configuring nblade 98

[ananda]

i have been trying to play with my new nblade but unable to cos its too light and doesnt have the solid feel of the PS 6.0 95" that i have playing with for 3 weeks.

i wish to lead-tape it so that it can at least be used (i cant sell it here, and i cant for personal reasons just ignore it).

i know nothing about lead taping, so can someone advice me how to make the nblade closer to ps 95. here are the specs.

PS 6.0 95":
UnS wt: 11.6 oz/ 328 gm
Str wt: 12.1/343 gm
Balance (US/Strung): 13 pt HL/ 10 pt

Swingweight (acco to tw site) 317

nblade 98:
acco to racket beam (dont know if strung or unstrung):
wt: 10.7 oz/304 gm
6 pt HL

acco to TW site:
2 pt HL
swingweight 332
strung wt: 11.1/315g

when i hold the nblade with finger, it seems more like 2 pt HL than 6. i have yet to put an overgrip.
the PS has an overgrip.

so there's clearly a 20-40 gm difference, but the nblade seems to have more swingweight. thanks in advance.

 

[wally]

i have been trying to play with my new nblade but unable to cos its too light and doesnt have the solid feel of the PS 6.0 95" that i have playing with for 3 weeks.

i wish to lead-tape it so that it can at least be used (i cant sell it here, and i cant for personal reasons just ignore it).

i know nothing about lead taping, so can someone advice me how to make the nblade closer to ps 95. here are the specs.

PS 6.0 95":
UnS wt: 11.6 oz/ 328 gm
Str wt: 12.1/343 gm
Balance (US/Strung): 13 pt HL/ 10 pt

Swingweight (acco to tw site) 317

nblade 98:
acco to racket beam (dont know if strung or unstrung):
wt: 10.7 oz/304 gm
6 pt HL

acco to TW site:
2 pt HL
swingweight 332
strung wt: 11.1/315g

when i hold the nblade with finger, it seems more like 2 pt HL than 6. i have yet to put an overgrip.
the PS has an overgrip.

so there's clearly a 20-40 gm difference, but the nblade seems to have more swingweight. thanks in advance.

Here's my latest N-blade setup -

3g lead at 12
3g lead at 3
3g lead at 9

6g lead under butcap - open/w smalll screwdriver
8g lead on throat (simialr to WTA player Anna I.)

I added a full size grip sleeve (build up from 4-1/2 to 4-5/8) = 10g

total 33g added weight

strung gripped/w overgrip they are approximately 345-351g

For me this thing hits like a truck, remains easy to swing, rock solid on volleys. Serving is a bit of an issue right now but its more operator error than the racquet setup.

 

[rooski]

As you have found, there is a dramatic difference in balance between these two rackets. I too have been using heavy and very head light rackets (see sig) but for me the transition to the nBlade was pretty easy (and fast) since the swingweights are nearly identical. For you the nBlade should swing very heavy coming from a PS6095 so it shouldn't play light at all (as you mention in your first sentence). While the nBlade is not as stable as the n6195 or PS6095, it still plays like a heavier racket to me. The other big difference is the sweetspot location. The nBlade sweetspot is about 2" higher than on your PS6095 so lower hits on the blade don't feel as good.

My suggestion is to give the nBlade more time to adjust to the sweetspot and the added swingweight. I haven't completely made the switch yet but I am getting close. The blade is one sweet racket.

 

[ananda]

thanks alot for setup, wally. and suggestion to keep trying, rooski.
two points, i know this is a silly situation to be in. i don;t wish to transition to the nblade. the ps95 is my dream rack.
i am also afraid if i keep playing with the nblade as is, i may (as someone else pointed out) not be able to play with my ps95.
the best solution of course is just forget the nblade. but my brother took a lot of pains to buy it for me in the US and bring it over. i feel horrible just chucking it.

so the only option is to make it feel a little more like the PS95 (i like the hits like a truck line of wally) so i can use it once in a while and maybe even like it a bit.

rooski, i would never guess the swingwt was more if it did not say so on TW site. nblade feels light as a feather whereas the ps95 has a nice solid feel. i will certainly give more tries.
(i once hit for an hour with a prostaff ROK 93" and even that felt really solid in my hands. except that it was possibly loosely strung, since the ball kept flying out).

a basic question, rooski, you said the nblade is not as stable as the 95, is that due to 95 being more headlight, or due to the inner construction?

 

[ananda]

wally, i wish to confirm one thing. the 12 o clock and throat are right next to one another, correct? on two sides of the frame at 12 o clock.

 

[PimpMyGame]

^^^12 o'clock is at the top of the hoop. The throat is, well, where the throat is. So I don't think they're next to one another.

 

[wally]

wally, i wish to confirm one thing. the 12 o clock and throat are right next to one another, correct? on two sides of the frame at 12 o clock.

