Cahill says Ljubicic is losing because of racquet switch

[Nellie]

I don't know if you heard this on the AO broadcast, but according to Darren Cahill, Ljubicic screwed himself by switching racquets (from Babolat Pure Drive to Head Extreme) after his most successful year. Supposedly, Ljubicic switched in exchange for a boatload of cash and a promise of a position after tennis, and his game has really suffered since the switch.

According to Cahill, no one in the top ten has switched in the last 3 years or more because you would never change given success.

 

[Duzza]

Obviously money was more important to Ljubicic. Sad, I know.

 

[Fedace]

I don't know if you heard this on the AO broadcast, but according to Darren Cahill, Ljubicic screwed himself by switching racquets (from Babolat Pure Drive to Head Extreme) after his most successful year. Supposedly, Ljubicic switched in exchange for a boatload of cash and a promise of a position after tennis, and his game has really suffered since the switch.

According to Cahill, no one in the top ten has switched in the last 3 years or more because you would never change given success.

Wait a minute here. I was told OVER and over in this forum that Ivan is using the paintjob and is still using the babolat NOT head extreme pro which i personally thought was a crappy racket myself.

 

[samster]

I don't know if you heard this on the AO broadcast, but according to Darren Cahill, Ljubicic screwed himself by switching racquets (from Babolat Pure Drive to Head Extreme) after his most successful year. Supposedly, Ljubicic switched in exchange for a boatload of cash and a promise of a position after tennis, and his game has really suffered since the switch.

According to Cahill, no one in the top ten has switched in the last 3 years or more because you would never change given success.

He can easily use a Head PJ of the Babolat Pure Drive to continue his success. Wait, is he not doing that already?

 

[BreakPoint]

I don't know if you heard this on the AO broadcast, but according to Darren Cahill, Ljubicic screwed himself by switching racquets (from Babolat Pure Drive to Head Extreme) after his most successful year. Supposedly, Ljubicic switched in exchange for a boatload of cash and a promise of a position after tennis, and his game has really suffered since the switch.

According to Cahill, no one in the top ten has switched in the last 3 years or more because you would never change given success.

Yes, I heard Cahill say this also.

Gives you a good idea of how many paintjobs are out there when the racquet manufacturers keep coming out with new racquets every year and the pros "appear" to switch racquets everytime a new model comes out.

 

[MEAC_ALLAMERICAN]

I completely agree with this, and have mentioned in some of my posts since I saw him crash out at the French Open last year. Money talks...

 

[darrinbaker00]

Tennis players are notorious creatures of habit, but they are even more notorious mercenaries. Take Andre Agassi, for instance. He had been with Nike for 20 years, but when they refused to meet his demands (a donation to his charitable foundation in addition to his salary), he switched to Adidas. Bjorn Borg had two simultaneous racquet deals when he played (Donnay and Bancroft, depending on what continent he was on at the time). There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, the professional tennis player's main loyalty is to the almighty (insert currency here).

 

[tzinc]

So... I guess not every pro has a Paint Job.

Someone should tell this guy you don't really have to switch just get some paint. LOL!

 

[ionutzakis]

When I said last year that he made the worst possible choice by switching from the PD+ because he used all the power from it to serve aces and powerful second serves every one said I was crazy, because he doesn't need power. "He doesn't need power, he needs control", yeah right

 

[officerdibble]

Perhaps Roddick really does have the Cortex version of the PD - would that explain his poor performance at the AO?

 

[ThunderServe]

Roddick didn't perform badly, infact he played relativly well...Kolschriber just played unbelievable!!!

 

[Fedace]

Yes, I heard Cahill say this also.

Gives you a good idea of how many paintjobs are out there when the racquet manufacturers keep coming out with new racquets every year and the pros "appear" to switch racquets everytime a new model comes out.

OK so Did Cahill Call up the president of Head and ask him, Is Lubicic actually using your new extreme pro or just a Paint job ???

 

[ionutzakis]

He is playing badly because he does not play with PD+, clear as the sky.

Give him the pd+ and he'll win a GS, he was on the way on doing so last year

 

[martin]

OK so Did Cahill Call up the president of Head and ask him, Is Lubicic actually using your new extreme pro or just a Paint job ???

