Adjusting to Lead Tape

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
Hi, I was wondering what you all thought about the amount of time it takes to adjust to the addition of lead tape to one's racket. I currently play with the Prince O3 Tour MP, and was finding that there wasn't enough weight or plowthrough; the stock weight is 329 grams, and I added a total of 8 grams of lead tape at 3 and 9 o'clock. When I went out to play with it, it felt really different (obviously) but I was worried that I had made a mistake and changed the balance too much... Do you think that I should perhaps only add 4 grams at 3 and 9, and add 2-4 grams at the throat?

Thanks for the advice, I was really excited to add lead tape but now I'm a bit confused.
 

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
I think that you're dealing with two significant issues here. The first thing I'd say is to get the plow through where you like it - you may be good to go with the lead you've added already. If that's where you want it, put a couple of lengths of lead under your grip to get that bat back to a head-light balance that you like. This may take a couple of tries, but I think it's worth it.

Balance in any racquet is something that greatly determines its behavior when you handle it and swing it at a ball. I've found that even if a frame is not so heavy, it can be tricky for me to get it to the ball with good timing if it's maybe five points or so less head-light than I've always had in my racquets.

If you end up hating it, well, no biggie. That lead tape can peel off, right? What I've found is that just a little lead on the hoop can go a long way toward more stability, but to make it a couple more points head-light, I end up putting more lead on the handle than I initially expect to need for the job.
 

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
Thanks a lot for the response. Hmmm yes I definitely agree with you, even though I only added 8 grams, the balance changed significantly and I was having a fair amount of difficulty controlling my racket. Since the O3 rackets have those funky ports at 6 o'clock, do you think it would be okay if I added a few strips of lead to the two throat beams of the racket?

Also, do you think it'll be a pretty quick recognition of whether I like it or not, or would you recommend hitting a few separate times to decide whether a given setup is working for me?
 

canadave

Professional
I had the Dunlop AG100 for a while, which is recognized as being one of those sticks that cries out for lead tape customization. So I tried.

I'll be honest--I never got used to it. I tried lead at 3 and 9, then lead at 3 and 9 and inside the butt cap. It improved the stability characteristics of the racquet, noticeably, but I could never get used to the different feel and weight.

Also, I suspect that having a frame and leading it up to a certain weight/swingweight spec is different from having a frame with that weight/swingweight spec in the first place. The weight added by lead tape isn't evenly distributed throughout the entire frame; it's specific weight added in specific places. It may help the overall frame match a certain spec, but I feel it makes it slightly more unwieldy than if the frame was that spec to begin with.

However, if you're bound to try the lead tape, I'd suggest starting with small changes, and work your way up to more lead tape, rather than starting with big changes. Just try small bits of lead tape at 3/9 and wherever else, see how that feels, then add (or subtract) more bits as needed.
 

canadave

Professional
hey canadave, those 6.1's still for sale? You can e-mail me through my profile. Cheers

LOL...yep, they're for sale, and no, I can't email you! :)

"Sorry! That user has specified that they do not wish to receive emails. If you still wish to send an email to this user, please contact the administrator and they may be able to help."
 

Meaghan

Hall of Fame
if your happy with your racket just want more substance then you need to counteract the weight in the hoop by adding it under the grip either at the top of the handle or on the butt cap and not in the throat.
 

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
if your happy with your racket just want more substance then you need to counteract the weight in the hoop by adding it under the grip either at the top of the handle or on the butt cap and not in the throat.

hmmm, interesting, could I just wrap it around the top of the handle where I'd usually wrap my overgrip sticky?
 

10ACE

Professional
Forget the lead tape under the grip, slap on a TW leatehr grip, and ad 6-8 grams at 12 o clock. You might find that just by adding the leather grip it may solve the problem of feeling too lite.
 

ronalditop

Hall of Fame
Forget the lead tape under the grip, slap on a TW leatehr grip, and ad 6-8 grams at 12 o clock. You might find that just by adding the leather grip it may solve the problem of feeling too lite.

lead at 12 does nothing but to increise sw, it doesnt help adding more stability and plow through as lead at 3,9 or 2,10 does.
 

ronalditop

Hall of Fame
That's where the leather grip comes in, read up on polarization. GICH

the weight of the leather grip adds a little more stability and it also makes a racquet more HL, but still lead at 12 only increises SW. If the OP wants to just increise the SW then 12 is the way to go, but if he wants to increise SW and stability then 12,10 or 3,9 is much better.
 

