Advice needed about new racquets

[gregorysuy]

Hi guys,

I want to buy new racquets after the summer season here in Belgium, and I need some advice about which racquets I should definitely test.

I'm a 26 year old 5.5 player and the past 4 years I've been playing with the Dunlop Aerogel 4D 300 Tour and I really liked it. However, sometimes I think it would be better for my game to have a slightly heavier racquet (e.g. 315-320 grams unstrung instead of 305 now), but not too heavy (e.g. 325 grams or more) as I injured my rotator cuf (shoulder) last season and when I do overheads too often (like 4-5 long matches/week) I have to give it a rest for a week because it hurts too much. However, without doing overheads, I never feel any pain.

My trainer advices me to test some Tecnifibre racquest, as they would be quite similar to the Dunlops I'm using now. Maybe I could try the T-fight 315... Do you guys know some other 'similar' racquets I could give a try (stifness, etc.)?

Thanks!
Greg

 

[mawashi]

Greg,

There's a lot of love for the 315 dynacore but in my neck of the woods I hardly see any around. It has great stability and should be a great stick.

If however, you want to give other sticks a try, the prince TT100 is pretty good, I love the yonex Dr98/100 series and since, you are in europe, why not check out the pacific sticks too?

 

[pfrischmann]

Why not just add a little weight to your current stick?

 

[gregorysuy]

Thanks for your answers. I will definitely give the Prince and Yonex a try as well.

The reason I don't want to add weight to my current stick is because after 4 years and probably over 1000 hours of training and 200 matches (even though I have 3 of the same racquets), I think the stick could start to feel a bit 'dead'. Maybe that is just in my head, but anyways, as we play most of the time on red clay here in Belgium, we often hit the sole of our shoes with the frame to remove the gravel. Not sure, but I think that will also have an impact on the 'lifetime' of a stick .

 

[beepee1972]

Why not just add a little weight to your current stick?

That would be my idea, even if your sticks are in need to be replaced.... I would modify 1 racket, see if you like it, and start your search from there... or modify the other two as well. Roughly 4 grams at the head (3 and 9, 2 grams each) en 10 on the handle makes a world of difference! Or if you like a more head heavy racket, use more in the head and less on the handle

 

[Vouk]

Since you are a Dunlop user and in Europe, why don't you give the R3.0 Revolution NT or (even better) the Revolution NT Tour a shot? They're both rather good sticks and pretty much a match with your requirements spec wise. I would even consider the Force 98 tour - I know it got a mediocre review (in terms of feel and comfort) from the TW testers but I've been trying it for the past couple of weeks and should say that it is a very good racket. Just make sure you string it with a soft poly or a nice hybrid and you might be pleasantly surprised. I happen to be testing it side by side with the Technifibre Dynacore 315 and I find they play almost identical (not surprising given that their specs are very close).

 

[gregorysuy]

Thanks for the advice! I didn't really know the R3.0 Revolution NT (Tour) to be honest . Can't wait to test those sticks. By the way, I always use the Luxilon Alu Power strings. Not the cheapest string, but for me by far the best one I ever played with.