How to decrease weight in tennis rackets

[teachingprotx]

Hi I’ve been stringing now for many a year, I started in 1998. Good lord I’m old ...
But I have some ideas for anyone who loves their current frame or wonders what their racket could potentially play like ,if only ,it was lighter.
So many folks know how to add but what about take away weight ?


1. Bumper guard . Get rid of it completely. Now that means if you want to get rid of the most weight you can cut out your strings and remove the whole thing or you can literally cut off the gaurd leaving only the grommet strip. Some Babolat have the bumper guard separate of the grommet strips so it’s really simple with those Babolat s



2. Strings.... I never believed this one…but it is, if you use Kevlar string it’s amazingly light in weight . I’m sure there are others that are light in weight ...
I’m using prince pro blend. And I can tell a difference in weight


3. This is what I do , no grommets or head guard .now this is not for the faint of heart , and I can get away with this due to the Racquets I use , you cannnot use thin walled graphite frames or the string will punch thru the frame . But I do this myself and I never have a problem with the strings popping prematurely. The way I do this is I bore out holes where I know the strings are gonna be resting at an angle on the frame and I sand down those holes so it’s not sharp.
I realize that’s a bit of work , so it’s not for everyone.


4. the absolute most radical, but gets rid of the most overall weight and it’s called sanding . Yes sanding the paint off. Most manufacturers use a primer , a first base coat then 2 more layers of finishing paint and finally a clear coat . All of these paint steps/ layers adds a TON of weight much much much more than you would think .
So my method of sanding requires sandpaper and an electric sander I get all the way down to the primer paint layer . Then I just use cheap black spray paint and use 2 light coats. Let dry for about 2 weeks . Then string up and play

5.Pop off the butt cap Take a half or whole inch of the grip this gets rid of weight and length .. only crazy folks do this one

 

[SinneGOAT]

Not to mention changing replacement grip

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Also, get rid of that crummy dampener.

 

[Slowtwitcher]

How to decrease weight in tennis rackets

 

[socallefty]

Unless you are a kid or really scrawny and physically weak, why would you ever want to reduce the weight of a racquet? I think most adults can easily handle SW of 310-340 which is the range where the majority of off-the-shelf racquets fall under. If they are late on their shots, it is probably because of lazy footwork and late racquet prep which they would be better off correcting. If they need more racquet-head speed (RHS) on serves, it is better to engage more knee bend, body rotation and internal shoulder rotation (ISR) to get that rather than reducing the racquet weight. These kind of short cuts don’t lead to long-term improvement. On the flip side, higher mass and SW gives more power and stability which is what you want - if it is too much power, you can tame it with stiffer strings and higher tensions.

The way a racquet plays can be tuned so much with different strings and tensions that I would think there is never really a need for most adults to reduce the weight of their racquet.

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

How to decrease weight in tennis rackets

Ha ha! Make your own "o-ports"

 

[Irvin]

Easy way to save over a half an ounce is to take the strings out. LOL

 

[Dartagnan64]

Easy way to save over a half an ounce is to take the strings out. LOL

And that gives you a built in excuse for getting bageled!

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

Easy way to save over a half an ounce is to take the strings out. LOL

At least omit the 4 edge strings. Useless weight serving no purpose!

 

[Zoolander]

Like the guys said, how bouts stringing every second main/cross to halve the amount of string in it? And then you have one of those stupid ESP racquets that were all the rage a few years ago.

 

[n8dawg6]

Like the guys said, how bouts stringing every second main/cross to halve the amount of string in it? And then you have one of those stupid ESP racquets that were all the rage a few years ago.

i think @mikeler is still rockin one

 

[mikeler]

i think @mikeler is still rockin one

Eight to be exact...

