher swingweight. once you get that stick moving it has a pretty high moment of inertia which basically helps your acceleration.

next up in that equation is the contact with the incoming ball, which will deflect or decelerate a higher swingweight stick less, thus also transferring less impact shock to the arm moving the stick.

this is quite a difficult "science" and until you haven't seen the person playing it's very difficult to tell.
Click to expand...
I personally doubt going from 306 to 331 in SW will help. Yet Wilson's specs are all over the place, it doesn't change the "character" of the frame. Let's agree to disagree then.
 
S

Slitch

Rookie
Stardust said:
Last month I bought for her mother a Pacific X-Feel Tour but it was tested by my daughter and confiscated immediately. Now she plays with the Pacific and her mother with Blade Team. I’m under pressure lately for a second identical Pacific for her tournaments.
Click to expand...

The Predecessor, Fischer Magnetic Tour, actually cured my elbow! Great frame for players with TE. Not to heavy, not to light. String it with a multi at around 50lbs and you still get tons of control. Very good torsional stability on off center hits. With a bit of luck you can buy those secondhand for 40$ or less. If you don't like it, sell it again.
The head Youtek radical seems to be in the same ballpark. A lot of juniors at my club play with that. Those can still be found new on a well known major auction site.

It's impossible to say that SW X and weight X is too much or less. It is about matching both to your technique and physique. RA flex and stringbed stiffness are factors that apply to everybody.

However.... get your technique analysed... No matter what racket or strings you buy, if your technique isn't right, you will be having problems all your life.
 
hrstrat57

hrstrat57

Hall of Fame
HRB said:
Suggestion:

Go with an older Radical (MG, LM, FP)...they are cheap (all over the "Bay") and the great thing is they start with a low enough static weight that as you get older and stronger you can start to add lead and customize.
Click to expand...

Good call here, Microgel probably best choice, a pair of those can be had cheap....best part is probably great for a 14 yr old right out of the box....4 inches of lead at 3/9 and a leather grip dramatically changes plow and sweet spot...Plus the MG look very very cool, I still see a lot of NCAA D 3 players rockin' those and hitting big.

I expect the Head Radical MP is the most talked about frame on this forum....cause they work for most everybody.
 
Lukhas

Lukhas

Legend
I'd say yes. Stiff co-poly string at medium-high tension+young body+slighly low powered racquet=problems. I'm not a fan of poly for young people: shouldn't mess with poly if you're still growing IMO, arm problems can affect your growth. Even more if you keep it in your racquet for a long time: poly must be cut at least every 20 hours and generally is dead even before this. And I'm not some kind of old hag (19). No need to string too high too (not too low either):
http://www.southernsportsphysio.com.au/Sports_Injuries_Media_Releases/Tennis_Racket_Tension.pdf
http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2005/01/does_higher_string_tension_giv.html

If you like firm feeling, switch to Prince Premier Attack. Much better for your arm, and you'll be able to play with it until it breaks. And reasonably priced too. Win-win. You can safely string it at 53/51, or 55/53. The difference between the two tension is negligible.
Review: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showpost.php?p=6366467&postcount=2841
The stuff: http://www.racquetsportsindustry.com/articles/2005/01/does_higher_string_tension_giv.html
Reel: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Prince_Premier_Attack_16_String_Reel/descpageACPRINCE-PPA16R.html (I'd love to have 110€ reels in Europe :lol:)

EDIT: I'd even say this is most likely the source of your problems. I was surprised to see you'd get TE with a PS 6.1 95. It's not an easy racquet to play with, but it isn't very hard on the arm. Heal a bit before playing again. Forget about full co-poly sets for the next years until you have fully grown in size and build.

EDIT2: And yes, I bet there are hundredths of people/junior fine with high tension on poly and with it in the racquet for months. But seems you're not among them. Treat yourself well, your body will reward your care.
 
Last edited:
thecrusher956

thecrusher956

Rookie
Hey man, I'm a 13 year old too. All I can say is that you might wanna try these because I used to play with the BLX teams but saw a huge improvement in my game when switching to heavier sticks. After a few days you'll be used to the weight.
Try out:
Wilson Prostaff 95
Wilson BLX 95
Head speed pro
Head prestige mp/pro
Babolat Aerostorm/purestorm tour
 
M

MarkZepa

Rookie
Thanks guys.
I can't really have a break now, i have a tournament tomorrow so after that ill give my elbow a rest.
:)
 
ricki

ricki

Hall of Fame
I also think that its too idiotic to advise to 14 yo kid to play Blade98 when he has trouble with prostaff95.

I recommend something like Rebel 98 but Im biased towards Prince brand...
 
S

Stardust

New User
I’m going to support the @thecrusher956’s statement particularly in that point concerning the weight of the racquet. All the frames of my daughter (I mentioned them in my previous post) are tuned up to 325-330 gr. static weight but up to 305-308 SW and the balance point is at 320 mm. or 7-8 p. HL. The Dunlop Biom. 200 Lite was the first frame (given to her as a gift) which was so heavy but very HL and she felt the advantage of the heavier and HL stick. Especially this one was abandoned due to the small head size (95 sq. i.) and the smaller sweet spot but thanks to it we began to customize all the other frames according to it.
Something about the strings: she used to use only multi and synthetic gut but her strokes evolved to very strong and she began snapping it too often. Now she plays with hybrids - soft poly like Sonic Pro or Pro’s Pro Vendetta 1.25 mains at 23-24 kg. and at the crosses 22-23 kg. synthetic gut (what we have at hand – Sweet 17, OGSM, POSG, Wilson ESG or Stamina etc. ).
The girl grows very fast, she’s 172 cm. and sometimes she has problems with the legs, but never wrist, elbow or shoulder…
My 2 c… :)
 
fgs

fgs

Hall of Fame
well, i think that it is indeed too idiotic to conclude from the perspective of a weekendwarrior to the needs of a competitional junior, playing 4 times a week and attending 15-20 tournaments per year, having also a rather high ranking in his age group.
 
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