I have preached against putting a Babolat in a young kids hand for years now and i have done the unthinkable.At my daughters academy EVERY kid uses a Babolat and she was the only kid using a Head.One day last week she broke her strings in her rackets and used another little girls Babolat and she LOVED it.After a week using the Babolat she is hitting the ball so much better.She just turned 9 and i hope i havent done wrong by buying her the Babolat rackets??????????????After watching her hit this week i now see why so many young girls are using the Babolat racket.
Im a HYPOCRITE!!!
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Tar Heel Tennis
Professional
you'll poke your eye out.....err, kiss that elbow goodbye!!
(says player w/ KPS88s and PSTGT's in his bag)
(says player w/ KPS88s and PSTGT's in his bag)
Maybe, maybe not. The same can be said about most all racquet manufacturers. Much of the elbow problems depend on the actual racquet, proper grip size, string (don't do all poly), string tension (don't string to tight) and each individuals own human body (some are more pron to TE than others).
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
Which babolat?
Do not worry, we have done the same thing. My son sometimes plays with a Pure Drive which is not as stiff as an Aero, with thin light soft strung at low tension using a cushion grip is not bad. Make sure she is playing with a small grip, ie 0
TennisCoachFLA
Banned
Ever since you taught us about the Aero drive I have been moving it further and further out of the rotation. I picked it up yesterday and now it seems stiff just looking at it!
So don't think I ignored your advice, my kid has not used it except maybe once in over a month.
TennisCoachFLA
Banned
See I go back and forth on this. It seems like whenever my girl changes racquets she hits better for a while.
We have a collection that she chooses from, Head, Prince, Babolat. Her "favorite" for a few months has been the Head. Then out of the blue the other day she grabbed a Prince White 03 and she flat out started hitting better than ever.
So who knows the real reasons...maybe some of it is above the neck!
Pure Drive..It says it 10.something o.z. and over 70 on stiffness..Its a 4 and one eight grip.I didnt know they made a 4.o in a Babolat
TennisCoachFLA
Banned
Uh oh...over 70 stiffness....Pro Tour is not going to like that. Glad I am heading out!
I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tennisbuddy12
New User
Craig does love his Babolats! I remember a kid, Ryan Miner, who I think still goes there, wasn't that bad, but went to Craig's and improved so much and that Babolat helped him.
Ryan still goes there he is getting alot better.Have you seen Jess Jones play lately?
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
you got the standard and not the lite, which is ok, the lite does come in a 0, remember nadal ( over 6 foot adult male) plays with a 1/4 (#2), your 9 year old is playing with an 1/8 which is #1, she better have long fingers for an 9 year old, most likely it is ok, my kid likes 0 because he like to use an overgrip
ever since you started mentioning less tournaments until better strokes I have followed your advice as well, I will posting a thread about an article on this subject only it relates to soccer....
she got the standard, what she should have gotten is the lite which is 67 and feels softer than that. she can always change bumper (black) and add weight later as she develops
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Tar Heel Tennis
Professional
i'm sorry that you didn't pick up on my sarcasm....i thought the first quote i used would be a dead giveaway....
PeterPanda
Semi-Pro
Babolat! Babolat! Babolat! Hoy! Hoy! Hoy!
I am also gonna follow his advice on the amount of tournaments.With 10 and under being all quickstart we are just gonna train and perfect her strokes until next year when she turns 10 before we really start playing alot of tournaments in the girls 12s division.
i'm sorry that you didn't pick up on my sarcasm....i thought the first quote i used would be a dead giveaway....
My internet sarcasm radar has been down the last few days!
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
Not sure if he used the Kzen team which is a Head Heavy, light (under 10oz) frame that is 71 RDC stiffness. This type of frame coupled with tension over 60lbs using anything other than Natural Gut or a soft Multi at low tension spells problems to your arm/wrist/shoulder.
The first advice is rest ice stretch for the body to heal (one month)
Then proper gear and proper technique (ask TCF)
I would go with Heavy, Head light, and flexible with soft thinner strings at low tension with the right cushion replacement grip (smaller rather than larger) IMO a frame with low vibration dampening characteristics.
what type of player is he? his rating? one hand back hand or two? kicks serves? flat or western FH etc... from there I can recommend some possible setups.......
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He uses the K-Zen Team strung at mid-tension (tension range is 53-63 pounds, he strings at 58 pounds). Polyester main strings, synthetic gut cross strings. Two handed backhand, semi-western forehand, continental grip on serves and volleys, mostly flat first serve and kick second serve. Stock grip on racket. 2-star/3-star rating on tennisrecruiting.net. Tall and skinny.
Anything in the new Wilson BLX series that is suitable? He was looking at those but not buying yet.
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
sorry for the late response,
the BLX blade team is ok but I would take a look at the new prince http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Prince_EXO3_Tour_100_16X18/descpageRCPRINCE-PEX03T.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRNHO4H5gZw
it is very soft for a prince (maybe not 53 but very flexible) try it with solinco revolution 18g mains with a soft 17g cross at 53lbs
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60mphserve@9
New User
sorry to tell you this but they changed the rules so girls 12s is now quickstart. they use full size courts but they use green compression balls(they look like regular balls but they have a dark green stripe on them) they are only 75% of the regular balls pressure and you can tell the difference easily. its like hitting a really really dead tennis ball
tennisbuddy12
New User
I haven't in 2 years, but I know he has improved a ton and is at Smith Stearns now. Nice to see great things come out of that family. Great people
Any updates on how the babolat is working out?
