How can a racquet offer more power and control than another racquet???

[adnankujundzic]

These two terms are opposites. Unless the racquet creates spin all by itself, it is impossible that itcan offer power + control. 18x20 offers more control than 16x19. Sure, if you string the 16x19 with an 18 gauge spin string, you will have more spin, little more control, but if you dump that same string on a 18x20 racquet (tension aside), their spin will be almost identical, 16x19 will give you more power, 18x20 more control.

Power and Control are complete opposites. More power a racquet has, less control and vice versa. People claiming that when comparing 2 racquets one has more power AND more control are wrong for the most part, especially if comparing a racquet that they have been playing with for a while and a new racquet.

Now that I have said this, please start hammering me and prove me wrong .

 

[b.]

I can make a racquet that have no power nor controll. Than you can compare it to any other racquet and voila - proof is there.

 

[gregraven]

I think if you read manufacturers' ads, you'll find that every new racquet offers more power and better control. New strings do this, too.

 

[Gaines Hillix]

These two terms are opposites. Unless the racquet creates spin all by itself, it is impossible that itcan offer power + control. 18x20 offers more control than 16x19. Sure, if you string the 16x19 with an 18 gauge spin string, you will have more spin, little more control, but if you dump that same string on a 18x20 racquet (tension aside), their spin will be almost identical, 16x19 will give you more power, 18x20 more control.

Power and Control are complete opposites. More power a racquet has, less control and vice versa. People claiming that when comparing 2 racquets one has more power AND more control are wrong for the most part, especially if comparing a racquet that they have been playing with for a while and a new racquet.

Now that I have said this, please start hammering me and prove me wrong .

You're not supposed to reveal secrets like this. You'd better be careful or you'll find yourself wearing a pair of concrete boots at the bottom of the Chicago River!

 

[thejackal]

It's possible. A heavier racket has both more power, and is more stable (more control) then a lighter one with the same specs.

 

[J D]

Adnankujundzic, no need to hammer, but you are wrong. There are several factors involved for both power and control and these vary from player to player. It is very common for a given frame to have both more power and control than another for a specific person.

How? I'll give some examples. For someone that uses spin for control (a situation you alluded to), a more powerful frame that also has more spin potential can give both greater control and power. Another case would be someone using a frame that is underpowered for their swing, forcing them to over swing and thus lose control. A more powerful frame will allow them to swing naturally and thus maintain better control.

There are other scenarios where a more powerful frame also produces better control because there are different types of control. A stiffer frame will provide more power and better directional control, even though depth control usually suffers. Also, a frame's power potential is partially dependent on a player's ability to realize it. While a head heavy frame may have more power potential, a weaker player may not be able to swing it fast enough to realize that potential. This will slow down the player's swing and possibly give better control, even though they are using what would be a more powerful frame for most players. Power and control are both dependent on the player. This is why there is no magic racquet that's best for everyone or even best for one specific type of player or game.

 

[Steve Huff]

Actually, in the truest sense, power and control are not COMPLETE opposites. Power and spin are opposite of control. You may learn to use spin to control depth and to give you margin of error, but spin is really a factor that is opposite control. Think of it this way: Take a racket, fix it into place (in some kind of vice that holds it stable by the handle). Using a ball machine, fire a ball at the center of the stringbed with a lot of spin. Control means it will go where the racket is aimed. So, a densly patterned, very tight stringbed will return the ball closest to where it's aimed (less spin). An open, or loose, stringbed will pick up the spin more and will return the ball less accurately.
If a racket is powerful, it has less control too, because smaller increases in speed directed at it will require larger adjustments in swing speed to get the same placement. A good analogy would be power steering and standard, nonpower steering. With power steering, smaller imputs (smaller effort or distance travelled) to the steering wheel will result in greater amounts of wheel turn. In a nonpower steered car (as most race car drivers use), the amount of turn applied to the steering wheel will result in less wheel turn. This allows the driver to be more precise. The driver can turn the steering wheel say 1/2" to get a certain amount of wheel turn. To get that same wheel turn with power steering, you may only be able to turn the steering wheel 1/4 or 1/8". With a racket, a stiff, powerful racket has less room for adjustment when trying to be as precise as a pro would need.

 

[Kirko]

I always thought lessons and practice would give you "power and control"; not equipment.

 

[Deuce]

For the past 20 years, every successive generation of racquets from every manufacturer has claimed to have "more power and control" than the previous generation.

Of course, if this claim possessed even a very small percentage of Truth, we would all be hitting the ball through the fence - literally - as well as be able to pick out a particular spot on the fence the size of a dime where we want the ball to penetrate it.

 

[Steve Huff]

Deuce makes a good point that you cannot always believe the advertising. You have to realize that a company is not going to advertise that "this racket has tons of power and you can learn to control it", or "it's got power, but control is lacking" or "it's the most accurate racket made, you just have to swing it harder". I guess they tell you what they think you want to hear.