Heavier is the way

Rally said:
How do you swing your racquet on the forehand? My technique, which could just be a coping technique to manage higher weights, is to 1) load on my back foot and coil during the takeback, 2) uncoil from hips to chest and with a slight pulling motion from the buttcap I let the angular momentum launch the racquet outward until the point of contact at which point 3) the racquet has so much momentum that I just loosen my body and let the racquet's momentum carry my arm through the followthrough. I've been swinging this way for about 8 years now, and it started ever since I picked up my Pro Staff 90. If it makes a difference, I have an extreme eastern forehand (bevel 3 right on the edge of bevel 4).
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I have an eastern forehand and a what sounds like a similar swing to yours. load/coil and then uncoil starting with the hips, keeping a loose grip, loose wrist, and a relatively relaxed arm at and after contact. i have a fairly horizontal swing path and tend to have a flatter windshield wiper motion after contact when hitting if that makes sense.
 
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tele said:
I have an eastern forehand and a what sounds like a similar swing to yours. load/coil and then uncoil starting with the hips, keeping a loose grip, loose wrist, and a relatively relaxed arm at and after contact. i have a fairly horizontal swing path and tend to have a flatter windshield wiper motion after contact when hitting if that makes sense.
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Interesting. We seem to have the same swing but I struggle with accelerating the lighter racquets. Maybe I need to hit the gym a little more.
 
Rally said:
Interesting. We seem to have the same swing but I struggle with accelerating the lighter racquets. Maybe I need to hit the gym a little more.
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If you are swinging a ps 90 for a full match, I somehow doubt the gym is the issue. If the 315s you are trying already has a usable swingweight, I recommend trying 10-15 grams in the throat. If you are just experimenting, blue tack works pretty well. I currently have some temporarily installed small washers embedded in blue tack in the throat of a lighter, thicker racquet I am tweaking. of course, you might hate it, but I think there is a chance it could get you closer to a "natural" feeling swing. If that is too close to heavy with the extra weight, I would suggest trying a similar customization on the 305s.
 
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tele said:
If you are swinging a ps 90 for a full match, I somehow doubt the gym is the issue. If the 315s you are trying already has a usable swingweight, I recommend trying 10-15 grams in the throat. If you are just experimenting, blue tack works pretty well. I currently have some temporarily installed small washers embedded in blue tack in the throat of a lighter, thicker racquet I am tweaking. of course, you might hate it, but I think there is a chance it could get you closer to a "natural" feeling swing. If that is too close to heavy with the extra weight, I would suggest trying a similar customization on the 305s.
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Fair enough. I think the big issue I have is that it feels fluttery when I pull it unlike my Pro Staffs which don't wobble at all when I swing, and that little bit of flutter feels like it costs me RHS. Since my Pro Staffs are at least 12.8 ounces after strings and overgrip (closer to 13 for the 85/90 after lead), I have some wiggle room on customization. After my playtest is over I'll probably try a leather grip for more mass in the handle and some lead in the upper hoop to bring the SW closer to my spec of 330-335. If those two things don't make it lose the flutter, I'll try some blu tack in the throat. At that point it should be pretty close to a healthy 12.3-12.5 ounces which is already a weight diet as far as my own racquets are concerned.
 
Rally said:
Fair enough. I think the big issue I have is that it feels fluttery when I pull it unlike my Pro Staffs which don't wobble at all when I swing, and that little bit of flutter feels like it costs me RHS. Since my Pro Staffs are at least 12.8 ounces after strings and overgrip (closer to 13 for the 85/90 after lead), I have some wiggle room on customization. After my playtest is over I'll probably try a leather grip for more mass in the handle and some lead in the upper hoop to bring the SW closer to my spec of 330-335. If those two things don't make it lose the flutter, I'll try some blu tack in the throat. At that point it should be pretty close to a healthy 12.3-12.5 ounces which is already a weight diet as far as my own racquets are concerned.
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this is my subjective experience and might just be placebo, but to use a metaphor, weight at the throat makes the racquet feel like a door that has become heavier but the hinge has been greased. Hope you fInd a combo that feels good.
 
tele said:
this is my subjective experience and might just be placebo, but to use a metaphor, weight at the throat makes the racquet feel like a door that has become heavier but the hinge has been greased. Hope you fInd a combo that feels good.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that metaphor sounds exactly like what I'm missing.
 
Rally said:
Interesting. We seem to have the same swing but I struggle with accelerating the lighter racquets. Maybe I need to hit the gym a little more.
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I'd say don't assume that you can just alter your swing speeds to compensate for the drop in power that you find with a significantly lighter racquet. I've talked with teaching pros, coaches, and several older players about this over the last 12-15 years and apparently it's not especially rare for folks to run into injuries after switching to significantly lighter racquets. They can trick us into swinging harder more often when we try to compensate for swinging a racquet with less perceived punch on the ball.

I very nearly shredded my shoulder a few years ago when I made my most recent attempt to switch to a middle-weight rig from the 12.5-12.7 oz. racquets I'd had in the bag for a long time. I caught enough of a nasty tweak to let me know that I was pushing my luck, but fortunately I was only sidelined for about a month.

If your current swing habits fit your current racquets, don't mess with your recipe too much. But if you recognize that the heft of your gear has become a real liability for you, there might be enough help from an alternative that's only a few tenths of an ounce lighter than your current frame.

And if you're hitting the gym maybe twice a week for maintenance, no objection here. That should only give you better strength and endurance over the long run.
 
