Homemade racquet balance board

HellsBells

Rookie
Was going to buy one but it seemed a lot cheaper to make one myself!

The key thing for me was to get parts allowed the bar that the racquet rested to be able to rotate, so that the racquet could easily be moved up and down the scale to find the balance point (as opposed to moving the racquet by hand)

In short, I settled for:-

- 1 x 0.9mm wooden dowell
- 2 x M12 nuts
- any board of your choice (depending on your preference for weight, material quality, thickness etc)

All of these were easy to find. I also realised that Ikea had those free paper measuring tapes which would be perfect, so I picked up one of those along with a plank of wood that they sold as a shelf part.

I decided to make a mock up first using cardboard and double sided tape (rather than glue) to make sure everything worked as it should, and it did! All of it took less than 5 minutes to measure, mark out and assemble.

All for the princely sum of less than $5!

In fact, Ikea was a pretty good source of random materials that could be used as the board. They had some really nice high quality wood chef chopping boards which would have worked (though a bit heavy), also some plastic perspex flat pieces which would have worked, and a multitude of different small machined steel drawer knobs that could be attached to the end of the dowell. Might do a Mk2 deluxe version!

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Itt0nHu.jpg


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HellsBells

Rookie
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323mm / 6 points HL

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I used ChicagoJack's handy conversion table from one of the threads below to convert into points HL:

34.30cm = 0 Even Balance
33.98cm = 1 Points Head Light
33.66cm = 2 Points Head Light
33.35cm = 3 Points Head Light
33.03cm = 4 Points Head Light
32.71cm = 5 Points Head Light
32.39cm = 6 Points Head Light
32.08cm = 7 Points Head Light
31.76cm = 8 Points Head Light
31.44cm = 9 Points Head Light
31.12cm = 10 Points Head Light
30.81cm = 11 Points Head Light
30.49cm = 12 Points Head Light
 

HellsBells

Rookie
Commercial versions ($33)

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If I ever get round to it, I'm going to try and find a nice of piece of hardwood to use as the board base, dye varnish the dowell and finish it off with a nice knob from somewhere!
 

HellsBells

Rookie
Some self-adhesive transparent measuring tape for a possible Mk2 deluxe version. Would look nice on wood. No idea where to buy it from though!

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Capulin Zurdo

Hall of Fame
Effective and simple tinkering, I'm going to try this out sometime. Good suggestions on what to use as well in your tutorial.
 

HellsBells

Rookie
Completed mock up using a cardboard base - which actually works fine, though probably not that durable in the long run! Will replace the base with a suitable piece of wood at some point.

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I wrapped some athletic tape around each end of the dowell. A small piece to stop the dowell slipping through the nut and a larger piece to use as a 'handle' to rotate the dowell (and allow the racquet to be moved up and down the measuring tape to find the balance point).

Make sure that when you're positioning the tape measure, it is positioned absolutely mm accurate from the *center* of the nuts / dowell otherwise the balance measurements will not be 100% accurate. It helps if you first use a ruler to draw a *thin* line from one edge of the board to the other making sure that it is straight. This will help you position the nuts / dowell accurately when gluing down, and then the tape measure across from it.

Total price - $2 (the cardboard was free from Ikea!)

Measurements:

- Dowell length - 30cm
- Board - 43cm x 24cm
- Dowell positioned 3cm in from the edge of the board.

Tools used:

- Scissors
- Ruler
- Superglue
- Sharp cutting knife

Time taken: <5mins
 

1HBHfanatic

Legend
im working on making one i can fit on a tennis ball container for portable reason; havent worked out all the parts yet but i like to have it with me in the tennis bag
i carry alot of stuff all the time, large bag, few racquets, haha
 

1HBHfanatic

Legend
OP. keep working on it; good start; try to make the board as small as possible; storing the board when not in use is a pain if its too big.
 

HellsBells

Rookie
Finally got round to make an permanent wooden version. Spent slightly more time ensuring that all measurements were super accurate.

Marking out the center of each nut for the dowell.

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Checking that everything aligns before gluing down.

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Nut superglued onto board with center aligned.

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HellsBells

Rookie
Found some clear heatshrink sleeve off **** for $1. Thought it might provide extra 'grip' on the racket but it turns out that it's not necessary - a bare wooden dowell works perfectly fine.