Pro_Tour...question for you on our specific situation. Based on some of the posts between you & TCF about a year ago I switched my son from away from PureDrive Cortex, and after some bad choices, finally settled on the Prince EXO3 Rebel 95 (not the Rebel Team)...and he's been using that for the last 6 months happily.
At first he just used the standard Prince Synthetic Gut 16g at 52lb, and with the denser string pattern than the Babolat, it lasted 1+week. Then as he grows older he started breaking them in 3-4 days...
So we switched him to RPM 17g at 50lb. Durability has been ok...usually lasts about 1+ week. But there are quite a few instances where the string would snap at the grommet with about 3-4 days of play, after him shanking a ball. He has also grown unhappy with the string, as he feels it takes a lot of effort to generate the spins required...and if he is tired (2nd match of the day) the ball starts to fly on him. RPM is also pretty expensive at $15 a pop.
So I'm looking to switch to a different string setup that will be somewhat durable (1+ week between string jobs), a little more power than RPM, and cheaper.
We are trying the Head Sonic Pro 16g now. There is just a bewildering amount of choices & tensions....so if you have any good tips that'll help narrow the search space it'll be much appreciated.
Try MSV Focus Hex 18g / Forten Sweet 16 Syngut hybrid at 51/53. We get at least 15hrs out of it on 16x20 racket. If it breaks too soon - try 17g. Will cost you $5.50 a string job or cheaper if you purchase a reel. If strings always brake at the grommet you may need new grommets.
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
as klu said try hybrid, it is cheaper and softer, maybe not 18g mains which might snap as well if you are snapping 17g poly mains in a week
I would recommend solinco mains Rev 17g at 52 with gosen 17g cross 54lbs, that will be $7.50 per set up
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Solinco_Revolution_17_120_String/descpageACSOLINCO-SREV17.html
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Gosen_OG-Sheep_Micro_17_Natural_String/descpageACGOSEN-OGS17.html
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Pro_Tour_630
Legend
pro supex big ace red 17g mains is another cheap option that is powerful yet playable and has control.
I have basically the same set up but with Solinco Tour Bite and Gosen 53/55. Do you know how Rev and TB compare? Thanks.
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
Rev is crisper than TB, from what I experienced, TB is softer, i thought Rev had more bit than TB for some strange reason
, and I liked it better, both had Gosen cross ,Thanks. I've tried RPM mains with Prince synth cross before, but he didn't like it. Maybe the wrong tensions...as I said, too many combinations to try.
I'll give your recommendation a try...they are back ordered so will take a week to get here. After he tries it I'll report back.
Thanks again.
PT_630, sorry took so long to report back. Due to the tournament schedules it was difficult to switch the strings.
He's finally use the setup you recommended extensively for the last 1+ week. So far so good. He feels it has slightly less pop than the Head Sonic Pro 16 (50lbs) that he was using, but it feels more comfortable to him, and he also feels he is more consistent with it. He wants to stick with it over the Sonic Pro, and no, I didn't pressure him to.
Durability has been good so far, about 10hrs of hitting spread over 5 days and hasn't broke yet. I'm ok as long as it last close to a week of regular hitting.
This setup is relatively cheap, and better for his arm. It's also much easier to string compared to full poly. So I'll stick with it for a while. I might lower the tension a bit if he is looking for more power (to 50 main & 52 cross).
Thanks for the recommendation.
Pro_Tour_630
Legend
wow this is what I want to hear, a little more comfortable and better for his arm and more consistent, durable yet cheap. There are usually trade offs, durable strings tend to be harsh on the arm and not comfortable. Expensive strings tend to be good on arm and comfortable. I think you have found an all around string that fits him well. Let me know how it goes during a pressure match, I can tweak it and give another suggestion.
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Flat,
Quite a few of the boy's on my high school tennis team have switched from RPM to Genesis Typhoon (Grey). It is co-poly, $10.00 set, lasts longer, and maintains tension much better. Worth a look.....
Pro_tour. After a couple of weeks, still so far so good. After he had more time to settle, I gave him an option to switch back, and he declined. So he definitely wants to stick with this setup for now.
He broke the horizontal (Gosen) in the first racket, but the vertical (Solinco) in the 2nd. So I guess it's pretty balanced as far as wear & tear. Durability seems to be about 1 week at least, so I don't have any problems.
Now that weather is warming up, and he will start playing in 80 to 90deg heat, do you recommend any adjustments in tension or keep as is?
Why all the hate to Babolat. I've got a 16 yo that uses the Aero Pro Drive with Lux mains at 52, and Gut -crosses at 54-56 depending on the heat. Do you have any similar set ups with cheaper strings than the Babolat VS gut? He's a string breaker, 2 handed back, semi-western fh and 6ft- 137lbs. Tried the all Lux at 48 but he felt like he was spraying it everywhere. He's never had a shoulder, elbow or wrist ache. Nice form and luck I guess.
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