Diary of a Racketaholic
- Thread starter Ross K
- Start date
Thats the thing... i would easily say relatively low for sure..like.. for reference i consider v7 18x20 relatively low which i have gotten used to and i like bc it gives me room to brush the fudge out of it with no worries if i need to bail myself out of a shot. And drive when i am on offense.. thats the surprising part.. this was kind of like that. Not high launch angle.
dude i know..my game have been improving a lot over the last year but I don't know how to properly compete well. Thats what i need to focus on. I'll give you an example.. hitting with the coach this am. He goes " dude you are hitting the sht out of the ball and i am hitting with you not holding back.. lets play a set".. just so we are clear.. he is probably playing the level he needs to keep it just enough competitive for me. But after the set he goes.. holly sht we have a problem. I have never seen someone that can have so many weapons play so shtty in point play. Hehe.. yes it was depressing.. no strategy and extremely tense balls.. so i have to take my match play to a little better level. I know i can compete better level and i need to make that happen.. 5 rackets testing not making it easy. But taking my time...no rush..
ryushen21
Legend
That's the problem for all of us. Brilliant in warm-up but average in competition. My coach is already talking about me playing in some upcoming tournaments just for the experience and applying what he's going to teach me. There's no way to create experience, you've just got to go through it.
my game have been improving a lot over the last year but I don't know how to properly compete well. Thats what i need to focus on. I'll give you an example.. hitting with the coach this am. He goes " dude you are hitting the sht out of the ball and i am hitting with you not holding back.. lets play a set".. just so we are clear.. he is probably playing the level he needs to keep it just enough competitive for me. But after the set he goes.. holly sht we have a problem. I have never seen someone that can have so many weapons play so shtty in point play. Hehe.. yes it was depressing.. no strategy and extremely tense balls.. so i have to take my match play to a little better level. I know i can compete better level and i need to make that happen.. 5 rackets testing not making it easy. But taking my time...no rush..
Yeah that is the truth.. i need to just get out there and continue to get my ass handed to me by all sorts of players.. there is no other way..
haqq777
Legend
Not sure honestly (TW has 3rd gen one point lower RA than 2nd gen and with QC who knows) but it could be a slight bit of both maybe? It was noticeable, but not a night and day difference for me where it felt like a completely different stick.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
nice stuff. You can get heavy spin with this one too. It will matter how you like to hit the ball. Thats what i like - this just accommodates your style of play.
for the match play issues - sounds like you tense up and dont move your feet. So then you are hitting off balance or just not very cleanly.
its easy to flow and move the feet when not under pressure. You just need to focus on doing it in matches more because if you get tight you wont do it. Thats why you will see pros always dancing around between points.
Vicious49
Legend
i can usually tell within 5 minutes if I like a frame or it’s not even worth continuing with. It takes me a bit longer to determine if I really like a frame and should buy it. I will probably get 1 more chance (Due to rain this week) to play with The GPro this week but I’m already convinced on that frame. Only thing left to do is to hit it side by side with my PSv13 to make sure I want it to replace that frame.
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
The guy I got the last round of demos from offered me a good price on a 16x19 strike, so I picked it up. Reading through the playtest thread has me thinking I might actually like the 18x20 more, but we'll see.
It seems like there aren't a lot of people who have tried both.
It seems like there aren't a lot of people who have tried both.
Vicious49
Legend
My problem isn’t that I tense up but mental errors. I make my best shots when I have the least amount Of time to think and it’s just reflex that takes over. When it’s a slow ball or one that bounces high and sits there, too many options go through my mind and I end up making an error because I tried to be cute and do something difficult rather than take the obvious choice,
After you told me about your USTA league, I looked it up and found some local leagues. I filled out the form to have someone contact me. Hope they get back to me soon.
And any sense on how big/small/just right the sweet spot is?
ryushen21
Legend
I can't comment on the EZone but the sweet spot on the 97HD was incredibly generous.
mscream
Professional
my game have been improving a lot over the last year but I don't know how to properly compete well. Thats what i need to focus on. I'll give you an example.. hitting with the coach this am. He goes " dude you are hitting the sht out of the ball and i am hitting with you not holding back.. lets play a set".. just so we are clear.. he is probably playing the level he needs to keep it just enough competitive for me. But after the set he goes.. holly sht we have a problem. I have never seen someone that can have so many weapons play so shtty in point play. Hehe.. yes it was depressing.. no strategy and extremely tense balls.. so i have to take my match play to a little better level. I know i can compete better level and i need to make that happen.. 5 rackets testing not making it easy. But taking my time...no rush..
From what I can tell the best match players are the ones who only play matches (regardless of level). So the best way to stay loose is to play as many matches as possible.
Vicious49
Legend
I actually find less pressure in tennis than other sports I’ve played. In tennis if you mess up you have no teammates that you are letting down. At least in singles anyways. I much prefer it that way. If you’re on a college team then it may feel a bit different and if you’re playing for money would be different as well.
ryushen21
Legend
That's why I'm trying to get in the habit of playing both doubles and singles. It gives you a better picture of all weaknesses. Plus, as a singles player, I'll only come to the net if I have to.
Vicious49
Legend
Net play is the weakest part of my game. I’ve never played much at the net so my recognition/reaction there is slow so I avoid it, which means I never improve. It’s a vicious cycle. I just need to get a ball machine and have it feed me so I can build my reaction time there.
WYK
Hall of Fame
The major difference I see in most modern players vs the old S&V players is instinct. There are only a few ways you can put a ball in to play, you need to cover those avenues. In cases where you can not cover them all, you have to guess, but not in such a way to telegraph it. And you really want to make an educated guess, whether by knowing the opponent's tendencies, the fact most folks will go to the more open court/lower part of the net, or the fact forcing them to choose the harder shot(down the line, lob, etc.) will improve your percentages of drawing an error, etc. All those awesome passing shots you see are on highlight reels for a reason - they are very difficult to pull off when a person knows how to approach the net. In other words, one of the main reasons volleying is difficult for the modern game isn't just the fact it is faster and the equipment more accurate, but the actual art and science of it is lost on many. When you see good volleyers like Federer make an insane volley, much of the time they made an educated guess before the opponent even hit the ball, they just didn't telegraph it. In some instances, Federer has made the choice for the opponent when he hit the approach shot.
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ryushen21
Legend
Back to our regularly scheduled holicing content...
The extreme tour that @gutfeeling generously let me demo is due to arrive today. I was doing a little more digging and this frame seems (at least on paper) to be a solid contender. Maybe not quite as powerful as the Babs and the Yonex but seems like it could be a wild card. Any reason in particular that it didn't get as much attention here?
Unfortunately, the weather has turned god-awful here so I'm going to have to look at booking an indoor court to get time to hit with it this week.
The extreme tour that @gutfeeling generously let me demo is due to arrive today. I was doing a little more digging and this frame seems (at least on paper) to be a solid contender. Maybe not quite as powerful as the Babs and the Yonex but seems like it could be a wild card. Any reason in particular that it didn't get as much attention here?
Unfortunately, the weather has turned god-awful here so I'm going to have to look at booking an indoor court to get time to hit with it this week.
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Power Player
Bionic Poster
indoor courts? I am jealous. Luckily they have them in CO. It makes no sense to not have indoor courts in FL - it rains here constantly outside of 3-4 months of amazing weather.
ryushen21
Legend
There aren't a lot of them around here and you have to pay through the nose to get one. But holics gotta holic right? I'll honestly be lucky to get one this week because of the weather here. I'm willing to bet that they all got booked this morning when the facilities opened at 8.
In other news, I've started projecting my wishes towards Japan. If I was able to will the 6.1 back into existence, maybe I can get Yonex to make an 18x20 EZone.
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
I got my 16m strike weighted up and strung, it looks like it's about 6g under-spec. Bab tolerances are smoking me lately!
Thinking about how much fun I had with the Strike 18x20 really has me me regretting selling off my matched PSTGTs last week too. I know they were probably too demanding/low powered to be more than occasional-use, but if I'm gonna be driving more they would have been fun to pull out at some point I'm sure. Honestly I wish I'd waited another week until they were brought up in here, I'm sure one of you guys would've had fun with 'em. Classic holic frame, I think they're actually one of the ones in Ross K' s OP. I've always kinda liked that they never got a TW review - it adds a layer of underdog mystique to the frame I never really got to experience playing mostly babolats.
Unfortunately I'm kind of trapped in tennis purgatory now. With the weather cooling off and there not being indoor courts around, most of my hitting partners are calling it a season. Thanksgiving I'll be going back to my hometown though, and a lot of my junior hitting partners will be around - if I can have all the frames I need to test good to go by then, it'll be the best trial I can give them.
Thinking about how much fun I had with the Strike 18x20 really has me me regretting selling off my matched PSTGTs last week too. I know they were probably too demanding/low powered to be more than occasional-use, but if I'm gonna be driving more they would have been fun to pull out at some point I'm sure. Honestly I wish I'd waited another week until they were brought up in here, I'm sure one of you guys would've had fun with 'em. Classic holic frame, I think they're actually one of the ones in Ross K' s OP. I've always kinda liked that they never got a TW review - it adds a layer of underdog mystique to the frame I never really got to experience playing mostly babolats.