 

[Crocodile]

Some solutions include:
1. Do your research and don’t buy a heavy racquet in the first place.
2. If it’s too heavy, sell it or give it someone you like for a gift and then buy a lighter racquet.
3. Put some weight in the handle to change the balance and lower the SW.
4. Get stronger
5. And yes string is multi filament and/or remove the bumper, but I wouldn’t do the 2nd thing.
With so much information about racquets and demo programs and reviews should help you to make a wise decision.

 

[Harry_Wild]

The lighter the weight of the racquet, the harder it is to absorbed the tennis ball force and to control the return shot. If you are playing 3.5 or lower then it might be good.

 

[DaylightBlue]

The lighter the weight of the racquet, the harder it is to absorbed the tennis ball force and to control the return shot. If you are playing 3.5 or lower then it might be good.

This is not exactly accurate because the ball is not striking your hand. Just because the racquet is heavier doesn’t mean it will absorb the ball force like you said. I’m sure someone else can explain this better.

 

[canta_Brian]

Easy way to save over a half an ounce is to take the strings out. LOL

Swings fast too

 

[canta_Brian]

This is not exactly accurate because the ball is not striking your hand. Just because the racquet is heavier doesn’t mean it will absorb the ball force like you said. I’m sure someone else can explain this better.

Newton’s 3rd law disagrees with you on this.

 

[Irvin]

All kidding aside if I wanted to decrease the weight of a racket I would first look for a polar racket and any mods that I made would be to polarize the racket more. I would opt for thinner strings but I hate string movement so I would stop at 17 gauge string. If I used dampeners I would use a #64 rubber band which only weighs about 1 gram opposed to a heavier type dampener that could weigh over 3 grams. But to be honest I’ve played with heavy racket so long I can’t stand lighter rackets.

 

[Irvin]

Newton’s 3rd law disagrees with you on this.

Newton’s third law - For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When the ball collides With a racket the greater the SW (plow) the less the racket slows down and the more the racket plows through the ball. Some even believe the greater the TW the less the racket will twist on off center hits. SW and TW are other names for inertia and inertia comes from mass.

 

[DaylightBlue]

Newton’s 3rd law disagrees with you on this.

Like Irvin mentioned, it’s the sw of the racquet that really matters. Our hand acts as a pivot for centripetal force. You’re looking at small part of the physics equation so...

 

[canta_Brian]

Like Irvin mentioned, it’s the sw of the racquet that really matters. Our hand acts as a pivot for centripetal force. You’re looking at small part of the physics equation so...

The hand isn’t the only fulcrum for a racquet swing. Head speed comes from elbow, shoulder and via rotation eventually the spine is a fulcrum. Greater mass in the racquet will be a benefit in overcoming the inertia of the incoming ball.

 

[DaylightBlue]

The hand isn’t the only fulcrum for a racquet swing. Head speed comes from elbow, shoulder and via rotation eventually the spine is a fulcrum. Greater mass in the racquet will be a benefit in overcoming the inertia of the incoming ball.

All I’m saying is that heavy racquets absorbing the force of the tennis better than lighter racquets is not exactly accurate. Of course, weight in the handle will contribute to sw and that adds to your point but more mass in the head will be immensely more useful in resisting incoming force of ball. Racquet head speed was not the point. Not saying heavy racquets are bad or good but ttw circlejerks heavy racquets way too much. Heavy racquets have their use for players that suit their game.

 

[Crazydoc]

Ways to reduce the weight of a racket:
* Use lighter grommets, if possible.
* Change the butt cap to one without the sensor weight.
* Remove varnish from under the grommets with a Dremmel or something similar
* Use a lighter basegrip
* Drill into the lead bubble in the handle.

regards

 

[Grafil Injection]

I have a 402g MAX 200G Teal, and that's having removed the leather grip and now just using an OG, and fairly thin syngut strings. I think I'm stuck! Nice plow-through though!

 

[movdqa]

Start with a platform frame and add silicon and lead tape to where you want it.

 

[TennisLogic]

Easy. Go to the tennis warehouse “for sale” forum, sell your racquet then buy a lighter one from TW. There are customizers who do this via changing handles