ethankrafft
New User
Looking to customize my stock ezone 98
How does adding 2 g of weight total at 3&9 affect a racquet's swing weight and how does 2g at 12 affect swing weight?
- Thread starter ethankrafft
- Start date
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Deleted member 775108
Guest
2g at 12 is 6SW approx
1g each (2g total) at 3&9 is 4SW total approx
Confirmed via SW machine as well.
MiddlingPlayer
Rookie
Use this tool to input what swingweight you want and it will tell you where to add weight. You can play around with the numbers to see how the weight placement affects the swingweight.
Tennis Racquet Customization
A tennis racquet customization tool that calculates the amounts and locations of lead tape to place in order to achieve user defined desires for end-result racquet weight, balance, and swingweight.
twu.tennis-warehouse.com
ouch_my_shoulder
New User
I find the change in feel with lead at 3/9 to be more drastic than lead at 12. Lead at 12 just makes the racquet feel heavier in general and gives the sensation of more power, especially on serve. It feels like the same racquet, just beefed up.
Lead at 9/3 changes the entire feel of the racquet for me. I have a much harder time squaring up the stringbed and maneuvering on volleys. But it feels much more stable on impact.
Lead at 9/3 changes the entire feel of the racquet for me. I have a much harder time squaring up the stringbed and maneuvering on volleys. But it feels much more stable on impact.
PistolPete23
Hall of Fame
Lead at 12 doesn’t affect twist weight much. 3 and 9 maximizes increase in twist weight.
Fluffy_Skye
Semi-Pro
I have slightly over 2g at 3&9. It increases SW by about 5.
B-Line
Rookie
I'm doing the same thing with my current Ezone 98..trying to bring it up to DR spec.
Modern racquets have relatively high twist weights out of the box, and because of that, I think the first mod any player should make is at 12 o clock only. Your Ezone 98 has a twist weight of 14 which is RF97 level. Adding more weight at 3 and 9 will just make it unnecessarily more stable while also making it feel significantly more sluggish to swing. Weight at 12 o clock will make it rotate more freely (giving you more racquet head speed), give you more power and spin, and not significantly change the swing feel you are used to. Start with 2 grams for about 6-7 point bump in swing weight, and, if you're feeling spicy, go for 4 grams and pummel your opponents into submission.
The Ezone 98 has a low twistweight. 14.02 is not really high. It's not uncommon for 93-95 sq inch frames to have a twistweight of 13.5-14.0
The 15+ range is where it starts to be considered high.
Interesting. Tennis Warehouse's value in racquet rankings for the 2022 Ezone 98 was 14. Has Yonex's QC gone down? I remember when I was demoing the DR98 about 6 years ago Yonex had a reputation of extremely tight QC.
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Deleted member 775108
Guest
Irrespective of what you measured the EZ98 is a very stable racket. I helped a pal measure and match his EZs and they were 310-312SW but still super stable. Ended up matching them at 325SW with lead at 12. Way way more stable than almost anything I like to hit with.
@Rally - sometimes numbers are just numbers and even those are useful only relative to other rackets measured on the same measuring device. It is well documented that TW measurements are off from Briffidi etc.
My Ezone 98's came in at 303 SW strung with PTP 1.20 and a very low twistweight. Not sure what your definition of stable is but those specs aren't screaming stability.
Maybe with a different/thicker string choice you end up around 310 SW but compared to other frames, the Ezone 98 is one of the lower twistweight frames out of the 98's on the market atm. The blade is also another one with a lowish twistweight. It has something to do with the beam width. The thinner beam frames have lower twist weights on average.
The Pure Aero has a TW in the 15+ range and that's a 98. The Ezone's/Blade's are coming in at high 13's, low 14's (according to TWU)
Yonex doesn't test for twistweight, also 14 is not really that high. There are some 93-95 sq inch frames with twistweights higher than 14 on TWU.
A_Instead
Legend
I am believer in using different strings gauges, tension and variety of brands to firm up or loosen the string bed..as well as balance, static and swing weight..
I also use various weight dampeners at 12 and even 6 to get a racket to a target balance and swing weight and use to get a good racket spec to my liking.
Then add lead when decided.
I also use various weight dampeners at 12 and even 6 to get a racket to a target balance and swing weight and use to get a good racket spec to my liking.
Then add lead when decided.
