Help me with this racket please?

[Pinkskunk]

Hi

i am around 3.0 or 3.5 player. i have been playing with the babolat AeroPro cortex for the last 3 years. i am getting older now, 42, and i feel that i dont strike the balls with that much power anymore as my forehand does not go deep enough. I am liking the specs of this racket Head MicroGEL Extreme Team. it is headlight, 107 Square in and it is light.

Is anyone hitting with this racket? what can you tell me about it?

i was hopig this racket will give me more power, less tired from heavy racket of the Babolat AeroPro drive.

what do you think?

 

[pyrokid]

if you just want a cannon, try the pure drive. You could probably trade your APDC for it.
but, if you have a shorter stroke, then you shouldn't go fir it, because it probably won't get you all that much more power than your current stick.

 

[LeeD]

If you want to hit deeper, then hit higher over the net, until it goes out long.
Now if your racket gets pushed around by fast spinny incoming balls, that's another story. You can hit out first, before the opponent hits his best shot.

 

[ManuGinobili]

The Extreme Team will put you at a high risk of arm injury because it's really light. The AeroPro is already a light racket in itself. It's your perception that think the AeroPro is heavy.

What I recommend is taking a few lessons at a local club, tell the pro the goal is to incorporate your body's power into your stroke. This will help you hit with less effort yet more power, and you will go all day!

 

[athiker]

I play with the Babolat APDC. I tried the Head MicroGEL Extreme but not the Extreme Team (100 vs 107 head size in addition to some other spec differences). It was middle of the road for me and a little hard to control according to notes I took at the time. It also had a "twang" to it. Really a different racket I guess looking at the specs though.

Did you know Babolat makes the Pure Drive in a 107 head size? Its a good deal stiffer racket than the MicroGEL Team per specs but slightly more flexible than the AeroPro. It's the same weight as the MicroGEL Team at 10.3 vs 11.3 for the APDC. I demoed it and liked everything about it except I had a tendency to fly long with it. It might be worth a try if you like the feel of your Babolat but are looking for more power. I really liked serving with it.

 

[Pinkskunk]

thank you folks. i somehow hit loopy, means my balls are usually high and land short, heavy topspin. i dont hit flat as my balls will ALWAY go long. the ONLY way i can keep the balls in play is to hit topspin and i have always been. i used to hit pretty deep but as i get older my balls land shorter. i can manage the weight of the babolat aeropro drive cortext but i need more power ~ bigger headsize?

 

[JRstriker12]

Have you tried to drop the tension on the APD??? A little more pop may give you a little more depth.

LeeD's advice isn't bad either. If you have a loopy shot that lands short, you could just try to aim higher and deeper. High deep loopy balls can be a very effective shot.

Also, you might want to think about practicing a shot with a little more drive. Driving the ball doesn't mean hitting 100% flat - it can still have a lot of top spin - somthing like 55% spin / 45% drive.

 

[tennismit]

Hi

i am around 3.0 or 3.5 player. i have been playing with the babolat AeroPro cortex for the last 3 years. i am getting older now, 42, and i feel that i dont strike the balls with that much power anymore as my forehand does not go deep enough. I am liking the specs of this racket Head MicroGEL Extreme Team. it is headlight, 107 Square in and it is light.

Is anyone hitting with this racket? what can you tell me about it?

i was hopig this racket will give me more power, less tired from heavy racket of the Babolat AeroPro drive.

what do you think?

Not sure whether you need help still but I will post this any way....since I am the exact age and skill level as you are and 'Head Microgel extreme team' is my stick.

I am extremely happy with it.

Let me also mention I have significant level of Tennis elbow and arm problems(from years of competitive cricket) and no racket has been more comfortable than this one. I string it with Prince Premier LT at the lower 25% of the tension band.I am an all court player with bias on baseline but I do volley pretty frequently.

This has literally gotten rid of all problems and I can play freely with no problems.

In comparison to APD with this stick you will loose about .8 to .9 oz weight /20-30 pts swingweight - result - in comparison to APD - you will have to hit harder to get the same length or hit/return a ball of same power. But that lighter weight and about 10 more points of flex will net a much lesser stress on your arm.

The flex will compromise some of your directional precision though as a downside.

I tried almost all the rackets that are touted as arm friendly and settled on this one ....my consistency suffers because of higher flex and lower tension ...but that is a small price to pay to be able to keep playing.

Hope this helps.

 

[Steve Huff]

I've used the Extreme Team also, and it is a nice stick. It has a soft feel, so its' easy on the arm. You can vary the power level easily just by adjusting the string tension. Shoot me an email. stmt@comcast.net

 

[el sergento]

I don't know, but it seems like you're getting too much spin on your shots and that's what's making them land short. Despite everything we hear on tv about topspin, spin can actually be counterproductive if not executed properly because a short spinny ball just sits up and begs to be smacked.

That tells me that maybe you're swinging too fast up on the ball instead of through the ball.

This might sound crazy, but you should actually try a heavier racquet. This will slow down your swing and help you penetrate the ball instead of brushing it.

Also, the heavier racquet will fatigue you less because you won't have to hit so hard to impart energy on the ball, the mass of the racquet will do it for you.

 

[Overheadsmash]

I play the extreme pro version of that racquet and when I was trying them out I hit the team, pro, and regular extreme. All three were very solid and stable on impact and the microgel technology is really nice. You won't be disappointed.

I have it strung with head fibergel spin string at 62 pounds and it is great.

 

[tennismit]

Hi

i am around 3.0 or 3.5 player. i have been playing with the babolat AeroPro cortex for the last 3 years. i am getting older now, 42, and i feel that i dont strike the balls with that much power anymore as my forehand does not go deep enough. I am liking the specs of this racket Head MicroGEL Extreme Team. it is headlight, 107 Square in and it is light.

Is anyone hitting with this racket? what can you tell me about it?

i was hopig this racket will give me more power, less tired from heavy racket of the Babolat AeroPro drive.

what do you think?

one thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that you do not mention anything about tension or strings you use.

before changing sticks( which in my mind is a much bigger change) i would first string your current stick @ lower tension if you still have room....and see the results

then I would change to a slightly powerful string if you have not done that yet...

Changing stick would be the last option.