Lefty78

Professional
lead at 12 does nothing but to increise sw, it doesnt help adding more stability and plow through as lead at 3,9 or 2,10 does.

Adding lead at 12 o'clock will not increase torsional stability, but will very much increase plow through.
 

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
Now I'm worried that adding to 3 and 9 will reduce spin potential, since I rely on my spin-heavy forehand a lot... Though, since I want to increase torsional stability, I don't think I'd want to put it on 12... In order to balance out, say, 4 grams at 3 and 9, would 4 grams at the crossbeams of the throat work, or should I wrap it around the top of the handle like Meaghan suggested?
 

ronalditop

Hall of Fame
Now I'm worried that adding to 3 and 9 will reduce spin potential, since I rely on my spin-heavy forehand a lot... Though, since I want to increase torsional stability, I don't think I'd want to put it on 12... In order to balance out, say, 4 grams at 3 and 9, would 4 grams at the crossbeams of the throat work, or should I wrap it around the top of the handle like Meaghan suggested?

Spin potencial is not reduced by adding lead at 3-9. What can reduce spin potencial is lead at the top of the handle, because it increises dynamic stiffness.
 

makinao

Rookie
I've been tweaking my racquet since I bought it in January of this year. Between injuries and bad weather, I've only gotten to play the equivalent of once a week. After three kinds of strings, and four different weight modifications, its only now that I don't have to think about my racquet while I'm playing because it does exactly what I want it to do.
 

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
Spin potencial is not reduced by adding lead at 3-9. What can reduce spin potencial is lead at the top of the handle, because it increises dynamic stiffness.

Ah I see, thanks for telling me! Do you think I should just stick with the 3 and 9 then, or should I add anything to the crossbeams of the throat?
 

FedererClone

Semi-Pro
LOL...yep, they're for sale, and no, I can't email you! :)

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hmmm... fastl .com
 
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canadave

Professional
thanks, I'll send a note to you, but I'd advise you to quickly edit out your email address from that post, so that you don't get flooded with email spambots.....! :)
 

Bud

Bionic Poster
Thanks a lot for the response. Hmmm yes I definitely agree with you, even though I only added 8 grams, the balance changed significantly and I was having a fair amount of difficulty controlling my racket. Since the O3 rackets have those funky ports at 6 o'clock, do you think it would be okay if I added a few strips of lead to the two throat beams of the racket?

Also, do you think it'll be a pretty quick recognition of whether I like it or not, or would you recommend hitting a few separate times to decide whether a given setup is working for me?

Adding 8 grams to 3/9 would change the balance by approximately 1.5 points. That's not a significant change.

Simply add 8 grams under the grip and try it again. That will restore the stock balance while adding about 0.5 oz. to the racquet's static weight.
 

honz

Rookie
Question...what's the minimum amount of weight I would have to add at 10 and 2 to raise the sweetspot a little? Would 2 grams even do anything or do I need to add more weight?
 

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
Adding 8 grams to 3/9 would change the balance by approximately 1.5 points. That's not a significant change.

Simply add 8 grams under the grip and try it again. That will restore the stock balance while adding about 0.5 oz. to the racquet's static weight.

That makes sense, the racket comes stock at 7 points head-light, so a 1.5 point difference isn't huge. Thanks for putting it that way, it always helps to have numbers to make sense of what's happening. Where about under the grip would you recommend? Ronalidtop above stated that adding weight to the top of the handle would result in an increase in dynamic stiffness and a consequent decrease in spin potential...
 

Meaghan

Hall of Fame
That makes sense, the racket comes stock at 7 points head-light, so a 1.5 point difference isn't huge. Thanks for putting it that way, it always helps to have numbers to make sense of what's happening. Where about under the grip would you recommend? Ronalidtop above stated that adding weight to the top of the handle would result in an increase in dynamic stiffness and a consequent decrease in spin potential...

