Having problems with getting the ball over the net

tdk

tdk

Rookie
I just bought a new racket last weekend. A Wilson Blade 16/19. The demo racket played nicely but with the new racket with original strings most shots are short and many end up in the net. Some times the shots are at its best solid but nothing compared to what Im used to. Since I have had problems with my shoulder (surgery last fall) I swapped to loose strings 5y ago but before that I was playing with tight strings. Now Im back. Should I go back to looser strings on this new racket or try to adjust myself? Im an intermediate 50y old player and hit relatively flat and hard from the base line. I used to have a killer flat 1st serve. Previous strings were fearly thin red of the brand Kirschbaum I think.

Thank in advance for any advice.
 
Swing weight of Blade

tdk said:
I just bought a new racket last weekend. A Wilson Blade 16/19. The demo racket played nicely but with the new racket with original strings most shots are short and many end up in the net. Some times the shots are at its best solid but nothing compared to what Im used to. Since I have had problems with my shoulder (surgery last fall) I swapped to loose strings 5y ago but before that I was playing with tight strings. Now Im back. Should I go back to looser strings on this new racket or try to adjust myself? Im an intermediate 50y old player and hit relatively flat and hard from the base line. I used to have a killer flat 1st serve. Previous strings were fearly thin red of the brand Kirschbaum I think.

Thank in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...
Do you know that the swingweight of Blade is 331?
 
It sounds like a technique/timing issue. If you have arm/shoulder problems, you should still be able to get the ball over the net if you are hitting the right stroke, with just about any racquet. It could be that you are trying to replicate an old stroke or habit, but your timing is off with the new racquet and you are mishitting a lot of balls. It could also be that you are over topping and not hitting through the ball enough. I highly doubt that there is a racquet with which a solid swing doesn't produce a full length ball.
 
Not exactly

Sparky said:
^+1 P.Dominant Above
Click to expand...

OP has a problem separating potential equipment problems and
a potential skill problem.
It up to OP to figure out whether a racket with a one point head light
and the swingweight of 331 is the best way to get back to tennis.
I rest the case.
Ps I do not have anything against the Blade
I know this particular Blade very well.
 
Last edited:
tdk said:
I just bought a new racket last weekend. A Wilson Blade 16/19. The demo racket played nicely but with the new racket with original strings most shots are short and many end up in the net. Some times the shots are at its best solid but nothing compared to what Im used to. Since I have had problems with my shoulder (surgery last fall) I swapped to loose strings 5y ago but before that I was playing with tight strings. Now Im back. Should I go back to looser strings on this new racket or try to adjust myself? Im an intermediate 50y old player and hit relatively flat and hard from the base line. I used to have a killer flat 1st serve. Previous strings were fearly thin red of the brand Kirschbaum I think.

Thank in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...

String and tension can make a huge difference in the way a racket plays, so use your regular string set up & tension
 
The tighter the strings, the lower the trajectory will be off the racket face. I'd say go back to a lower tension and practice a low to high swing path with fast rhs to get spin and pull the ball back down into the court. It should give you more margin for error.
 
You may be picking your head up too early. If you look up too soon to see where your shot is going, you'll only see it go into the net. Sorry if this is too rudementary advice for you, but I thought it was worth mentioning as it's such a common problem.
 
Not Exactly Either

julian said:
OP has a problem separating potential equipment problems and
a potential skill problem.
It up to OP to figure out whether a racket with a one point head light
and the swingweight of 331 is the best way to get back to tennis.
I rest the case.
Ps I do not have anything against the Blade
I know this particular Blade very well.
Click to expand...

As I said, I would make a minor stroke adjustment instead of an equipment change was my point in agreeing with PhrygianDominant. When I'm hitting into the net, I make the necessary adjustment in my stroke. When my daughter is hitting into the net, we tell her to make the adjustments.

Personally, I don't think racquets matter all that much. I may like the way one model looks/feels/plays vs another. In the end, it doesn't really matter. It's the player holding the racquet that matters.

You want to call me out again? Fine! Mr Know-It-All Julian Babloat Team Representative in your signature big man. How does Babolat like you behaving in this manner on a public forum using their name??? WTF???? Are you really employed by Babolat or just a Babolat Poser???? Uh huh. Ok.