Exactly! and because most players are using a paintjob i want proof he actually switched to the real extreme pro. I believe he still uses his old PD+

 

[ionutzakis]

no, it's definetely not a 27.5 racquet! 27.25 at most

it's not the PD+!

 

[Nellie]

He is obviously using the Extreme and not a PD. You can tell because of the head shape (much rounder than the PD). It is likely modified to the extreme, but is not a PD.

 

[ionutzakis]

...hence the poor results. No PD+, no glory

 

[Gut Reaction]

...hence the poor results. No PD+, no glory

This is crap. Djokovic actually played with a Head racquet. Wilson came and offered him a boat load of cash. So Novak had Wilson make a racquet to the exact same specifications as the Head.

Why can't Ljubcic do the same? or for that matter why not do what everyone else does??? A paintjob?

 

[babolatking]

i heard this broadcast and i agree... why change something when it's work... and these posts are correct the
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[NoBadMojo]

I posted this earlier in another thread. I think it applies here.
<paste>
There is a total misconception on this forum about how many tour players get paid to play a brand. Not that many of them do. They get free racquets. Several Top 50's dont make a penny for swinging a certain brand of racquet. They get free frames....often they're just stock frames, and they send them off to Bosworth <for example> to have them customized and matched. Also many many pros pay for their strings and that is a big expense considering how many stringjobs many pros go through and the expensive hybrids they use.

Using Ljubicic as an example, here's a guy who was top 10 and not making anything from Babolat. Head threw a lot of money at him to play Head racquets, he took it, and his game is now in the toilet. this is why most players are reluctant to change and how chasing the bucks can backfire.

 

[blubber]

I can't blame Luby. He is getting old and might be past his peak. He had 2 really good years. Plus, he had a rough upbringing. He left his family behind in his strife filled homeland and went to Italy to train. He finally gets a big deal thrown his way, one that will take care of him after he retires from the tour. How could he pass it up? With that kind of upbringing he probably cares more about supporting his family than he cares about playing his best tennis. On the other hand, he's playing like crap.

By the way did any one hear P Mac's comments on Ferrer? He mentioned that Ferrer's initial goal on the tour was to be a top 100 player so that he can take part in the ATP pension plan. It puts into perspective the financial situation of a lot of thse players and what kind of thoughts are on their minds. A lot of these guys are stuggling and are fighting for ways to support themselves. I wonder if Ferrer would change his frame if he was offered a ton of cash?

 

[Chauvalito]

The racket change did not surprize me

I can't blame Luby. He is getting old and might be past his peak. He had 2 really good years. Plus, he had a rough upbringing. He left his family behind in his strife filled homeland and went to Italy to train. He finally gets a big deal thrown his way, one that will take care of him after he retires from the tour. How could he pass it up? With that kind of upbringing he probably cares more about supporting his family than he cares about playing his best tennis. On the other hand, he's playing like crap.

By the way did any one hear P Mac's comments on Ferrer? He mentioned that Ferrer's initial goal on the tour was to be a top 100 player so that he can take part in the ATP pension plan. It puts into perspective the financial situation of a lot of thse players and what kind of thoughts are on their minds. A lot of these guys are stuggling and are fighting for ways to support themselves. I wonder if Ferrer would change his frame if he was offered a ton of cash?

I am sure some of you remember this; in an ATP interview/promo video Ivan was interviewed.

He stated in the interview that oen of his goals in playint tennis was to make enough money to never have to work again, and enough that he could see the world.

He really needs to go back to a pj or something, I trust Cahill's analysis, if he says its the racket, then it probably is.

Also, Ljuby admitted himself that he had truly switched in an ATP presser, saying that he was getting more control from the baseline with his new racket.

 

[babolatking]

Roddick didn't perform badly, infact he played relativly well...Kolschriber just played unbelievable!!!

Thunder Serve is on the money... Kolschriber played sweet... Roddick can't be too disapointed

 

[NoBadMojo]

I can't blame Luby. He is getting old and might be past his peak. He had 2 really good years. Plus, he had a rough upbringing. He left his family behind in his strife filled homeland and went to Italy to train. He finally gets a big deal thrown his way, one that will take care of him after he retires from the tour. How could he pass it up? With that kind of upbringing he probably cares more about supporting his family than he cares about playing his best tennis. On the other hand, he's playing like crap.

