are there any pros who play stock frames without tuning?

[dominikk1985]

We all know that most pro frames are very different from the stock frames we can buy. there is at least some lead on them, often they are even totally different rackets (paintjobs) or custom frames.

are there any notable pros (say in the last decade) who basically play a normal stock frame(or at least very close)?

 

[lgbalfa]

i would be interested to hear responses as i would imagine everyone alters their frames.

 

[Funbun]

I would imagine that we could get rather close to pro specs if we just take a light enough racquet and customize it.

I personally don't see why an international pro would use racquets off the shelves when they can easily get better quality ones from their manufacturers. The closest to a normal stock frame you can buy is probably a K90 in tandem to Federer, but I'm not even sure about him.

 

[jazar]

I've strung for some female players ranked around 50-150 who seemed to play with stock rackets. Can't remember their names off hand, but the kind of frames they were using were BLX Pro Opens and EXO3 Blacks.

Think there is another thread on this topic somewhere, so if you search for it you might find a few more answers.

 

[baseline_monster]

i would imagine they would have there rackets matched, maybe not modified from stock but matched.

 

[SirGounder]

i would imagine they would have there rackets matched, maybe not modified from stock but matched.

I would assume this as well, especially in the WTA where they won't be using as heavy of a racquet.

 

[kiteboard]

Raonic played with a stock kblade, but I don't know if it was leaded, silicone injected or not.

 

[FedExpress 333]

I wouldnt imagine that any mens players would not lead it up, but in the WTA its more likely.

 

[Cooper_Tecnifibre4]

Kim Clijsters plays a stock Babolat Pure Drive GT with some Lead Tape.

 

[Hidious]

Kim Clijsters plays a stock Babolat Pure Drive GT with some Lead Tape.

Lol, you missed the point... Shall we name all Babolat players now?

 

[armsty]

Didn't P1 have a video where they said fed uses a stock 6.1 tour with lead under the bumper?

 

[Rhino]

Doesn't Roddick almost play a stock frame, just a bit heavier? Or he used to...

 

[Cooper_Tecnifibre4]

Lol, you missed the point... Shall we name all Babolat players now?

Actually alot of Babolat players play older Babs with PJ's.

 

[Hidious]

Actually alot of Babolat players play older Babs with PJ's.

I don't see what that changes unless you consider a paintjob as "tuning".

 

[Applecider]

I talked to players ranked in the hundreds that play with stock... but for some people on this forum, people who live by playing tennis ranked 100+ are not 'pros' anymore.

 

[Pioneer]

A lot of the 90s pros used stock racquets. Of course racquets back then were heavier so there wasn't any need for lead

 

[diadorakuerten]

Richard Gasquet

Gasquet plays with a stock racquet with no lead tape. I was getting my racquets strung in the same store where he had his strungs and I asked the stringer why his racquets were so light and he said that they were just like the racquets you can buy in a store, no modification whatsoever.

 

[Pioneer]

diadorakuerten, I've heard the same from other posters so it's very likely. But then Greg Raven has his racquet at 380 SW which is impossible without lead tape.

 

[THESEXPISTOL]

Gasquet plays with a stock racquet with no lead tape. I was getting my racquets strung in the same store where he had his strungs and I asked the stringer why his racquets were so light and he said that they were just like the racquets you can buy in a store, no modification whatsoever.

He doesn't use an Extreme... He uses a HEAD Liquidmetal Instinct XL. If the Instinct is stock i don't know..

 

[kiteboard]

diadorakuerten, I've heard the same from other posters so it's very likely. But then Greg Raven has his racquet at 380 SW which is impossible without lead tape.

314g, 376 sw, is not possible without tape under the grommets, so the pro didn't know about that.

 

[ATP100]

We all know that most pro frames are very different from the stock frames we can buy. there is at least some lead on them, often they are even totally different rackets (paintjobs) or custom frames.

are there any notable pros (say in the last decade) who basically play a normal stock frame(or at least very close)?

Easy answer: NO

 

[TennisCJC]

From what I've read, Nadal and Federer are close. I am not sure if Federer is using BLX 90 or K 90, but have seen analysis of his frames against retail frames and the main differences are string spacing in the sweet spot - I think Fed's spacing as a bit closer than retail and Fed uses a bit of lead under the top bumper which increases SW to a bit over 350. If you took a stock blx 90 or K 90 and added about 3-5 grams at noon under the bumper, you would be damn close to what Federer uses. I have also read that nadal adds a bit of lead under the bumper to increase his SW to over 350 too. Not sure how much he adds, but the TW SW customization tool in the learning center could help you figure it out. Also, I am not sure which model of APGT Nadal uses - may use paint job to look like latest model or he may really use the latest model. Anyhow, you could get very close by tweaking retail rackets a bit if that's what you want.

 

[Power Player]

Nadal uses the original aero pro drive.

 

[JoelDali]

My friend claims that Tsonga has the Cortex crystals removed from his frames.

 

[gloumar]

Gasquet plays with a stock racquet with no lead tape. I was getting my racquets strung in the same store where he had his strungs and I asked the stringer why his racquets were so light and he said that they were just like the racquets you can buy in a store, no modification whatsoever.

Nope. Gasquet uses a old LM Instinct XL under his paintjob (u can see the liquidmetal bumps on coseup pics). And it appears to be weighted around 350g, with a huge SW.

 

[LPShanet]

We all know that most pro frames are very different from the stock frames we can buy. there is at least some lead on them, often they are even totally different rackets (paintjobs) or custom frames.

are there any notable pros (say in the last decade) who basically play a normal stock frame(or at least very close)?

There are really two different discussions here: whether the pros are using stock frames under the paint, and whether or not they customize them in terms of weight/balance, etc.

For the first part, the majority of pros are using frames that are fairly close to (or exactly the same as) stock frames from the past. Very few are using current models, but there are more paint jobs that are covering outdated stock models than fully custom ones.

For the second issue, there are fairly few players who are playing frames that are literally in "off the shelf" condition, if only because most of them have their sticks matched for the sake of consistency. The final specs may not be that far off from stock in some cases, but they are still usually tweaked. So even in this area, we have distinguish between which players are just matching their frames, and which ones are making significant alterations to the weight/balance and other specs. In general, there is much more usage of specs close to stock on the women's side than the men's currently.