dannythomas
Professional
Any suggestions ?
Best serve and volley racket
- Thread starter dannythomas
- Start date
classic tennis
Semi-Pro
One that makes you follow your serve in and hit the ball out in front ;-)
floydcouncil
Professional
Wilson Pro Staff Midsize St. Vincent origin with a 4 5/8 grip. No other frame can match its performance. It needs to be strung with Bow Brand natural gut too.
Larrysümmers
Hall of Fame
APDC. got great spin action on it serving, and at the net it was a light saber. also great for half volleys because of its powerful assets.
realplayer
Semi-Pro
You need a racket with a thin beam like donnay or vantage/angell. The APDC with a a thick beam and big headsize wouldn't be my choice for S & V
Seth
Legend
S&V play is made up of confidence, technique, and experience. If you've got those, you can probably be an effective chip and charger regardless of what you're using.
That being said, history points towards thin beamed, smaller headsize frames for precision. My vote would be POG mid.
However, the best S&V-er I know uses Prince o3 Whites. So, take all of these suggestions with a grain of salt.
That being said, history points towards thin beamed, smaller headsize frames for precision. My vote would be POG mid.
However, the best S&V-er I know uses Prince o3 Whites. So, take all of these suggestions with a grain of salt.
double barrels
Rookie
the TT warrior has got to be up there
the rebel, and def any prostaff
the rebel, and def any prostaff
HiRO
Rookie
Technique and strategy aside..since this is the racquet section after all. I agree with all of the above suggestions from double barrels.
I would also add that I have had more success with very Headlight, heavy and flexible sticks.
stronzzi70
Professional
IMO, IG Prestige Mid.
netman
Hall of Fame
You need mass to handle hard hit passing shots and quick maneuverability to get to them quickly. So anything with a weight greater than 11.5 oz (326 grams) brings the mass and 8 pts or more head light with a thin beam (22mm or less) brings the maneuverability. Ultra stiff strings kill the feel, which many of us believe is important at the net, so creating a string bed with an overall stiffness under 200 or less helps. As always these are generalities and your results may vary.
Mass, head light balance and feel trumps everything else at the net IMHO.
-k-
Mass, head light balance and feel trumps everything else at the net IMHO.
-k-
McLovin
Legend
Like others have said, you can S & V w/ pretty much any racquet, but the better ones tend to be mid to mid-plus, heavy, thin-beamed, and head light. A couple from perusing the TW site would be, in no particular order:
I'm sure I've missed a few, but this is probably a good place to start.
Babolat Pure Storm LTD
Boris Becker DC London Tour (+ a few grams of lead)
Dunlop 100 or 200
Head Prestige Mid (any incarnation)
Pacific X Feel Pro 90 or 95
Prince Rebel 95
Volkl PB 10 Mid
Wilson Pro Staff Six.One 90 or 95
Yonex VCORE Tour 89 or 95D
Boris Becker DC London Tour (+ a few grams of lead)
Dunlop 100 or 200
Head Prestige Mid (any incarnation)
Pacific X Feel Pro 90 or 95
Prince Rebel 95
Volkl PB 10 Mid
Wilson Pro Staff Six.One 90 or 95
Yonex VCORE Tour 89 or 95D
I'm sure I've missed a few, but this is probably a good place to start.
Sounds like you are describing my Dunlop Tour Rev 2. 355g, 10 points HL and 20cm beam. It is a very nice S&V stick but I seem to find more success up at net and transitioning with my modified Pure Drive. Might be the extra few "sq of head perhaps?
Whatever works for YOU
S&V Specialist
Rookie
You should try the new RZR Bubba from Gamma!! All jokes aside, I love my Exo3 Black for serve and volley. Another thing, s&v is all about technique. If you have great technique then you should be able to find a way to win no matter what racquet you are using. IMO.
actitans007
New User
tough question to answer. It really does all depend on your confidence, reflexes and technique. About 15 years ago, I used a 6.2 hammer mid stretch in doubles and it was great for doubles ( I was #1 in my state two years in row with that racquet) but awful in singles. It would shimmer in my hand if I was playing against heavy hitters in singles. Now I rotate with several thin beamed head-light racquets (Head PT 280, ProKennex Redondo MP, Head Prestige 300). Even though the 6.2 was a dual taper racquet I would agree that the best serve and volley racquets would be heavier, thin beamed, head light, dense string pattern racquets like a Wilson PS and any Head prestige line racquet. I would disagree with the POG mid. You are going to have to lead tape that bad boy up big time at 3 and 9 and it has a massively open string pattern.
classic tennis
Semi-Pro
It's not the racquet it's the technique, there are stacks of players/coaches/friends who had big S & V games with a Prince 110 !
netman
Hall of Fame
I'll add the Pro Kennex 5g to this excellent list. Probably two of the all time best were the original Pro Staff 85 and its follow up, the PS Classic.
srvnvly
Hall of Fame
Agreed-a friend of mine uses an old Prince Royal Blue OS, which is both light and over sized, and hits the best volleys of anyone in our league. He could use a snowshoe and still have success, his technique is so good.
MikeHitsHard93
Hall of Fame
Ig prestige mp is really good on serves if you have a big service game. Also I've never had more confidence at the net than when holding this stick in my hands. Only reason I havent switched is because of the price
prosealster
Professional
one of my favourite s&V stick was the fischer vacuum pro 90
Fusker
Rookie
I played for a while with these racquets, and here's what I'd say:
Wilson k6.1 95 (16x19): Huge serving power with a very stiff frame. Low powered, but really solid at net for driving volleys. Capable of touch volleys, but not as adept as hard volleys.
Youtek Prestige MP (18x20): Less powerful serves than the previous, but scalpel like precision at the net. The dense string pattern meant I had to run lower string tensions than on an open pattern and I felt like this hurt touch volleys at the net. I found it difficult to hit drop shots/volleys effectively.
Pro Kennex ki5 315: In between the Prestige MP and K6.1 for serve power, but able to switch between spin/kick serves and hard flat serves nearly as well as the k6.1 and much better than the Prestige. Beautiful stick at the net if you're more of a finesse volleyer as I am. Actually the best of the three I mentioned in that regard. I found that as my game became less about serving and volleying every serve, and more about mixing in s'n'v (and looking for other opportunities to move forward), this was a better stick for finishing off points.
Wilson k6.1 95 (16x19): Huge serving power with a very stiff frame. Low powered, but really solid at net for driving volleys. Capable of touch volleys, but not as adept as hard volleys.
Youtek Prestige MP (18x20): Less powerful serves than the previous, but scalpel like precision at the net. The dense string pattern meant I had to run lower string tensions than on an open pattern and I felt like this hurt touch volleys at the net. I found it difficult to hit drop shots/volleys effectively.
Pro Kennex ki5 315: In between the Prestige MP and K6.1 for serve power, but able to switch between spin/kick serves and hard flat serves nearly as well as the k6.1 and much better than the Prestige. Beautiful stick at the net if you're more of a finesse volleyer as I am. Actually the best of the three I mentioned in that regard. I found that as my game became less about serving and volleying every serve, and more about mixing in s'n'v (and looking for other opportunities to move forward), this was a better stick for finishing off points.
chrischris
G.O.A.T.
Dunlop AG100 or Head PT600.