Rally said:
How do you swing your racquet on the forehand? My technique, which could just be a coping technique to manage higher weights, is to 1) load on my back foot and coil during the takeback, 2) uncoil from hips to chest and with a slight pulling motion from the buttcap I let the angular momentum launch the racquet outward until the point of contact at which point 3) the racquet has so much momentum that I just loosen my body and let the racquet's momentum carry my arm through the followthrough. I've been swinging this way for about 8 years now, and it started ever since I picked up my Pro Staff 90. If it makes a difference, I have an extreme eastern forehand (bevel 3 right on the edge of bevel 4).
Click to expand...
Do you mind sharing some footage?
 
I've played heavy and I've played lighter. Happiest for me was right in the middle. And actually, something where the static weight matches the swing weight seems to have some crazy magic. Right now, all of my frames are between 330-335g, with swing weights that nearly match. I can handle just about any shot that comes at me without fear of being outhit or pushed around.
 
EggSalad said:
Because I grew up playing in the 80s / 90s. Duh.

I do think we’ll see more HL options as the all court type of style becomes more prevalent.
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You'll see balance points creep down as racquets in the retail market keep their swing weights but become more polarized to suit current trends. They won't necessarily feel like old headlight racquets, though.
 
travlerajm said:
As always, this thread is useless without pic/clips/memes. Here is a clip of me hitting forehands with 404sw. I think I need to go even heavier.

Neo-fh with cx200 tour and more extension
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For entertainment impact, I think you should create a SW 1,000 racket and film a match playing with it, that would be pretty interesting to a lot of people.
 
Rally said:
How do you swing your racquet on the forehand? My technique, which could just be a coping technique to manage higher weights, is to 1) load on my back foot and coil during the takeback, 2) uncoil from hips to chest and with a slight pulling motion from the buttcap I let the angular momentum launch the racquet outward until the point of contact at which point 3) the racquet has so much momentum that I just loosen my body and let the racquet's momentum carry my arm through the followthrough. I've been swinging this way for about 8 years now, and it started ever since I picked up my Pro Staff 90. If it makes a difference, I have an extreme eastern forehand (bevel 3 right on the edge of bevel 4).
Click to expand...
I've been swinging this way for about 18 years now, and started ever since I picked up a reel of lead tape.
 
travlerajm said:
As always, this thread is useless without pic/clips/memes. Here is a clip of me hitting forehands with 404sw. I think I need to go even heavier.

Neo-fh with cx200 tour and more extension
Click to expand...
Think you should try this instead.

4207599-21.jpg
 
Rally said:
How do you swing your racquet on the forehand? My technique, which could just be a coping technique to manage higher weights, is to 1) load on my back foot and coil during the takeback, 2) uncoil from hips to chest and with a slight pulling motion from the buttcap I let the angular momentum launch the racquet outward until the point of contact at which point 3) the racquet has so much momentum that I just loosen my body and let the racquet's momentum carry my arm through the followthrough. I've been swinging this way for about 8 years now, and it started ever since I picked up my Pro Staff 90. If it makes a difference, I have an extreme eastern forehand (bevel 3 right on the edge of bevel 4).
Click to expand...


Extreme E FH? Then yeah, don't use a modern tweener lol
 
Heavier has definitely helped me a lot especially playing against big hitters. I just can't seem to find the stability I like from lighter rackets. I am a tall, long arms, 1hbh, all court player.

I've sort of found my sweet spot to be 320g unstrung but more on headlight side. Used multiple frames at this weight and it just seems to be "my number" where my strokes feel best and racket is stable enough.

Current frame is 2023 Prestige Tour, 348g fully built (damp, Og, 5g silicone in handle), 6pts HL, 341SW. Head Lynx Tour grey 1.25 @ 48lbs.
 
jimmy8 said:
I prefer maneuverability so I can get the racket around on balls coming very fast at me, and so i can move the racket fast enough at net. The technology in my racket gives me enough stability. Technology is the way.
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But what if Heavy = Technology in itself?
 
Heavy and thin, for the win.

It does the heavy lifting for you, while feeling super nimble to edit your swing path in a split second.
I’ve tried to use the same set up with a chunky Aero clone and it just flat out doesn’t work for me.
 
beltsman said:
I hypothesize that heavuer/higher SW racquets are generally better. Slower swing speed, same power.

Benefits:
  • Slower swing = more consistency. Less variation in swing speed.
  • Easier to hit sweet spot
  • Forces you to use proper form
  • Absorbs pace and handles heavy balls
  • Protects arm from vibration
I am going to start adding lead tape. Lots of it. Bye bye light tweenerse.
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Heavier is better. Yes.

The heaviest you can manage for >2h without problem and being tired is the correct choice.
 
aaron_h27 said:
Heavy works better for thinner beam/smaller head sizes. Trying to weight up an ezone 100 into the 12oz+ territory just defeats the purpose IMO.
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This is well said. Thicker beam rackets are made so they play more stable at lighter weights and larger headsizes. Thinner beam and smaller need weight for stability most of the time
 
Fritz uses a relatively light stick. Djokovic uses a relatively heavy stick. Both are inside the top ten and hit the absolute crap out of the ball. Goes to show, more than one way to…well, you know.

FWIW, the trend on the pro tour seems increasingly lighter with the up and coming players (still with some exceptions of course).
 
esm said:
That is a work of art.
Can I ask what is/anything “interesting” under that blue handle/etched into the pallets??
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Butt flare built out with a wrap of overgrip. Then leather over that and the syhthetic base grip. Then the tourna. And yeah lots of good stuff inside too.
 
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