Different balance points on PT 630s?

Mikael

Professional
Hello,


I just bought a couple used PT 630s and immediately decided to balance them on the edge of a table to see if they were identical. It turns out one of them has its balance point about 1,5cms (a little more than half an inch) lower than the other one. Other than that they look identical. I will weigh them when I go to the tennishop to see how big the weight difference is...

Is it normal though that they have about 1,5cms difference in the balance point, and is this going to bring a very noticable difference during play?

Thanks
 

Gaines Hillix

Hall of Fame
That's almost 5 pts difference. The one with the higher balance point is going to be that much more head heavy. That is enough for some players to feel the difference, especially at net. It would be easy to match their balance points though by using a little lead tape on the handle of the one that has the higher balance point now. You need to take into account which one is heavier though. If the one that is heavier also has the higher balance point then adding weight to the handle will just make the weight difference larger.
 

spinbalz

Hall of Fame
1/ : Take a look at what is written at the top of your handles, perhaps you have one "Made in Austria" and the other one "Designed in Austria", instead of 2 racquets manufactured at the same place ; it should explain some of the difference ("Designed in Austria" actually means that the racquet has been made in China, intead of Austria).

2/ Check the weights of your racquets, because if your head heaviest racquet is not also the lightest racquet, correcting the balance point by adding lead tape will not help very much the racquets to feel the same, because you would have then similar balance points but very different overall weights.

For exemple :
a/ if your Head heaviest racquet is also the lightest, then you just have to add weight inside the handle of that head heaviest racquet and you can almost match the Balance AND weight of your 2 racquets

b/ if your head heaviest racquet has the same weight as your other racquet, then adding lead tape can only match the balance points but the overall weight will be very different so your racquets will feel different.

c/ if your head heaviest racquet is is also the heaviest racquet, you have 2 solutions to match the balance poinst, one solution is adding weight in the handle of your heavier racquet, making the difference in weight even bigger between your 2 racquets, while you match the balance of your racquet, so the feel will be also different ; the other solution is to add weight upper the balance point of your lightest racquet, then you will approach the weight AND balance of the other racquet, but there is a strong risk that they won't feel the same anyway because if you try to add enough weight upper the balance point of your lightest racquet to match their balance points, chances are that you will have to add so much weight that it will have a too strong effect on the swingweight of the racquet that you modify so your racquets would still feel different.

Of course all what I said is conditionned by how much weight difference you have, between your 2 racquets

3/ Check if there is lead tape applied somewhere on your racquet (hidden under the CAP Bumper/grommets, or hidden between the handle and the grip), you may also put out the butt cap to see if there is some silicone injected in the handl of one of the racquets.

Personnaly I had many PT 630' with CAP, and the heaviest weighted 359 grams strung, and the lightest weighted 331 grams strung (with the same strings of course), weird QC from Head IMHO for those 2 racquets, but I have to admit that usually the strung weight of every others of my PT 630's were between 347 and 350 grams, so it is not so bad from head.
 

Mikael

Professional
They're both Made in Austria... It looks like I'll definitely use lead to correct this little problem. (or maybe a coin or two will do...).
 

tschevap

Rookie
Designed in Austria does not mean Made in China! All Head frames of the Prestige and 280-series have been and still are made in Austria, but finished in the Czech Republic!

I own 5 new Prestige Classic - all of them are "Designed in Austria" - all of them weigh exactly 330g unstrung and differ in balance only by 0,2mm!!!! These are the closest frames i ever had!

So even if they were made in China, i have to say: Great job!!!
 

spinbalz

Hall of Fame
tschevap wrote :
All Head frames of the Prestige and 280-series have been and still are made in Austria

WRONG, I still have one PT 630 "designed in austria", and "Made in china" is written on a small sticker applied on its butt cap .

But Ok, "designed in Austria" doesn't 100 % mean "made in china", but it means that the racquet can have been made in china or can also have been made in Austria but finished in Czech republic, depending of the racquet in your hand. But in each case a "designed in Austria" is not a 100% made in austria racquet, only "made in Austria" printed racquets are 100% manufactured in Austria.

By the way, my 331 grams strung Pro Tour 630 was a "made in Austria" one, and the one at 359 grams strung was "designed in Austria" with the sticker made in china on the butt cap.
 
I see someone is running off with the PT 630 tourch, :roll:

Do they have identical grip size with identical type grips?
 
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