I think you are wrong too. Touché Mr Not-Exactly-man

Since neither of us has seen the OP hit, how can you be so sure? You think swing weight will matter if he's 6'4" and 250lbs?? If you've got something to opine, post it without quoting me. I see your idiotic rambling in the Zepp thread. Ever noticed you two killed the thread????

We are just giving general opines on what can help the OP. Next time just reply to the OP or to PhrygianDominant.

On my ignore list....
 
Thanks for all your responses. I'm 6foot2 and 97kg. Cant remember my old string tension but I'll check it out when I get home. Its written on the racket. During my bad shoulder years I played with my sons Babolat Pure Drive Light (Z-Light?), basically a very light top heavy racket. Just before surgery last fall I tried my old Wilson Tour and it felt very nice. That's the reason I started checking out Wilson. Here are my strokes from last year:

http://youtu.be/YH_0_ua1-VA
 
tdk said:
I just bought a new racket last weekend. A Wilson Blade 16/19. The demo racket played nicely but with the new racket with original strings most shots are short and many end up in the net. Some times the shots are at its best solid but nothing compared to what Im used to. Since I have had problems with my shoulder (surgery last fall) I swapped to loose strings 5y ago but before that I was playing with tight strings. Now Im back. Should I go back to looser strings on this new racket or try to adjust myself? Im an intermediate 50y old player and hit relatively flat and hard from the base line. I used to have a killer flat 1st serve. Previous strings were fearly thin red of the brand Kirschbaum I think.

Thank in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...

aim higher. you're obviously hitting the ball flatter than it needs to be. Change your swing path to be more low to high, so you can have a higher margin for error.
 
Wilson is notorious for quality control issues and their tolerances are +/- 0.3 ounces so you could theoretically get two frames with the same string setups that vary by 0.6 ounces. Your demo model may have been substantially heavier than the frame that you purchased. You might want to use a kitchen scale to see if there's a big variance between the frame that you purchased and TW's specs. If you frame is a lot lighter, then perhaps adding lead tape could help give you the power that you saw in the demo frame.

I bought a players frame many years ago and the SW was around 310 and the frame overall was fairly light. I had trouble getting the ball over the net, generating pace and depth. It was a platform frame but I didn't really know what a platform frame was back then. I added weight to the handle and lead tape to the hoop to bring it up to something reasonable and the frame was fine.
 
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Movdga, what is a platform frame?

BTW, the strings on my old Babolat were Kirschbaum 1,15 strung at 23/23.
 
A platform frame is light and has a low swingweight to make it easy to add weight to get to your desired specs.
 
movdqa - thanks for the explanation. So a players racket is one that should be customized. Sorry if I ask stupid questions but what is SW? The Blades SW is pretty high compared to others, 331, but overall weight low. Is the SW high because its only 1 point head light?
 
tdk said:
movdqa - thanks for the explanation. So a players racket is one that should be customized. Sorry if I ask stupid questions but what is SW? The Blades SW is pretty high compared to others, 331, but overall weight low. Is the SW high because its only 1 point head light?
Click to expand...

I'm not going to comment on the racquet...

Tight strings too can make putting any spin difficult so I'll say replace your stings soon.

Yeah a combination of high SW on a low headlight stick too can slow down racquet head speed.

For a lot of recreational players who don't hit with very fast head speeds or with a lot of power can actually benefit more from these strings but string them low Forten Kevlar Thin Blend String $5.75 around 46 main 50 cross.

I used Forten Kevlar for a few years and I'm going to try them out again.
 
I swapped the original strings on the Blade for Kirschbaum 1,15 at tention 23/22, same setup that I have been using for some time now on my previous rackets. The original strings were rated at close to 27 so no wonder I had a hard time hitting the ball over the net. Now the racket really fired up. My ground strokes reached far into the opponents court and I was hitting a lot more spin than before. The ball contact was smooth and soft. Great racket/string combo.
 
Swing harder, you swing like a 9 year old girl.
Two girls at our courts, one 12, the other 15, hit men's 4.5 level groundstrokes with that racket strung at 62 lbs for the older, 60 for the younger.
If you swing hard enough, you cannot possibly hit short, once it clears the net.
 
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