bkfinch
Semi-Pro
Hi Folks
I don't usually post too often, and this is for sure my first thread since joining here.
I play with the Head PT630, now for 3 years and I can't imagine anything better. However I want to reduce the grip size- the way I have it set up now, I have/had some lead in the handles to compensate for weight at the top of the racket, but my issue with it was that I could feel the lead making the handle a bit bigger. So I decided to find a way to put the weight into the butt cap...
One of the rackets, my favorite one, was sold with the description that it was a pro stock racket. I didn't really take notice since it played exactly the same and had the same specs as any usual PT630 (once I took out the lead tape it came with on the frame and replaced the CAP with a Radical grommet).
However once I took off the butt cap yesterday, what did I find... SILICONE in the handle. I couldn't believe it. It didn't/doesn't affect the feel of the racket since the racket feels exactly the same as two others which do not have silicone in the handle. This is what impressed me so much about the PT630, that three different models purchased at different times and places could feel the same and have pretty much the same specs.
On the right side of the hairpin there was not a lot of silicone, but on the left side as I was digging I could feel that the silicone ran rather deep. I realize that this is done with pro stock rackets but I was shocked because I would have expected the silicone to have had more of an impact on the racket's performance and specs in relation to the other two 'retail' PT630s I have. Then, more surprisingly as I was digging into the silicone, I discovered some fat metal weights (same left side) which obstructed my digging. So, I wonder perhaps if the racket came out 'lighter' than spec that Head put all this stuff into the handle. I gave up taking out the silicone from the left side though I removed the silicone on the right side and managed to fit a lead weight inside equal to the amount of lead which was before on the lower part of the handle. Then I noticed I had to compensate for another approx 3g of silicone which I had dug out. I put the butt cap back- the racket weighed the same but surprisingly the balance point moved up by about 4mm. This is a difference I can feel. So I tried to polarize the placement a bit better and I did succeed in lowering the balance point, but it is still a bit higher than where it was.
Which leads me to ask, is silicone denser than lead?? Should I try to 'cover up' the way I pseudo-massacred the silicone by putting more silicone back into the handle? Is putting silicone in the handle rather than blu tac/tungsten putty/lead a more effective way to add weight to the bottom of the racket without putting lead in the handle/making the handle bigger ? And I guess finally, by digging around in the silicone, did I screw up the frame? Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome and appreciated.
I don't usually post too often, and this is for sure my first thread since joining here.
I play with the Head PT630, now for 3 years and I can't imagine anything better. However I want to reduce the grip size- the way I have it set up now, I have/had some lead in the handles to compensate for weight at the top of the racket, but my issue with it was that I could feel the lead making the handle a bit bigger. So I decided to find a way to put the weight into the butt cap...
One of the rackets, my favorite one, was sold with the description that it was a pro stock racket. I didn't really take notice since it played exactly the same and had the same specs as any usual PT630 (once I took out the lead tape it came with on the frame and replaced the CAP with a Radical grommet).
However once I took off the butt cap yesterday, what did I find... SILICONE in the handle. I couldn't believe it. It didn't/doesn't affect the feel of the racket since the racket feels exactly the same as two others which do not have silicone in the handle. This is what impressed me so much about the PT630, that three different models purchased at different times and places could feel the same and have pretty much the same specs.
On the right side of the hairpin there was not a lot of silicone, but on the left side as I was digging I could feel that the silicone ran rather deep. I realize that this is done with pro stock rackets but I was shocked because I would have expected the silicone to have had more of an impact on the racket's performance and specs in relation to the other two 'retail' PT630s I have. Then, more surprisingly as I was digging into the silicone, I discovered some fat metal weights (same left side) which obstructed my digging. So, I wonder perhaps if the racket came out 'lighter' than spec that Head put all this stuff into the handle. I gave up taking out the silicone from the left side though I removed the silicone on the right side and managed to fit a lead weight inside equal to the amount of lead which was before on the lower part of the handle. Then I noticed I had to compensate for another approx 3g of silicone which I had dug out. I put the butt cap back- the racket weighed the same but surprisingly the balance point moved up by about 4mm. This is a difference I can feel. So I tried to polarize the placement a bit better and I did succeed in lowering the balance point, but it is still a bit higher than where it was.
Which leads me to ask, is silicone denser than lead?? Should I try to 'cover up' the way I pseudo-massacred the silicone by putting more silicone back into the handle? Is putting silicone in the handle rather than blu tac/tungsten putty/lead a more effective way to add weight to the bottom of the racket without putting lead in the handle/making the handle bigger ? And I guess finally, by digging around in the silicone, did I screw up the frame? Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome and appreciated.
