how can it be?

[markwillplay]

just crazy. I was getting killed today by a fellow who has great control, no power but is very crafty...sort of older guy. I am 37 so he is about 50. Anyway, he is a great player...I can be at times but am not as consistant...OK. I am playing with my speedport tour and really struggling with groundies and volleys. I have been playing inside all winter so outside is a total different ballgame I now realize. Anyway, I decide for the heck of it to reach in my back and pull out my old noodle...Max 200G. Thing is about 13 0z and has a head the size of a pea. I played way way better. Serve not as hard but placing it right where I want to place it. Groundies got better even theough the stick was much heavier to swing. Not as many mishits....Makes me wonder if I don't need something with a bit smaller head for my serve and volley game. I realize I probably don't but it still seems nuts that I would play much better with this old battle ax. Anyone else ever had that happen...thought I would post it just for fun.

Also, I really did like the flex of that old stick. I could not play with it for a bunch of sets probably but for a couple, it completely made me conentrate more on my shots I think and slowed my swing down to make me prepare more.

 

[caesar66]

Well you said he has no power, just control. Are you used to hitting with more powerful players? if so, you were probably wanting to use the same speed strokes against his low powered stuff that you would use to counter the power game of other hitting partners. The max200g made you slow your swing down, so you hit better. I bet if you'd have slowed down with your speedport tour you'd have had similar results.

 

[markwillplay]

makes sense and yes, the other players I play agains hit the ball much harder. I also think that since that head is so much smaller, I may have been paying more attention to my stokes....not sure. You know, it could also have been that just for a few moments, I was back in time playing with a very familiar stick. I used to play with that stick exclusively for years and I know what it's like to serve and volley with it. Oh well, does make me wonder if I would do better with a mid and not a mid plus.

 

[Fedace]

Ok this happened to me as well about 6 month ago. I was playing this guy that is about 55 yrs old and speed is not one of his strength. He beat me that day by taking every ball on the rise or in the air and not giving me any time to setup. He was only hitting medium pace shots at best but he was always rushing me cause he was taking every ball on the rise and cutting off any and all semi floaters in the air and hitting it hard and flat into the open court. I hit pretty heavy Topspin shots in all my groundies and i also have fairly heavy kick on my serves as well. so not too many people can take the ball on the rise consistantly on me. But this old guy was doing it. so it is possible to compensate for your loss of speed as you age by taking the ball on the rise and hitting to a open area. he was also using this Oversize Ncode 3 racket that is pretty powerful to say the least, but he didn't seem to have any control issues. This is a Classic Lesson in how to take time away from your opponents and rush them into mistakes and easy floaters. It works on every level, from the Pros to amateurs.

 

[themitchmann]

By focusing on the racquet, you were more conscious of your strokes...not really a matter of hitting better because the racquet is better, but because the racquet made you more aware. Goes to show the importance of paying attention to your strokes and not just hitting the ball.

Maybe you should add a little lead to the SP Tour. I added about 6 grams to mine, and for me, it plays much better...slows down the swingspeed and provides a little more stability.