If you hold the racquet at the grip with the strings facing you imagine a clock face starting at you 12 is at the top 6 is at the bottom

The racquet throat is the part above the handle and below the hoop.
If you hit a one-hander you may put your non-racquet hand on the throat as you take the racquet back

 

[Oleg]

I use both N6195 and PS6095 in stock form. I did try Nblade and really liked it in practice. Then I played 2 sets against a player that was hitting very heavy balls and Nblade was not standing up to them well. I feel that the skill level to use NBlade in stock form has to be higher than what is required to use the heavier frames. The timing of getting a perfect contact point everytime and body weight transfer into the shot... So I backed off Nblade for now.

I think that Nblade needs to be customized in order to offer better stability at the same skill level. I am not an expert in customizing but I would investigate Ana Ivanovic's setup. She is the only top player that appears using the real Nblade. You can see quite a bit of lead around 3 , 9 oclock and throat areas but there may also be hidden weight in other locations. At the end of the day though, all this is very subjective to each individual.

 

[cknobman]

I had a similar problem with a nTour I was using. Too light at 9,9oz and too head heavy at even balance when strung.

Since I am not an experienced racquet modder I was afraid to take off my butt cap and try to put lead tape in it because the frames are injected with foam and I was unsure what it would do for feel and stability if I dug out the foam in the handle to add lead tape. In the end I took off all the grips on the racquet and added about 25-30 grams of gamma lead tape to the grip area. Wrapping the lead tape around the grip worked remarkably well since the grip on the racquet was a little small to begin with. After putting back on the factory grip and then a overgrip on top of that you couldnt tell that I ever modded the racquet. The extra weight helped alot and increased my comfort level witht he racquet.

 

[rooski]

I use both N6195 and PS6095 in stock form. I did try Nblade and really liked it in practice. Then I played 2 sets against a player that was hitting very heavy balls and Nblade was not standing up to them well. I feel that the skill level to use NBlade in stock form has to be higher than what is required to use the heavier frames. The timing of getting a perfect contact point everytime and body weight transfer into the shot... So I backed off Nblade for now.

I think that Nblade needs to be customized in order to offer better stability at the same skill level. I am not an expert in customizing but I would investigate Ana Ivanovic's setup. She is the only top player that appears using the real Nblade. You can see quite a bit of lead around 3 , 9 oclock and throat areas but there may also be hidden weight in other locations. At the end of the day though, all this is very subjective to each individual.

You are right about the nBlade not being as stable as the n6195 and PS6095 but then again stability really only comes in to play on mis-hits. The lighter frame of the nBlade can get pushed around by heavy balls IF you are not hitting it near the center. I played my nBlade last week against another hard hitting 5.0 player and had NO issues with stability at all. I thought the nBlade was solid as a rock from the ground. In fact, from a playing standpoint, I am still trying to find the nBlade's weakness because so far I haven't found it. If you add lead to the hoop of the nBlade and don't add some near the grip as well, the racket will be too head heavy and sluggish feeling IMO.

My point to the OP is...play with the racket YOU play best with. If you really like your nPS then stay with it. BTW...I only hit the nPS once so I can't say for sure but I seem to remember it having very similar specs to the nBlade.

 

[fuzz nation]

My first thought would be to get the balance of the nBlade closer to the ps95 so that they swing through the hitting zone in a more similar fashion - sorry if you already said that you did this, but I didn't see it as I skimmed through.

If I try a different frame, I can hit it ok if the balance is familiar. Changes in static weight aren't so bad for me, but different balances can really mess my timing.

 

[ananda]

^^^12 o'clock is at the top of the hoop. The throat is, well, where the throat is. So I don't think they're next to one another.

sorry i dont know what i was smoking when i asked about 12 o clck being at the 6 oc spot !!!

but wally the spec you have given will make the rack even more head heavy, right. praps u prefer HH racks? is that right?

 

[PimpMyGame]

sorry i dont know what i was smoking when i asked about 12 o clck being at the 6 oc spot !!!

ha ha I had a senior moment myself, on another thread yesterday. Nice to see someone else disappear up their back side for a change:grin:

 

[wally]

sorry i dont know what i was smoking when i asked about 12 o clck being at the 6 oc spot !!!

but wally the spec you have given will make the rack even more head heavy, right. praps u prefer HH racks? is that right?

No

there is 9 total g in the head

16g on the handle/butt lead + grip sleeve

8g in the middle. (throat)

To me it actually feels a tad more head light than stock.

 

[ananda]

i have to state this with embarrassment and dejection. yesterday i went to the last place in my city (new delhi) where i thought i might find lead tape. Here's where ITF tournament and Nationals etc are held. i went to the sport shop where the players get their racks strung.
they too had no idea of lead tape!!
i asked the stringer if the rackets that came in for stringing had lead tape on them. His evasive reply seemed to be a No.
No one know where to get it either.

so i guess i just have to wait till my bro goes back to NY once again (in Nov) before i get the tape and can try out the nblade. so until then I will just be happy with my ps95. thanks to all of you for your time and replies.

 

[Oleg]

If you find a shop that has Babolat or Gamma products, they should call their distributor and should be able to order the lead tape for you. Or you can order from any online dealer that will ship to you.