Unfortunately I'm kind of trapped in tennis purgatory now. With the weather cooling off and there not being indoor courts around, most of my hitting partners are calling it a season. Thanksgiving I'll be going back to my hometown though, and a lot of my junior hitting partners will be around - if I can have all the frames I need to test good to go by then, it'll be the best trial I can give them.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Track down an older Vcore xi 98. It's 16x20 but a super tight pattern and feels similar to the new Ezone 100. I think the ezone 100 is better though because it does not need lead.
I suspect you will like it since you like the yonex feel already. It's an easy frame to play with, a lot like a babolat in that sense.
WHAT?? I didn’t see any PSTGT in the FS section
They aren’t low powered, but the best blend of power and control for daily use.
ryushen21
Legend
Damn you sir. I have seen quite a few 3/8 but no 1/2.
Faris
Professional
Oh I've hit with it a few times, luckily a couple of folk I know have it. That is how I knew I loved it, lol.. great playability and feel for me. Such an easy racquet really. I recently got cortex apd from @pyrokid as well as some older racquets from fleabay.. will stop on holicisizing and start saving now...
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
I just bumped the thread to mark them sold, I believe I listed them Sept 27. I sold them just a couple of weeks before you came in lamenting the fact there wasn't anything like them anymore, and I was like gaahh, shoot.WHAT?? I didn’t see any PSTGT in the FS section
They aren’t low powered, but the best blend of power and control for daily use.
I didn't mean to say they're low powered, just that they're too low-powered for me. I like cannons!
I saw the cure to holicism flash by with your post. Since getting advice twice on a replacement I’ve demoed almost everything, just missing the vcp 330 and 3rd gen pure strike (on their way from tw). Crossing my fingers or I’ll have to wait until the pure strike vs or might give the solinco racquets a shot when they release.
sweet spot in ezone 100 is pretty damn big. i am not exaggerating.. very very generous. i don't know I'll try to give some relative examples..
v7 16x19 or 18x20... fantastic rackets but relatively smaller sweet spot.. by no means big. v13 ps97.... small sweet spot. tt290 is very big sweet spot.. ezone 100 is comparable to that very generous... i'd say bigger than pure strike as well.
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
"Tour racquet" people seem to really like the strike tour, but I'm not sure it'll be a great replacement for the PSTGT feel-wise, unless it's flexier and less muted than the standard.
Thought I typed out tour, my bad. I honestly loved the project 17, but it was the first time I felt wrist pain playing tennis. And the reviews online often complained about joint issues scared me. In hindsight the pain was probably from overuse.
n8dawg6
Legend
HAHAHAHAHHAHA ... dont be a quitter!
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
The only time I've ever gotten wrist pain was after jumping back in to 8+h/week after this last 7 year hiatus, but I didn't change anything and it went away, so I assumed overuse/acclimation too.
ryushen21
Legend
There are people who like both. The 100 has more free pop which seems to be the attractive factor for a lot of players. The reviews on the 98 suggest that you have to put a little more effort into it.
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
I tried a hitting partner's Ezone 98 real quick, but I'm not sure if it was the tour or not. It was less powerful and slightly flexier, but the same general feel was there. Not sure if that's the Yonex house feel, or just the ezone feel, but they were clearly related. I'll have to ask him which it was though, I didn't see "tour" anywhere on the frame, but it felt heavy enough I didn't think it'd be a standard.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
yes i did a few times in here and an ezone 100 thread. Short version - i prefer the100.
Similar situation I came back to the sport after 3 years and had a 3 hr training session with the coach who taught me as a junior. I was still athletic just had changed sport preferences during those 3 years so the wrist pain led me straight to google and I gave up the racquet then. 20/20 hindsight doesn’t help now.
quick q - can't remember if it was @Power Player or someone else mentioned about Topspin Pro.... as my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks..... a little birdie told me (aka. the wife) that the kids are getting me one.
being an old schooler, so i tend to hit flatter than "a Nadal"... so this may be a cool training device to get me to be more Nadal-esq. (i think it'd also be a good training with the kids. saves me from feeding them balls... )
just seen a few videos online and am kinda looking forward to it... i have seen other coaches using that in the past, but just not in my group.
i "felt bad" telling the wife and kids that i"need" another racquet or two. maybe i will leave that for my Christmas gift. lol
anyway, has anyone else tried that and what is/was it like?
being an old schooler, so i tend to hit flatter than "a Nadal"... so this may be a cool training device to get me to be more Nadal-esq.