By the way did any one hear P Mac's comments on Ferrer? He mentioned that Ferrer's initial goal on the tour was to be a top 100 player so that he can take part in the ATP pension plan. It puts into perspective the financial situation of a lot of thse players and what kind of thoughts are on their minds. A lot of these guys are stuggling and are fighting for ways to support themselves. I wonder if Ferrer would change his frame if he was offered a ton of cash?

good points. also noteworthy is that this backfired for Head as well.

Press release:

'Luby switches to Head and game goes into toilet!'

or

Press Release

'James Blake cant find anything acceptable to play from Prince'

I think the mistake Luby made was to not play his PD flying Head colours until he was sure that Head came up with something that didnt compromise his game....but who knows what the arrangement they had was

 

[sureshs]

I heard Cahill's comments and his speculation that Lube switched because of a sweet deal after retirement. He also said that pros are basically playing with the same specs they used 3 years ago. That might have been true, except that a record number of pros have made the switch to the Prince speedports and that is quite a different racquet.

 

[sureshs]

Obviously money was more important to Ljubicic. Sad, I know.

It is to everyone who admits it honestly.

 

[Richie Rich]

you would think that ljubicic would have tested the extreme enough to get it tweaked before finally switching over

 

[wao]

you would think that ljubicic would have tested the extreme enough to get it tweaked before finally switching over

He did, he was testing it in Shanghai in 06. It is a custom frame from what I have been told. It is not 27". Longer though not sure if it's 27.5 or 28. The work was done by a shop in NYC.

 

[quest01]

The Pure Drive and the Extreme Pro are very similar in terms of specs.

 

[Richie Rich]

He did, he was testing it in Shanghai in 06. It is a custom frame from what I have been told. It is not 27". Longer though not sure if it's 27.5 or 28. The work was done by a shop in NYC.

well then with extensive testing he should have been comfortable enough and confident in using the new frame. it likely plays very much like his PD+. his poor play is likely between his ears and not due to his racquet

 

[NoBadMojo]

well then with extensive testing he should have been comfortable enough and confident in using the new frame. it likely plays very much like his PD+. his poor play is likely between his ears and not due to his racquet

i really dont think so..i dont think he serves as big now, dont think his normal ralley ball pierces the court as well, and think he has lost some putaway power...it really was like a switch was turned on <or off as it were>, and darren Cahill is someone with good credibility i think.

 

[SCSI]

very interesting read

indeed. Glad the Cahill shared some of the details. Didn't the same thing basically happen with Ferrero, though apparently he has switched to the speedport rackets since? Also, Chela I think went back to Babolat PC after switching to Technifibre.

The morale of the story is one shouldn't change and keep doing what's been working, especially when things are working well. So often we think if we change just a little we can get even better. More often, what seems to happen is the opposite of what you think would happen.

 

[Azzurri]

OK so Did Cahill Call up the president of Head and ask him, Is Lubicic actually using your new extreme pro or just a Paint job ???

maybe you should call Cahill yourself. If anyone watched the match, they would have also heard Cahill. Why or how BP would know this is beyond me or anyone else.

 

[wao]

well then with extensive testing he should have been comfortable enough and confident in using the new frame. it likely plays very much like his PD+. his poor play is likely between his ears and not due to his racquet

One would think.
He definately isn't playing the same. Not sure if it's equipment or age.

 

[AndrewD]

According to Cahill, no one in the top ten has switched in the last 3 years or more because you would never change given success.

Three years is a very brief period of time but, if you look at the duration of time the current top 10 have been on tour then;
Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko and Nalbandian have all changed racquets without suffering a rankings slide,

 

[BreakPoint]

OK so Did Cahill Call up the president of Head and ask him, Is Lubicic actually using your new extreme pro or just a Paint job ???

I don't know but Cahill does talk to the players personally and he said that most pros have not changed anything about their equipment setups for at least the past 3 years, i.e., same frame, same strings, same tension, etc.

So when you see all these pros with new racquets every year, they're most likely only paintjobs.

