Boris Becker's Racquet Specs

PurePrestige

PurePrestige

Semi-Pro
Anyone know the specs on Becker's racquet when he was on top?
I know he strung tight, like 80 lbs.
but if anyone knows like the weight and balance and such.
 
For a short while Tennis Warehouse sold some racquets left over from Bosworth's stock of racquets that were customized for Boris Becker. They were 12.2 ounces, which surprised me. I thought they would have been heavier for that time. They were even already gripped how he liked them, with two Babolat overgrips and no regular grip. TW sold them for over $300 each.
 
Well as you get heavier and heavier it becomes more difficult to generat head speed. What does that mean? Slower serve and less spin, for those that can use that great, but really what is the benefit. Even Pete wised up and droped the weight.
 
bamboo said:
From The Player, by Boris Becker - "My racket weighs 367 grams and is strung at 30 kilos." pg. 165
Click to expand...

an Estusa Power Beam Pro is 365g (strung, plus 2 layers of bumper tape), thus pretty similar to what he had.
 
66 lbs. tension, natural gut 16 g. 4 5/8 grip with two overgrips only (no permanent or replacement grip). Puma PCS extension maxed to "full throttle" setting.
 
Becker added another few intersting details in his autobiography. He said his racket technician Uli Kuhnel was a key part of his team because his racket is as important to him as Annie-Sophie Mutter's violin is to her. He said Estusa had trouble making a racket to his liking after the switch from Puma, and he showed he could tell small differences by identifying the Puma from the Estusa prototype after hitting just two balls with each even though they were both spray-painted black. He said after his supply of Estusas ran out and before he bought a half-share of Volkl, he approached Head to "bake a few hundred racquets to my specific requirements."
 
TW had a thread here once that showed them actually making a Boris Becker racquet. It was a pretty neat thread. I'm not sure where it is now here but maybe it is still available.
 
need2paint said:
what does this mean?
Click to expand...

Puma's telescoping PCS handles permitted length adjustments from 26 1/4" to 27". "Full throttle" is just a term I came up with for pairing the frame's longest setting (27" aka standard length) with Boris's power. At a shorter setting, racquet would be more control oriented; at the longest setting, racquet had more whippy power with a hot sweetspot.
 
Seth said:
Just imagine TW bringing back the Estusa Becker frames and selling them for $150/frame or $130/frame if you buy multiple sticks.

Just imagine...
Click to expand...
Seth ....
I know you really liked these frames . Do you remember the ra specs on Becker bosworth puma/ estusa?
 
teachingprotx said:
Seth ....
I know you really liked these frames . Do you remember the ra specs on Becker bosworth puma/ estusa?
Click to expand...
Yeah !!
Like what was the RA on his pumas.. I would love to
Know for sure..... I do know that apparently he liked his frames "broke in" fatigued if you will . Like del Potro . I think Blake was another dude who liked his frames fatigued ...
 
Seth said:
Just imagine TW bringing back the Estusa Becker frames and selling them for $150/frame or $130/frame if you buy multiple sticks.
Click to expand...

There's no market for that to make it profitable to make them. The break even point is likely many thousands of frames for the idea to make sense.
 
I'm sitting on 3 Supers right now; sure would like some grommet strips... I tried some Volkl c10p's, then found the Powerbridge 10 Mid- with some lead in the hoop the volley gets *really* nice. Anybody find anything closer?
 
irdave said:
That's the question, right? Would it feel the same just because it has the same flex? Even given the same balance, weight and swingweight...
Click to expand...
What feeling are we talking about?
Puma: G.Vilas,Winner,Super,Pro,Power,DavisCup?
Estusa: ProVantech,Advantech,PB,PBP,PBB?
Head: WorldChampion?


Modern Materials? Basalt? Kraibon?
 
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I have one of Becker's personal Pumas from 1988. Here are a few pics of the specs.

3150lr5.jpg
25rd00o.jpg
2ez02dx.jpg
2505isk.jpg
atogvq.jpg
 
Wadester said:
I have one of Becker's personal Pumas from 1988. Here are a few pics of the specs.

3150lr5.jpg
25rd00o.jpg
2ez02dx.jpg
2505isk.jpg
atogvq.jpg
Click to expand...
Kewl pics! Anyone know why his racquet says 4, 5/8ths on the butt cap and 4,1/2 on the frame, and whether he used a custom molded handle or just the regular standard handle that was on the puma's?
 
Wadester said:
I have one of Becker's personal Pumas from 1988. Here are a few pics of the specs.

