are mid-sized frames better for serving?

[barnes1172]

I read an old interview with Roscoe Tanner (no jokes, please) in which he talks about how the smaller old-school racquets are easier to swing fast when serving, thus leading to a faster serve.

It does seem that Sampras and Goran used mid-sized frames. . . Also, I feel like I can serve a little better with my 93 Blade than with a larger frame.

I believe that the serve is most important shot in men's tennis, enabling a player to dominate the match. I am thinking about only using mid-size frames for this reason, even though it may mean mis-hitting a few groundstrokes.

 

[LeeD]

While the serve is important, the big rackets used nowadaze can counter the big serves, so breaking your serve is easier than ever.
Very few decent players have problems returning what we consider "big" serves....up to 130 with decent placement.
Worse thing is having the big serve to hopefully hold, but using a small racket so you yourself cannot break the opponent's serve due to your mishits.
The reason small headed rackets serve better than Weeds is the higher center of effort away from your hand, so the length of lever is longer, and aerodynamics of a small racket compared to a hoola hoop sized wind drag.
In tennis, it's a balance of you hitting your best shots vs your opponent hitting his, so you have to also counter HIS shots while hitting your shots.

 

[BreakPoint]

Yes, smaller racquets are definitely better for serving. The smaller the hoop, the further the sweetspot is away from your hand (assuming the same overall racquet length of 27 inches). Thus, smaller racquets effectively give you greater reach so it's like being a few inches taller when you serve. The smaller racquet head is also more aerodynamic allowing you to generate faster racquet head speed (all else being equal), and makes it easier to manipulate the angle of the smaller head for slice and kick serves. And smaller racquets tend to be heavier which gives you more mass (force) behind your serves (assuming you can swing it as fast).

In fact, I haven't served as well since I used 65 sq. in., 14 oz. wood racquets 30 years ago, despite them being flexy and low-powered. :shock:

 

[BlueB]

In fact, I haven't served as well since I used 65 sq. in., 14 oz. wood racquets 30 years ago, despite them being flexy and low-powered. :shock:

"The older I get, the better I was"

I tend to serve the best with MP head size... It seems that larger head gives me more spin, but less pace and accuracy. MP seems to be a happy medium for me. XL OS frames seem to offset the height of the sweet spot advantage of the smaller head size...
Weight shouldn't even be brought into equation - you can led up any racquet to any weitht you wanted. So, we should be comparing really the racquets of the same/similar spec, just different head sizes.