There's a lot of talk about this 'dynamic stiffness'. I can only go from experience and the weight at the top of the handle has never decreased my ability to create spin. Although in saying that it has worked better on some rackets than others. For instance my LM Radical and i.Radical are completely different although their specs are very similar. When the weight is added to the i.rad it does not diminish spin potential only reinforces the i.rad qualities that are power and stability, whereas the LM is weak in these areas so i also add weight to 10&2 to raise the sweet spot as i tend to hit just above centre and at 12 for added SW. This racket produces so much more topspin than the i.rad.

If you are adding small amounts ie under 10g then I dont believe it will reduce spin potential substantially anyway so just experiment with it. I looked at the John Cauthen (handle weighting) posts and Travelerajm (polarisation) and experimented with both, settling for a mixture of both. So in my LM i have 20g at top of handle and 10g in hoop ( I also have a replacement grip over original +15g). It was important to choose the right racket for this so that i could add enough weight to make a difference but not to make it cumbersome and to choose a racket with an even balance so that by adding the weight would create a HL balance i wanted.

Adding weight in the throat IMO does nothing but make the racket feel oafish.
 

Bud

Bionic Poster
That makes sense, the racket comes stock at 7 points head-light, so a 1.5 point difference isn't huge. Thanks for putting it that way, it always helps to have numbers to make sense of what's happening. Where about under the grip would you recommend? Ronalidtop above stated that adding weight to the top of the handle would result in an increase in dynamic stiffness and a consequent decrease in spin potential...

You can place it longitudinally along the bevels or wrap it around the circumference of the handle near the butt cap. Either way, the balance will be virtually identical... since it's a relatively small amount of weight.

If you place it longitudinally, you may detect a very slight increase in the grip size... in which case, I'd wrap lead about the circumference.

If the racquet has a butt cap trap door... the best method is to place 8g inside there and then pack it with cotton.
 

ronalditop

Hall of Fame
There's a lot of talk about this 'dynamic stiffness'. I can only go from experience and the weight at the top of the handle has never decreased my ability to create spin. Although in saying that it has worked better on some rackets than others. For instance my LM Radical and i.Radical are completely different although their specs are very similar. When the weight is added to the i.rad it does not diminish spin potential only reinforces the i.rad qualities that are power and stability, whereas the LM is weak in these areas so i also add weight to 10&2 to raise the sweet spot as i tend to hit just above centre and at 12 for added SW. This racket produces so much more topspin than the i.rad.

If you are adding small amounts ie under 10g then I dont believe it will reduce spin potential substantially anyway so just experiment with it. I looked at the John Cauthen (handle weighting) posts and Travelerajm (polarisation) and experimented with both, settling for a mixture of both. So in my LM i have 20g at top of handle and 10g in hoop ( I also have a replacement grip over original +15g). It was important to choose the right racket for this so that i could add enough weight to make a difference but not to make it cumbersome and to choose a racket with an even balance so that by adding the weight would create a HL balance i wanted.

Adding weight in the throat IMO does nothing but make the racket feel oafish.

I think youre right and lead at the top of the handle does not make the racquet lose spin potencial. If it did then i dont think John Cauthen would be recommending it. But adding weight near the center of the racquet does reduce spin. I have not tried lead at 6 but i have tried adding lead above the handle, at about 19-20 cm from the bottom of the buttcap, and even with just 2g of lead added i could feel a reduction of spin.
 

ronalditop

Hall of Fame
Meaghan, can you tell me the distance from the bottom of the buttcap to the location on the handle where you have added lead in your LM radical? thanks.
 
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Meaghan

Hall of Fame
Meaghan, can you tell me the distance from the bottom of the buttcap to the location on the handle where you have added lead in your LM radical? thanks.

yeah 20g at 14-19cm from bottom of handle. I looked at Cauthen's lead plates and they were shaped and tapered towards the top of the handle, so I cut lead strips and overlapped them with more weight concentrated in the 14-17cm area and reducing in weight added towards the 19cm mark. It feels obviously different when you first pick it up as its weighty just above your hand but swings effortlessly. Adding the lead in the hoop is important for the LM as it feels like a really tinny, weak frame IMO.