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Affixing the tape to the board with double sided tape and marking out the head light balance point measurements (8HL to 4HL).

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sundaypunch

Hall of Fame
There are a bunch of threads here with details on making a balance board. My favorite is this one-

DIY: Balance Board

What is nice is that it includes a PDF file that can be printed to tape to the board rather than using a ruler. It has the graphics illustrating how HL/HH the racquet is and whether the racquet is 27.0, 27.5 long, etc.
 
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HellsBells

Rookie
There are a bunch of threads here with details on making a balance board. My favorite is this one-

DIY: Balance Board

What is nice is that it includes a PDF file that can be printed to tape to the board rather than using a ruler. It has the graphics illustrating how HL/HH the racquet is and whether the racquet is 27.0, 27.5 long, etc.

Each to their own but having a scale that tells you whether its a 27.5" extended length racket or whether its "HH" or "HL" seems pretty superfluous. Also the scale could do with numbered markings showing 4,5,6,7 etc points HL rather than forcing you to have to count the marks each time. I don't see any obvious dial to enable you to easily move the racket up and down the scale.
 

sundaypunch

Hall of Fame
Each to their own but having a scale that tells you whether its a 27.5" extended length racket or whether its "HH" or "HL" seems pretty superfluous. Also the scale could do with numbered markings showing 4,5,6,7 etc points HL rather than forcing you to have to count the marks each time. I don't see any obvious dial to enable you to easily move the racket up and down the scale.

Not sure what your point is about having a dial? That is a non-issues as long as the user has fingers and can move the racquet on the dowel.

Not to mention the irony of you using the term "superfluous"…..
 

HellsBells

Rookie
Not to mention the irony of you using the term "superfluous"…..

You don't know whether you've bought an extended length racket? Or one that's HH as opposed to HL? Oh dear.

Not sure what your point is about having a dial? That is a non-issues as long as the user has fingers and can move the racquet on the dowel.

If you're going to do that, you might as well balance the racket off the edge of the table and use a measuring tape. One of the major conveniences of a proper balance board is the fact that you can make adjustments to it and fine tune exactly where it pivots easily and without having to constantly touch the racquet. You've clearly never used the balancing measure on a Prince PTC, Babolat RDC or even a $30 Alpha balance board. The difference in convenience is like night and day in having a bar that can rotate.
 
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sundaypunch

Hall of Fame
Sorry, my point about being superfluous was that a search for "balance board" would show that there are already multiple threads that show exactly how to do this.

You don't know whether you've bought an extended length racket? Or one that's HH as opposed to HL? Oh dear.


I have a variety of racquets that range from 27 to 28 length. Using a pen to write how many points HL is only correct for one length. The thread I linked to has a free PDf printout that looks better and works better than your method.

One of the major conveniences of a proper balance board is the fact that you can make adjustments to it and fine tune exactly where it pivots easily and without having to constantly touch the racquet. You've clearly never used the balancing measure on a Prince PTC, Babolat RDC or even a $30 Alpha balance board. The difference in convenience is like night and day in having a bar that can rotate.

Yes, moving the racquet slightly by hand will be a major source of error on your cardboard balance board, lol.

In the other thread they use eyebolts so it is simple to rotate the dowel if you like.
 

sundaypunch

Hall of Fame
I know that these message boards are notorious for trolls, but it's time you went back under your bridge.

You won't say that once I publish the DIY I have been working on. I have discovered an easy way to adjust the weight and balance of a racquet. It also happens to be inexpensive and easily reversible. Stay tuned…...
 

Anatoly

Banned
Was going to buy one but it seemed a lot cheaper to make one myself!

The key thing for me was to get parts allowed the bar that the racquet rested to be able to rotate, so that the racquet could easily be moved up and down the scale to find the balance point (as opposed to moving the racquet by hand)

In short, I settled for:-

- 1 x 0.9mm wooden dowell
- 2 x M12 nuts
- any board of your choice (depending on your preference for weight, material quality, thickness etc)

All of these were easy to find. I also realised that Ikea had those free paper measuring tapes which would be perfect, so I picked up one of those along with a plank of wood that they sold as a shelf part.

I decided to make a mock up first using cardboard and double sided tape (rather than glue) to make sure everything worked as it should, and it did! All of it took less than 5 minutes to measure, mark out and assemble.

All for the princely sum of less than $5!

