Deformed Racket or Normal Wear?

[KingBugsy]

My friend and I both play with the same racket: Head Flexpoint Radical Tour. Today he asked me to string his racket. (I bought a Silent Partner Swing drop weight a few months ago and have been string my own rackets since then.) We compared two of his rackets to two of mine. We both had one unstrung and one strung... Both our strung rackets were at 58lbs. Anyway, his rackets were a tiny bit shorter than mine. Maybe 1/16th inch or so? Was subtle but noticeable. He said he has had both of his rackets strung less than 15 times. I would say mine have been strung about 5 times each... I will mention that I have been very careful when mounting my racket. Always take my time and make sure all pieces are snug, etc. So the question is: Are my friends rackets deformed? Or it that normal wear from stringing? Will the head of a racket start to squash down from repeated stringings?

 

[michael2kul4u]

My friend and I both play with the same racket: Head Flexpoint Radical Tour. Today he asked me to string his racket. (I bought a Silent Partner Swing drop weight a few months ago and have been string my own rackets since then.) We compared two of his rackets to two of mine. We both had one unstrung and one strung... Both our strung rackets were at 58lbs. Anyway, his rackets were a tiny bit shorter than mine. Maybe 1/16th inch or so? Was subtle but noticeable. He said he has had both of his rackets strung less than 15 times. I would say mine have been strung about 5 times each... I will mention that I have been very careful when mounting my racket. Always take my time and make sure all pieces are snug, etc. So the question is: Are my friends rackets deformed? Or it that normal wear from stringing? Will the head of a racket start to squash down from repeated stringings?

racquets deform as you are stringing it, thats why there are machines with better supports and i head that people should switch racquets every so often because the fibers that make up the racqet get weaker and weaker as time goes on

 

[DX_Psycho]

my prestige classic is about 1/16th smaller than the other one.

 

[Steve Huff]

From my experience, Head rackets flex in the machine more than any other rackets. The Radicals, LM2s, LM4s, almost all of them. I don't know if this is part of Head's design, but they are flexible, and I can imagine how much they'd shorten in a cheap, drop weight machine.

 

[rich s]

My experience with Radicals deforming is similar to Steve H's --- but here are somethings else to consider:

Pallet placement upon pallet installation at the factory can vary and butt cap location at installation at the factory also varies and affects the overall length so I wouldn't sweat 1/16th of an inch amongst frames.

To clarify a point that michael2kul4u made, it is the resin matrix that micro-cracks and breaks down that causes the frame to become less stiff (more flexible) not the graphite fibres.

 

[SteveI]

From my experience, Head rackets flex in the machine more than any other rackets. The Radicals, LM2s, LM4s, almost all of them. I don't know if this is part of Head's design, but they are flexible, and I can imagine how much they'd shorten in a cheap, drop weight machine.

Steve Huff and All,

Also from my experience, many Head frames seem to shrink when strung on lower end two-point machines. The Head Twin Tube models seem to be some of the worst. I have seen them lose up to .25 of an inch, making the head much rounder. I have never seen this on my 6-point Alpha.. and I now pay close attention as I observed this effect on my 2-point system many times. I have to think this can't be good for the frame, even though the frame will return to it's original shape when the strings are removed.

Regards,
Steve