How to choose a racquet and stick with it? Choosing in Tecnifibre

zzturtle

New User
How would you decide to just keep one racquet?
Right now, I have one Dunlop CX 200(65 ra) and one TF 40 315 16*19 (64 ra).
Both of them just play fine to me. I feel I make similar level of mishits and good hits. They have similar ra rating. The difference I can feel was on the weight. 315 is indeed heavier than 305 especially when you are tired.
I like the feeling of Tecnifibre racquets and want to find one that works best for me. The next one I want to try is tfight 300 rs(66 ra). I demoed 305 and its swing weight was too demanding.

How would you find the racquet that works the best? I search on the forum and seems keeping two pairs of the same kind was a good thing. But I don't want to buy a pair for every trial.
I only play stock right now. My self rating is 3.0. I can get some good stroke if I swing slow and look at the ball when I'm hitting. I can hit all 3 serves but not much power.
My coach only wants me to swing slow.
 

Tranqville

Professional
CX200 is an advanced player's racquet. Get yourself a beginner to intermediate stick, like Dunlop FX500, Yonex Ezone 100, Prince Textreme Beast 100.
Do not overthink the process: watch a couple of reviews, demo a few and pick what you like. Be mindful of strings as they largely shape your impression of the racquets. Use mutli, syngut or natural gut. I highly recommend full bed natural gut if you can afford it. You won't be breaking strings too frequently so string job should last you a few months.
 

zzturtle

New User
CX 200 was my first racquet when I don't know anything about the sports. I buy it because the store was trying to sell the last couple ones in a low price.
I'm trying to move towards more powerful one. That's why I want to try tfight 300 rs. I did own a pure drive with syngut for some time but later sell it. It vibrates too much and my arm doesn't feel like it. I also try ezone 98 from my friend's demo and it seems my arm still doesn't like it. Maybe the string come with the demo is too stiff. I kind of like the foam filling feel that soften the impact.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
I'd probably not visit this area of the forum much and just focus on technique. At the end of the day if you are fit and using good technique, you can use a lot of racquets. It also can be beneficial to know what your ideal frame weight range is and also what power level and type of feel you prefer. If you like Tecnifibre feel, they make some really nice 295 weighted frames that you could use at 3.0 all the way to 5.0+.

Also if you like foam filled frames and a lighter SW, the Diadem Elevate 98 is awesome.
 

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
The frame you like at 3.0 may not be the frame you like at 4.0 or higher. If you can restring the CX200 very loosely, do it. I don’t see any reason why you can’t use it at 3.0 unless you are not strong or fit. Just don’t use poly strings.
 

Chairman3

Hall of Fame
Tfight 300 seems like a reasonable choice
You might also look at the Iga signature model, I hear it's pretty good.

If you are more of a beginner you can almost choose any racquet and commit to it because you're still learning. Your game will sort of develop around the racquet.
But as others may have said, don't start over-thinking the racquet choice this early, learn to play consistently first.
 

zzturtle

New User
The frame you like at 3.0 may not be the frame you like at 4.0 or higher. If you can restring the CX200 very loosely, do it. I don’t see any reason why you can’t use it at 3.0 unless you are not strong or fit. Just don’t use poly strings.
Split step and foot work is developing. I string with isospeed baseline spin, full bed at 50 lb. What's the better choice? I have no idea on string. I brought this since it's cheap on tw and seems not much bad saying on it. It initially come with syngut and I have to adjust the string constantly to move it back to where it should be.

I use the cx200 for a year. From time to time, I feel the grip of cx 200 is a bit bigger than I can handle. It seems I can use a thinner grip to reduce it a bit as I find out yesterday. Not sure whether it would work or not.
 
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Zoolander

Hall of Fame
^^^ Wot he said. The best way to choose one racquet and stick with it is to stay off sites like this…..
 

Automatix

Legend
Yeah, the forum leads to swapping racquets too much in my opinion. I know I did lol.
images
 

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
If using poly, change every 16-20 hours of use. Poly dies quickly. I would recommend using Velocity 1.30 or Prince Premier Control 1.30 at 46-48#.

You can decrease grip size by using a thin grip like Tourna Pro Thin.
 

Automatix

Legend
Yeah, the forum leads to swapping racquets too much in my opinion. I know I did lol.
Talking/Playing with better players may also do that. It's the old "#1 is playing great with racquet X... maybe racquet X is so good I need to switch?".
These type of thoughts will crawl their way in from time to time.
IMHO a good diagnosis of ones game allows to choose a racquet which will be good enough to make note to show oneself if the above doubts start to emerge - "It's you, not the racquet."
I would not go the control 20mm route even for a flat hitter. There are so many 22-23mm frames on the market that basically let you do anything on the court unless your game is all about spin, then a Pure-/Aero- drivish frame may allow to really exploit your strenghts but honesty IMHO current Speed or Boom frames are so well "balanced" in terms of that they don't hold a player back in most cases, same can be said about normal T-Fights. The key will be to find the feel and weight distribution you like - some like a frame which feels lighter (lower TW) some prefer a slightly club feel (not heavy but the combination of SW and TW make it feel like a lot of mass is in the hoop).
Also, this isn't a common approach, but make sure you're comfortable with handle shape and size.
And finally, try to record your strokes from different angles, it's a real eye opener. What you think you look like when hitting in 99.9% cases is very different (in a bad way) than what it really is.
 

nov

Hall of Fame
How would you decide to just keep one racquet?
Right now, I have one Dunlop CX 200(65 ra) and one TF 40 315 16*19 (64 ra).
Both of them just play fine to me. I feel I make similar level of mishits and good hits. They have similar ra rating. The difference I can feel was on the weight. 315 is indeed heavier than 305 especially when you are tired.
I like the feeling of Tecnifibre racquets and want to find one that works best for me. The next one I want to try is tfight 300 rs(66 ra). I demoed 305 and its swing weight was too demanding.

How would you find the racquet that works the best? I search on the forum and seems keeping two pairs of the same kind was a good thing. But I don't want to buy a pair for every trial.
I only play stock right now. My self rating is 3.0. I can get some good stroke if I swing slow and look at the ball when I'm hitting. I can hit all 3 serves but not much power.
My coach only wants me to swing slow.
Unless you're extremely fit or only playing one 1.5h match per day, dont buy 315gr racquet. 305gr and SW 325 at most. When you reach 4.0 and more you will change racquet anyway, but dont start with such frames.
 

zzturtle

New User
Unless you're extremely fit or only playing one 1.5h match per day, dont buy 315gr racquet. 305gr and SW 325 at most. When you reach 4.0 and more you will change racquet anyway, but dont start with such frames.
I do feel 315 is a bit heavy, especially after 1hr. I don't play match that much. I can only pull out slice and kick and I haven't figure out how to handle 1st serve. Many of them is faster than I can react.

I went to the tennis shop to measure the weight and swing weight. TF 40 16*19 315 after string and grip is 340 g, swingweight 318. CX 200 after string and grip is 320g and swingweight is 300.
 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Unless your coach asks you to change racquets, just keep playing with the racquets you have. Your game will not improve because you changed racquets. It will improve if you keep getting coached and then do structured practice drills in between the lessons.
 

om panda

Rookie
Keep the lighter one....if you need more power, you can always lower the tension or change string while keeping the comfort.

Lighter one will be better for longer play since can still control.the racket.
 
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