Justin
Rookie
the Volkl Power Bridge V1 Oversize. It was kind of an odd combo of racquets, but I only really liked one--the Gamma T-7. The Babolat I didn't really try because just bouncing a ball against the ground I could tell it would be way too stiff for me. My elbow is a little sensitive. I took the other three with me to a group lesson and hit with them for a good two hours--well, most of the time I hit with the T-7--but I think that was enough time for me to pick out my favorite. The Volkl was just too light and unstable (which I pretty much expected). It had a nice feel to it though. Some people have said it's arm-friendly, but I'm not sure I can say the same. When I didn't hit the sweetspot, the stiffness of the frame combined with the twisting action produced by an off-center hit did not feel very good. I moved on to the Prince, but it didn't work well for me either. It felt more comfortable, but all my groundstrokes were landing well past the baseline. When I tried to swing quicker to get more topspin, I didn't get consistency. It had too much power from the ground for me. I'm a baseline basher, and my groundstrokes, especially my forehand, are my strength, and the only racquet that worked well for me was the Gamma T-7. It is flexy for sure, but all my other racquets are flexy, so I'm used to it. Volleys were okay, but I suck at volleying, so I'm not one to judge. I really liked my serve with the T-7. I had so much more control. The power wasn't exceptional but not bad either.
So needless to say, I ordered the Gamma T-7 at its bargain price. I also ordered some lead tape and a Babolat Air Sphere (?) grip. I got the racquet today, took off the grip that came with it, wrapped 9 grams of lead tape around the bottom of the handle, put the Babolat grip over it and then a Prince Duratac overgrip (its pretty bulky now; I'm glad I got a 4 3/8 grip size). Then I added 3 grams of lead tape at the 3 and 9 positions and almost 6 grams of tape at the 12 o'clock position. So now the racquet weighs 355 grams (~12.5 ounces) with a 32 cm balance point (~12.6 inches and 7 points hl?) and a swingweight of 340 (I used the TW method). I'm going to hit with it tomorrow morning. Hopefully it will be more stable on groundstrokes and will give me more power on my serve, but we shall see.
Point being...you should all try the Gamma T-7. :mrgreen:
So needless to say, I ordered the Gamma T-7 at its bargain price. I also ordered some lead tape and a Babolat Air Sphere (?) grip. I got the racquet today, took off the grip that came with it, wrapped 9 grams of lead tape around the bottom of the handle, put the Babolat grip over it and then a Prince Duratac overgrip (its pretty bulky now; I'm glad I got a 4 3/8 grip size). Then I added 3 grams of lead tape at the 3 and 9 positions and almost 6 grams of tape at the 12 o'clock position. So now the racquet weighs 355 grams (~12.5 ounces) with a 32 cm balance point (~12.6 inches and 7 points hl?) and a swingweight of 340 (I used the TW method). I'm going to hit with it tomorrow morning. Hopefully it will be more stable on groundstrokes and will give me more power on my serve, but we shall see.
Point being...you should all try the Gamma T-7. :mrgreen:
