What I say here could be moot in about 4 1/2 days, the honeymoon badger waiting, but I’ve procured a RinderKarue (workshopping the name), the TF40 305 18m, and today’s first impression was great. Really great. Large sweet spot for an 18x20 but with that 18x20 driving trajectory that seemed to run through the court nicely but with heaps of control to where I was able to forget about fear of overhitting or overthinking and just swing out, play ball. Best of all, my elbow felt as good as it’s felt after a hit than in any of my hits in recent weeks, so I’m hoping all of this holds and the badger doesn’t come biting.
I’ve been in a funkhouser maze lately. Working through my elbow issue with therapy/exercises and being careful not to overplay, but also wanting to keep playing because it’s summertime and also I have a doubles tournament this weekend that I’ve been wanting to take part in for awhile. The elbow strap is helping (thanks, PP) but I’ve been in this unintelligent funk of trying to keep playing, just not too much, while working at the stretching and strengthening, slowly. Leaving frames as the question:
My beloved Fedora had been in hand when this problem started, so I’ve been trying my others to see what feels better/worse. My .1 Prestiges feel worse. My Marin (the Rev Pro pro stock Prestige) feels much better on the elbow, but when I’m playing outdoor clay in gusty winds, let’s say, I’ll shank a ball and think, “why am I hitting this today?” (I’ll remind myself on the next shot when I fire an ace or mean approach shot to the corner. Then I’ll shank the next ball and wonder again.) The Gravity Tour 98 has been very good on the elbow, and forgiving, but leaving me just short of calm, because I feel like it overspins some balls and especially leaves balls short if I undercook/guide a ball back rather than slapping the thing confidently. A lot of managing the up/down thing with that open pattern.
Enter the TF, because a local shop had a crazy good deal on it, and I’ve been wanting a solid, trusty 18x20 in the collection again, so decided to try this and from the first ball today, I was very happy, and like I said, kind of even forgot about the frame after a few balls of understanding and just thought about the tennis. If there is a knock so far, it’s that the serve doesn’t have the same easy juice as some of my others, but that may come with more getting to know it, as well as my arm being stronger and letting go more (at the moment I’m not exactly going full tilt on serves).
So, potential. Good thumpy feel. No surprise response and trajectory. A bit more feeling of freedom to open up and go for my shots over the GT, which has this fun effect but not my full trust.
Hoping the elbow continues to feel better. I’ll be rolling with this this weekend and will see from there.
Mudhatter is another potential name, as the racquet looks a bit like a traditional TF that’s been dipped in some mud up top.
Onward.