3150lr5.jpg
25rd00o.jpg
2ez02dx.jpg
2505isk.jpg
atogvq.jpg
Click to expand...
Very cool! I've never seen one of his so close and personal thank you for sharing my fave player in the worlds tool of his trade . This really is a fantastic mold . Pure artistry. Wish we could get a manufacturer to make a frame mold in similar fashion. Wilson I tip my hat for the ultra v throat but that thing was / is a granny stick not a " players" frame .. plus to make it look cooler ya gots to have the euro egg head .
Volkl I thought had it with the v engine series , man I was excited about that frame .. but none of them felt right Correct to me.
Wadester-
Can you tell us more about the story about how you got Boris Becker to give you one of his personal rackets ? I think others will agree that we find these stories so neat ,intriguing , and fascinating. At least for sure I do .
 
teachingprotx said:
Very cool! I've never seen one of his so close and personal thank you for sharing my fave player in the worlds tool of his trade . This really is a fantastic mold . Pure artistry. Wish we could get a manufacturer to make a frame mold in similar fashion. Wilson I tip my hat for the ultra v throat but that thing was / is a granny stick not a " players" frame .. plus to make it look cooler ya gots to have the euro egg head .
Volkl I thought had it with the v engine series , man I was excited about that frame .. but none of them felt right Correct to me.
Wadester-
Can you tell us more about the story about how you got Boris Becker to give you one of his personal rackets ? I think others will agree that we find these stories so neat ,intriguing , and fascinating. At least for sure I do .
Click to expand...

Pretty simple, really. I attended the semifinals and final of the 1988 Buick WCT Finals in Dallas, which served as the year-end championship, back when Texas was a HUGE pro tennis location. Becker defeated Brad Gilbert in the semis and Stefan Edberg in the final. After Becker won the final and was packing up, I screamed and asked him if I could have the racquet he had broken a string on during the match. I was 11 years-old at the time, so I guess I was too cute to ignore. ;-)
 
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Wadester said:
Pretty simple, really. I attended the semifinals and final of the 1988 Buick WCT Finals in Dallas, which served as the year-end championship, back when Texas was a HUGE pro tennis location. Becker defeated Brad Gilbert in the semis and Stefan Edberg in the final. After Becker won the final and was packing up, I screamed and asked him if I could have the racquet he had broken a string on during the match. I was 11 years-old at the time, so I guess I was too cute to ignore. ;-)
Click to expand...

Cool, that's the advantage of being young boy/girl at the tournament.
 
I wonder how many pumas becker had lying around his home/ homes . I've often wondered that . I knew an old 70's touring pro that kept all his old rackets in duffle bags in his spare bedroom and in that room all his old fila kits folded up in his chest of drawers . Kept everything ...
 
teachingprotx said:
I wonder how many pumas becker had lying around his home/ homes . I've often wondered that . I knew an old 70's touring pro that kept all his old rackets in duffle bags in his spare bedroom and in that room all his old fila kits folded up in his chest of drawers . Kept everything ...
Click to expand...

I don't think Boris had any of his old racquets now. All the time he got him new models to play. But Mecir still played with his wood composite Snauwaert nort so long ago.
 
teachingprotx said:
I wonder how many pumas becker had lying around his home/ homes . I've often wondered that . I knew an old 70's touring pro that kept all his old rackets in duffle bags in his spare bedroom and in that room all his old fila kits folded up in his chest of drawers . Kept everything ...
Click to expand...

Borg or Vilas?:)
 
Becker still has some from his old frames but does not know the exact age! Here he sold an estusa from 1992 (Only Babolat logo and white butt cap in the clay season 1992) and not from Wimbledon 1999 as he told:

 
jorel said:
Ask Boris...he's got the molds
Click to expand...
Thats not correct: The mold of the Racket produced from Head starting in Summer 1992 is still in Austria. And it was slightly DIFFERENT to the Estusa/Puma Mold! What happened to them at Sanhosun - who knows ....
 
tennistiger said:
Becker still has some from his old frames but does not know the exact age! Here he sold an estusa from 1992 (Only Babolat logo and white butt cap in the clay season 1992) and not from Wimbledon 1999 as he told:

Click to expand...
I've watched this thing like 10 times if only I could have it translated into English :(
 
proracketeer said:
What feeling are we talking about?
Puma: G.Vilas,Winner,Super,Pro,Power,DavisCup?
Estusa: ProVantech,Advantech,PB,PBP,PBB?
Head: WorldChampion?


Modern Materials? Basalt? Kraibon?
Click to expand...

Just the Super- that's all I've played with. The really damped, solid feel- especially at net- and just the heft of the beast! I've picked up some Volkl PB 10 Mids and have been adding lead to the head and they're coming along nicely...
 
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