 

[Richie Rich]

i really dont think so..i dont think he serves as big now, dont think his normal ralley ball pierces the court as well, and think he has lost some putaway power...it really was like a switch was turned on <or off as it were>, and darren Cahill is someone with good credibility i think.

you're right but maybe he thought he could live with the change?

it's just hard to get my head around the fact that when head approached ljubicic with the deal they weren't be able to make the frame to his exact spec

 

[wao]

I don't know but Cahill does talk to the players personally and he said that most pros have not changed anything about their equipment setups for at least the past 3 years, i.e., same frame, same strings, same tension, etc.

So when you see all these pros with new racquets every year, they're most likely only paintjobs.

I did hear Cahill say that most pros have not changed anything about their equipment setups for at least the past 3 years, i.e., same frame, same strings, same tension, etc.
I would think at some point they also try different set up's.

 

[Gut Reaction]

The Pure Drive and the Extreme Pro are very similar in terms of specs.

nothing plays like a Babolat.

I actually love my Babolat but I like the Head grip shape better. So I called Vantage and had them make a custom racquet with the same specs as the Babolat but with a head shaped grip.

The two racquets played completely differently. It was not even close. I don't know if its the materials or the woofer system.....but there just was no comparison.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Cahill said he talked to Ivan and Ivan said he made the switch because Head gave him a deal that would have him "set for the rest of his life." It wasn't idle speculation on Cahill's part.

 

[BreakPoint]

I did hear Cahill say that most pros have not changed anything about their equipment setups for at least the past 3 years, i.e., same frame, same strings, same tension, etc.
I would think at some point they also try different set up's.

Yes, they do experiment with different set-ups during practice, but most of them usually end up going back to what they're most familiar with for their matches. James Blake is a prime example.

 

[wao]

Yes, they do experiment with different set-ups during practice, but most of them usually end up going back to what they're most familiar with for their matches. James Blake is a prime example.

Agree, was just stating a point that they do experiment as we all do in search of Valhala.

 

[ATXtennisaddict]

Ljubicic just fell off the radar

 

[Mark Vessels]

Yes, they do experiment with different set-ups during practice, but most of them usually end up going back to what they're most familiar with for their matches. James Blake is a prime example.

Well, James used paint job princes and switched from just 200g and 300g dunlops.

 

[drakulie]

I don't think it was the frame change at all (if there even really was one). He was playing out of his mind, and simply came back down to earth. That's all.

 

[Zhou]

Thunder Serve is on the money... Kolschriber played sweet... Roddick can't be too disapointed

But if you watched Kohlschreiber play Nieminen, if I were Roddick, I would surely be disappointed. He made 76 unforced errors compared to Nieminen's 47...

 

[Cup8489]

Well, James used paint job princes and switched from just 200g and 300g dunlops.

yeah...and those oports in his racquets were actually just paint...

Prince custom made his frames, they were experimental's, and made how he wanted. but then he baled on them.

 

[BreakPoint]

Well, James used paint job princes and switched from just 200g and 300g dunlops.

Huh? Blake NEVER used a Prince nor a Dunlop 200G nor 300G in ANY matches. The all black racquet he used that had Prince printed on the side was the same racquet that he's used ever since he turned pro, which is a Dunlop made custom racquet that uses a similar mold to the Tecnifibre T-Fight 335. That also goes for the 200G and 300G paintjobs that he used and his current Aerogel 200 paintjob. ALL of them are the same custom racquet that's he's used for many years. The ex-product design manager at Dunlop has confirmed this as he designed the custom racquet for Blake. The closest racquet that you can buy to what Blake is using is the Tecnifibre TF-335 18x20.

 

[vsbabolat]

yeah...and those oports in his racquets were actually just paint...

Prince custom made his frames, they were experimental's, and made how he wanted. but then he baled on them.

Blake never used any Prince frames in Tournaments. It is just as BreakPoint has said in his post.
Here are some actual Photos of Blake's racquet. Notice the Dunlop Bumper on the racquet.

Hi everybody, Today at Foro Italico I had the oppurtunity to see and touch a Blake's racquet.
Here some pics, you can clearly see the Dunlop bumper!

Ciao!

 

[basil J]

I watched Blake work out at Harvard a couple of years back and my teaching pro who knows him said that he was using a frame close to the dunlop tour revelation 95" that was customized over the years to his specs. When I saw him play with his brother , must be 3 years ago now, his brother was using a 200GMW and blake was using a 300g paint job. It's hard to tell what they are really using isn't it?