In fact, Ikea was a pretty good source of random materials that could be used as the board. They had some really nice high quality wood chef chopping boards which would have worked (though a bit heavy), also some plastic perspex flat pieces which would have worked, and a multitude of different small machined steel drawer knobs that could be attached to the end of the dowell. Might do a Mk2 deluxe version!

Itt0nHu.jpg


Itt0nHu.jpg


CD6P24S.jpg


5BQenwK.jpg

I found this thread from Google.

Terrific information you've posted - been wanting to make/get a balance board for a while.

Much appreciated.
 
Was going to buy one but it seemed a lot cheaper to make one myself!

The key thing for me was to get parts allowed the bar that the racquet rested to be able to rotate, so that the racquet could easily be moved up and down the scale to find the balance point (as opposed to moving the racquet by hand)

In short, I settled for:-

- 1 x 0.9mm wooden dowell
- 2 x M12 nuts
- any board of your choice (depending on your preference for weight, material quality, thickness etc)

All of these were easy to find. I also realised that Ikea had those free paper measuring tapes which would be perfect, so I picked up one of those along with a plank of wood that they sold as a shelf part.

Great post Hellsbells! Very useful that you listed the items and where to get them from. I like the turning spindle idea as that's what you get on the balance boards that you buy from the shops. Gonna to make one of my own when I have some time this weekend.
 
Was going to buy one but it seemed a lot cheaper to make one myself!

The key thing for me was to get parts allowed the bar that the racquet rested to be able to rotate, so that the racquet could easily be moved up and down the scale to find the balance point (as opposed to moving the racquet by hand)

In short, I settled for:-

- 1 x 0.9mm wooden dowell
- 2 x M12 nuts
- any board of your choice (depending on your preference for weight, material quality, thickness etc)

All of these were easy to find. I also realised that Ikea had those free paper measuring tapes which would be perfect, so I picked up one of those along with a plank of wood that they sold as a shelf part.

I decided to make a mock up first using cardboard and double sided tape (rather than glue) to make sure everything worked as it should, and it did! All of it took less than 5 minutes to measure, mark out and assemble.

All for the princely sum of less than $5!

In fact, Ikea was a pretty good source of random materials that could be used as the board. They had some really nice high quality wood chef chopping boards which would have worked (though a bit heavy), also some plastic perspex flat pieces which would have worked, and a multitude of different small machined steel drawer knobs that could be attached to the end of the dowell. Might do a Mk2 deluxe version!

Itt0nHu.jpg


Itt0nHu.jpg


CD6P24S.jpg


5BQenwK.jpg

I followed your instructions to the letter and made one this weekend.

It's excellent - thank you!
 

struggle

Legend
For all the running around and gathering the proper supplies, I'm pretty sure just buying one ends up justifiably inexpensive. They don't cost alot.
 

sundaypunch

Hall of Fame
For all the running around and gathering the proper supplies, I'm pretty sure just buying one ends up justifiably inexpensive. They don't cost alot.

You can justify spending $40 any way you want. It probably won't cause anyone to go bankrupt. I spend a lot of money on tools for tennis and a variety of other things. With a "proper" balance board, there is no performance or longevity advantage. It is literally a waste of $40 for me.

I made one from the thread prior to this one essentially for free. I used a piece of shelving material and dowel that I already had. I printed off the free .pdf with the scale. Don't remember if I had eyelets or bought them. If I didn't already have the material, I would have picked it up on one of the many trips to the store I make anyway. There really is no running around required unless you are in a rush.
 
Same here - made mine entirely of left over stuff laying around the house after a home improvement project was done...lots of scrap wood around.
 

struggle

Legend
You can justify spending $40 any way you want. It probably won't cause anyone to go bankrupt. I spend a lot of money on tools for tennis and a variety of other things. With a "proper" balance board, there is no performance or longevity advantage. It is literally a waste of $40 for me.

I made one from the thread prior to this one essentially for free. I used a piece of shelving material and dowel that I already had. I printed off the free .pdf with the scale. Don't remember if I had eyelets or bought them. If I didn't already have the material, I would have picked it up on one of the many trips to the store I make anyway. There really is no running around required unless you are in a rush.

Not gonna disagree at all. I added an electronic tension head to my stringer.
Totally unnecessary expenditure, but i like it alot.
 
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