Fellow Rackaholics,
Inspired by another TT member's thread on quitting string experiments, after Turkey Day I decided to finalize my setup for the coming year by Dec 31. Today, I acheived that objective.
Other than adjusting tension for the Hotlanta summer months I vow to not dork around with my string choice, experiment with different strings, demo new frames, or change any of my customization work (lead under the butt, heavy replacement grip, and some lead around 10/2...need to update my signature specs as I haven't measured them since finalizing the setup).
I did something like this last year and it was a tremendous help in skill development. Being able to focus on stroke mechanics rather than gear was helpful. That process also allowed me to refine my racquet and string choice.
Over the last few weeks I've hit with higher and lower level friends, hit the wall, and hit plenty of practice serves to develop my current setup. It seems to work really well in a variety of situations whether having to generate all of my own pace against weaker players or absorbing the pace of stronger players (receiving serve againt one 6' 5" fellow was an eye opener!). This was a challenge because some setups were really stable against heavy hitters but could prove tougher for me to control when generating my own pace given my own skill level.
OTOH, tweaking the configuration to its current state has given me a huge boost in stroke confidence. As my dad, a tool and die maker, used to say, "let the tool do the work". In our tennis context that means a tool that fits our unqiue physiques and movement. It feels great to step up to the baseline and know I can deliver a solid serve without feeling the frame is too sluggish or heavy to heave over my shoulder. And it's reassuring to be able to casually generate precise pace off weak shots without having to feel like I'm fighting the frame to keep shots in bounds. Just take a natural, full swing and the ball dives inbounds just inside the baseline.
And having three matched frames was a HUGE help. I highly recommend having multiple matched frames for experiments. It reveals just how significant even seemingly small changes in mass and its placement can be on playability. Since they're matched I was able to do these tests "blind" picking up frames and ranking them for things like spin, power, and control by placing them against the fence (just had to avoid looking at any differences in lead placement).
The details of those experiments are a topic for another thread (eg how subtle shifts in lead tape from 9/3 towards 10/2 yielded very different levels of spin, power, and control...we're talking shifts up or down a couple of crosses). For now, let's just say I feel the time was very well spent, very educational, and that I'm really looking forward to the coming year.
Inspired by another TT member's thread on quitting string experiments, after Turkey Day I decided to finalize my setup for the coming year by Dec 31. Today, I acheived that objective.
Other than adjusting tension for the Hotlanta summer months I vow to not dork around with my string choice, experiment with different strings, demo new frames, or change any of my customization work (lead under the butt, heavy replacement grip, and some lead around 10/2...need to update my signature specs as I haven't measured them since finalizing the setup).
I did something like this last year and it was a tremendous help in skill development. Being able to focus on stroke mechanics rather than gear was helpful. That process also allowed me to refine my racquet and string choice.
Over the last few weeks I've hit with higher and lower level friends, hit the wall, and hit plenty of practice serves to develop my current setup. It seems to work really well in a variety of situations whether having to generate all of my own pace against weaker players or absorbing the pace of stronger players (receiving serve againt one 6' 5" fellow was an eye opener!). This was a challenge because some setups were really stable against heavy hitters but could prove tougher for me to control when generating my own pace given my own skill level.
OTOH, tweaking the configuration to its current state has given me a huge boost in stroke confidence. As my dad, a tool and die maker, used to say, "let the tool do the work". In our tennis context that means a tool that fits our unqiue physiques and movement. It feels great to step up to the baseline and know I can deliver a solid serve without feeling the frame is too sluggish or heavy to heave over my shoulder. And it's reassuring to be able to casually generate precise pace off weak shots without having to feel like I'm fighting the frame to keep shots in bounds. Just take a natural, full swing and the ball dives inbounds just inside the baseline.
And having three matched frames was a HUGE help. I highly recommend having multiple matched frames for experiments. It reveals just how significant even seemingly small changes in mass and its placement can be on playability. Since they're matched I was able to do these tests "blind" picking up frames and ranking them for things like spin, power, and control by placing them against the fence (just had to avoid looking at any differences in lead placement).
The details of those experiments are a topic for another thread (eg how subtle shifts in lead tape from 9/3 towards 10/2 yielded very different levels of spin, power, and control...we're talking shifts up or down a couple of crosses). For now, let's just say I feel the time was very well spent, very educational, and that I'm really looking forward to the coming year.
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My new policy is to limit experiments to late fall/winter and then stick to whatever I come up with from late winter through the following fall.