I can't even imagine starting with 303 strung SW. That sounds horrible. I'd need to add at least 6 grams at 12 o clock for it to feel playable for me and likely 9 grams at 12 for it to thump the ball the way I like it. Leather + overgrip might not be enough to counterweight for 8-9 HL. How did you end up modding yours?
Healthy 325-327 SW and a reasonable bump in TW, sounds like a good mod. That being said, do you know how your modded stick would compare with an EZONE Tour? I'm guessing the 16-18 grams of weight you added is roughly the weight difference between a stock EZONE 98 and an EZONE Tour.
My experience matches this. Got one around 313-315sw strung stock and could play with it no complaints. Lead at 12 added some pop, but stability wasn't ever an issue. Twistweight is not the only indicator for stability - swingweight, beam width, layup, and stiffness all play a part.
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Deleted member 775108
Guest
Just based on personal experience and comparing to other frames. Stability comes from many sources including hoop stiffness. No 303SW is not ideal but nothing a little lead cant fix.
A racket might be more stable via TW but may not be compatible with with people strokes or may need a lot of effort to adjust with.
Again - TW before strings, just like SW can be added BUT never taken away.
I haven’t found hoop stiffness to have any noticeable effect on frame stability. It always comes down to twistweight followed by SW and string tension IMO.
And yes TW is player specific which is why people use headsizes from 90-110 sq inches depending on level of preferred stability.
classical_tennis
New User
For 2 grams, just add the black racket head tape around top half of hoop. Best of both worlds. Cut in half lengthwise so you don't have to replace when stringing.
am1899
Legend
Just curious how you added that much at 12? Is it six 4 inch strips of lead stacked on each other (3 per side)?
Interesting thread for me as I’ve just acquired an EZ98 myself…so I’m just starting to experiment. Typically a 3 and 9 guy with weight. Rarely does 10 and 2 work for me. But with this one I’m thinking about starting with a little at 12 and see where that takes me.
You could also try 4 strips of 6 inches. Slight hit to SW, but still nice and polarized without as big of a drop in balance point and you're only doing 2 layers on each side instead of 3.
am1899
Legend
I decided to go with a conservative approach. Added (2) 4 inch strips of lead at 12 (2 grams). That plus a luxilon dampener and an over grip, strung with 17g tour status (48lbs), she tips the scale at 326g (indeed a fair bit under spec then). It felt really good. Volleys especially had a nice firm thud at contact and slice ground strokes were nasty. The length on topspin groundies was much improved. Hitting serves (especially flat) I felt like may be just a shade too light still. Although I’m not sure if I should add more at 12, or put a couple grams in the trap door. Time will tell. Man, this is a really good stick, though.
The beauty of lead tape is that it's cheap. If you have a second racquet that is matched to the first, you can try 4 grams at 12 on the second and keep 2 grams on the first. If you only have 1 racquet, keep using the 2 gram mod for 2-4 hitting sessions so you get used to it fully and then try adding another 2 grams. Worst case scenario, you can revert back to the 2 gram setup by peeling off the old lead and applying new lead.
I agree with this view. But, you may want a higher twist weight to give more stability to balls hit L and R of center. Wilson has used the Perimeter Weight System PWS on their ProStaff rackets for decades to increase twist weight and get more stability and power. Personally, I like lead at noon because you do get a bit more power and with less total weight added. But, if my racket had a low twist weight or small sweet zone, I wouldn't hesitate to add a little weight at 3 and 9.
The PWS doesn't tell the whole story. From Tennis Warehouse University's measurements the PS85 has a TW of 12.3 and the K90 has a TW of 12.5 even though they both have PWSs. By comparison the Clash 98 v2 has a TW of 14.2 with no PWS.
am1899
Legend
For now just have the one racquet. Yeah, for sure I’m going to hit a couple times more with the current setup - before changing anything. I bought a giant spool of lead tape a few years ago, so I’m all set.
I didn't know that. It sounds like Wilson didn't use PWS properly. Sampras used quite a bit of lead down the sides of this PS85 and maybe that's why.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
TW is mostly determined by the width of the racket head. Think about the ice skater who rotates faster when he brings his arms inwards. Hence, to assess a racket's stability you should compare the TW to the norm for the head size. A 12.3 TW is actually quite high for a 85sqi racket; norm is about 10. And a 14.2 TW is about the average for a 100sqi racket. Most 110sqi+ granny-sticks have TWs in the 15-18 range. If you want to add stability to your racket, add weight on the outside of the 3 & 9 areas.
