staticshock10
New User
I've started playing a tennis again after a long while. Started off with Babolat Pure Drive Lite with RPM Blast @57lbs. From a previous post seems like that wasn't a good idea and now I can see why. I never had the means to really test out what type of racquets and strings I like. Realized it's time for new strings for the Babolat, long overdue at almost 3 years... I was getting tennis elbow from the setup and wasn't very confident in my strokes, which lead to more pain. I bought a Diadem Elevate 98 Lite and strung it with Genesis Champions Blend (Hexonic Power poly in the mains @51lbs and Xplosion multi in the crosses @50lbs). (Let me know if I should have strung them differently.)
I finally got a much better feel for the Diadem while playing yesterday and I'm still in shock how much better I felt hitting with it.
First question:
I'm still very much a novice/intermediate player. I read that higher tension is better in the control area and lower tension in the power area. But when hitting with the Babolat why do I have so many balls soaring out? I want to say that I was hitting the same strokes with the diadem, even at times harder, and the ball would still land in nicely.
Second question:
With the hybrid setup I was hitting some insane pocket shots in the corner, something that I've never really been able to do. Is this the work of the multi string?
Third question:
Back when I played high school tennis, my serves was the best thing about my game. I never got the chance to clock it, though I'm not talking about them being extremely fast, but well above for a high school player. They were more of a flat serve and I was extremely consistent with my first serves (but a weak second serve haha). My service is not consistent anymore and since using the Babolat have adapted to kick and slice serves. I love the service pop from the RPM Blast, but I don't get much of it from the Hybrid, is that due to the multi's softer feel? During play with the Diadem, I was finding it troublesome to get my kick serves to land in. Is there a reason why that is so? The hybrid setup is almost like forcing me to go back to the flat serves I use to do, which did perform a lot better during play. I want to say that I used to string my sturdy cheap wilson racquet with full wilson nxt or full babolat pro hurricane. If I was to flip the hybrid to multi on mains and poly on crosses (which I'm interested in testing), do I expect my kick/slice serves to be even more difficult?
Fourth question:
I still want to keep the Babolat as a doubles racquet. What setup should I try out to soften it? Also at what tension is best?
I was extremely surprised that after hitting with the Diadem, which is about 0.7 oz heavier than the Babolat, and having been 2 weeks since I last played, my arm did not hurt.
I finally got a much better feel for the Diadem while playing yesterday and I'm still in shock how much better I felt hitting with it.
First question:
I'm still very much a novice/intermediate player. I read that higher tension is better in the control area and lower tension in the power area. But when hitting with the Babolat why do I have so many balls soaring out? I want to say that I was hitting the same strokes with the diadem, even at times harder, and the ball would still land in nicely.
Second question:
With the hybrid setup I was hitting some insane pocket shots in the corner, something that I've never really been able to do. Is this the work of the multi string?
Third question:
Back when I played high school tennis, my serves was the best thing about my game. I never got the chance to clock it, though I'm not talking about them being extremely fast, but well above for a high school player. They were more of a flat serve and I was extremely consistent with my first serves (but a weak second serve haha). My service is not consistent anymore and since using the Babolat have adapted to kick and slice serves. I love the service pop from the RPM Blast, but I don't get much of it from the Hybrid, is that due to the multi's softer feel? During play with the Diadem, I was finding it troublesome to get my kick serves to land in. Is there a reason why that is so? The hybrid setup is almost like forcing me to go back to the flat serves I use to do, which did perform a lot better during play. I want to say that I used to string my sturdy cheap wilson racquet with full wilson nxt or full babolat pro hurricane. If I was to flip the hybrid to multi on mains and poly on crosses (which I'm interested in testing), do I expect my kick/slice serves to be even more difficult?
Fourth question:
I still want to keep the Babolat as a doubles racquet. What setup should I try out to soften it? Also at what tension is best?
I was extremely surprised that after hitting with the Diadem, which is about 0.7 oz heavier than the Babolat, and having been 2 weeks since I last played, my arm did not hurt.