The 10g at 10 & 2 & 12 is evenly distributed.
 
R

roddickslammer

Guest
I was going to add 6 in all to 3 and 9, then add 12 to the handle... Will that make the racquet any more head light with the stability or about the same. I was going to add 6 grams to the top of the handle for plowthrough and 6 grams at the butt cap
 

Meaghan

Hall of Fame
I was going to add 6 in all to 3 and 9, then add 12 to the handle... Will that make the racquet any more head light with the stability or about the same. I was going to add 6 grams to the top of the handle for plowthrough and 6 grams at the butt cap

It will make it a little more hL but nothing significant.
I also did what you did and settled with the whole lot at top of handle.
leave the hoop as it is with the 6g and prob best go with the extrmrs first so try adding the 12g on the buttcap first, then try 12g top of handle, then try the 6 and 6.
I found if you dont have weight at 12 then there is no point of it at butt cap other than to add weight whereas at the top of the handle it seems the weight has more purpose.
Thats just my opinion and it seems that you want to add a little weight anyway so it may work for you.
 

Cyclone

Semi-Pro
Thanks everyone for the advice and input, I decided to cut down the lead at 3 and 9 from 8 grams to 4 grams, and I'm really happy with the results!! In the future I might want to add some more weight depending on what I find I need in a couple of hitting sessions, so I'll be sure to check back in and ask your advice!

Thanks again.
 

Meaghan

Hall of Fame
I am currently using a leather and OG, on my FXP Prestige MP. The racket feels great in terms of manouverability, but have found serves to suffer as I am forced to swing faster than usual to generate pace.

Would I be correct in saying some lead at 12, would be beneficial in restoring the stock balance of the racket and improving spin potential??

Guga yeah i think it would just a few grams may mke the difference
 

THESEXPISTOL

Hall of Fame
If i add leadtape inside the throat where the racquet specs are it will increase the weight without modify the racquet balance ou behaviour right?
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
I never had success adding lead at 3/9; it just makes the racquet feel cumbersome. I prefer lead at 1-2/10-11 and near butt cap. Lead at top of the handle does give a sense of improved stability and it's easier to adjust the amount -- you dont have to remove the entire replacement grip. But when I'm sure about the amount, I usually add near the end of the handle.
 

10ACE

Professional
I was going to add 6 in all to 3 and 9, then add 12 to the handle... Will that make the racquet any more head light with the stability or about the same. I was going to add 6 grams to the top of the handle for plowthrough and 6 grams at the butt cap

If you do that your wrist is going to hurt on your serve. I used to place 8 grams under my buttcap and 4 grams at the top of the handle with 4-6 lead at 12. Strokes were fine, but serves would kill my wrist on the snap through. So I tried taking the lead out of the top of the handle, it felt ok. But I missed that solid feeling from wrist to hand to handle on my strokes. I fixed that by just adding a TW leather grip.
 

Meaghan

Hall of Fame
If i add leadtape inside the throat where the racquet specs are it will increase the weight without modify the racquet balance ou behaviour right?

No it will alter the SW and what Ive found is that it makes the racket sluggish and feel heavier to swing as the weight is just above your hand.
If its in the hoop then the racket kinda swings itself once in motion.

Best to alter weight is in/on the butt cap or just balance a bit of lead in the top of the hoop and a bit top or bottom of handle.
 

THESEXPISTOL

Hall of Fame
i've added the lead under the grip like this..
is it ok?
leadk.jpg
 

Meaghan

Hall of Fame
i've added the lead under the grip like this..
is it ok?
leadk.jpg

Yeah some players I know do that and it doesnt affect 2HBH as its evenly spread.
But by doing that you dont necessarily get the benefits of all the weight being at he top of handle (plow and stability) or with 'polarisation' at the bottom of the handle and 12".
Its a good way to add weight and create a more HL balance or even it out with some in the hoop for stability.
 
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