(i think it'd also be a good training with the kids. saves me from feeding them balls... )just seen a few videos online and am kinda looking forward to it... i have seen other coaches using that in the past, but just not in my group.
i "felt bad" telling the wife and kids that i"need" another racquet or two. maybe i will leave that for my Christmas gift. lol
anyway, has anyone else tried that and what is/was it like?
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
I'll let you know if I see any pop up, and I'm sure if any of the other guys in here let theirs go they'll run it by ya. Could always try out a standard Strike too, just reread the reviews and people said they played pretty similarly.
t_pac
Semi-Pro
quick q - can't remember if it was @Power Player or someone else mentioned about Topspin Pro.... as my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks..... a little birdie told me (aka. the wife) that the kids are getting me one.
being an old schooler, so i tend to hit flatter than "a Nadal"... so this may be a cool training device to get me to be more Nadal-esq.
just seen a few videos online and am kinda looking forward to it... i have seen other coaches using that in the past, but just not in my group.
i "felt bad" telling the wife and kids that i"need" another racquet or two. maybe i will leave that for my Christmas gift. lol
anyway, has anyone else tried that and what is/was it like?
I have one, but tbh only really use it with my kids. It definitely works for helping to understand/engrain the correct motion. I get bored using it pretty fast myself lol.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
I posted about it. It's really great for beginners and its nice practice if you want to groove a more vertical swing path. Like I am amazed at how my Gf caught on to hitting after using it. It takes a lot of reps, but they are the right reps.
For the FH - it will encourage a pretty aggressive wiper stroke, and for many players this is a good thing. Even if you don't swing that vertical on the FH, it will still benefit if you need to hit under the ball more in matches.
Big help on the backhand for me. I am still getting it dialed in, but it basically showed how much racquet drop I actually need there instead of just going by feel and instruction. It is very hard to teach yourself the right swing path even with coaching.
The benefit for experienced players is that if you don't have a weapon off both sides (most don't, some pros even don't) you can work on your weaker side and dial in a topspin swing path which will allow you to swing faster with confidence under pressure.
Basically I use it for a bit each day and before I go hit just to dial in the feel I want on the backhand.
For the FH - it will encourage a pretty aggressive wiper stroke, and for many players this is a good thing. Even if you don't swing that vertical on the FH, it will still benefit if you need to hit under the ball more in matches.
Big help on the backhand for me. I am still getting it dialed in, but it basically showed how much racquet drop I actually need there instead of just going by feel and instruction. It is very hard to teach yourself the right swing path even with coaching.
The benefit for experienced players is that if you don't have a weapon off both sides (most don't, some pros even don't) you can work on your weaker side and dial in a topspin swing path which will allow you to swing faster with confidence under pressure.
Basically I use it for a bit each day and before I go hit just to dial in the feel I want on the backhand.
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
Yep, it was him. I was interested in this too, glad you're bringing it up again to remind me. I wanna teach my girlfriend to play, but she's too prideful to get out and be a noob on the public courts.quick q - can't remember if it was @Power Player or someone else mentioned about Topspin Pro.... as my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks..... a little birdie told me (aka. the wife) that the kids are getting me one.
being an old schooler, so i tend to hit flatter than "a Nadal"... so this may be a cool training device to get me to be more Nadal-esq.
just seen a few videos online and am kinda looking forward to it... i have seen other coaches using that in the past, but just not in my group.
i "felt bad" telling the wife and kids that i"need" another racquet or two. maybe i will leave that for my Christmas gift. lol
anyway, has anyone else tried that and what is/was it like?
pyrokid
Hall of Fame
If you have elbow issues the strike might still aggravate you though, I think it's like 66ish RA? vs the 63 maybe? of the PSTGT. It is dampened though and to me it not only felt comfortable, but plush and awesome. I preferred the feel to the blade - I have a weird frame of reference though, coming from 70ishRA frames.
Also, this could just be the strings, but bouncing the ball on the 16x19 I got feels slightly more vague and less awesome than the 18x20 I demoed. Still better than my APDs and PAVS.
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Thanks for the advice, I can only speak to the p17 but I also preferred that feel to the v7 blade.
Not worried about the stiffness, the wrist pain back them seems to be from going too hard suddenly. I do have some issues with my serves causing me golfers elbow type pain but I’ve identified why and slowly fixing my service motion. I tend to overpronate through the elbow instead of through my shoulder. If I’m consciously avoiding pronating hard through the elbow I feel no pain, it’s just sometimes in a match I forget and go back to bad technique.
