Is the 93p the right choice for me?

[nintendoplayer]

yes to a certain degree. look at the forehands around the 1:10 min mark. you have time to setup the forehand, no time pressure, but every time the energy transfer is kinda circular and you are falling to the left. look what your left foot is doing, instead of grounded and a source of power its in the air moving backward. sometimes if the opponent hits a deep ball that is inevitable, but if you have time it robs you of a lot of power.
and even if you prefer an open stance forehand, you can see in the video that your energy always goes to the left side instead of through the ball.
in short, if you have time, your forehands from the baseline should look like, weight transfer wise, like the ones when you are inside the court and forced to go into the ball, these look fine, because the situation forces you to get the weight linear into the forehand.
backhand looks better in that regard.

Could you do me one more favour and look at some video footage from 1997, if you can observe the same technical issues on my forehand on that video?

1997-RegionalChampionships-Short-Nintendoplayer - VEED - Online Video Editor - Video Editing Made Simple

www.veed.io

The interesting question to me is whether these issues have been there all the time or if this might actually be related to my weak left knee.
At least this is also the reason why I serve the way I serve, cause I "serve primarily from the right leg". A platform stance serve is too painful in the left knee.

If you look at this 6 second clip, you can see how I put my weight on the left knee, then rotate forward with the right leg

B's Video - Apr 10, 2024 - VEED - Online Video Editor - Video Editing Made Simple

www.veed.io

Something that I don't seem to do anymore if not moving forward. And I have a feeling that could be related to my knee. I avoid any load on my left leg / knee that isn't absolutely necessary which would then explain why I "fall to the left side". Because I actually load my right leg / knee when initiating the forehand, then hit the ball and "jump from my right to my left leg" the same way I do on serves. All to avoid any unnecessary stress to the left knee. A bit like when you have a sprained ankle. You can still stand on your foot but you reduce the load as much as possible and mainly walk with your other foot.

In this case I actually have issues generating power, because my kinetic chain isn't functioning properly. Emphasizing the need for help from the racquet.

 

[Hansen]

based on the limited videofootage you seem more stable during the forehand.
but the knee issues can be the reason for it. if you have to play around injuries then the technique often doesn‘t change for the better.
but even with your left knee problems it would be better to reduce some of the excessive circular rotation. in the newest (not the one from 97) video you almost fall back while rotating and jumping from the right foot to the left. thats a lot of movement and energy with not a lot of power output.
try to push off of the right leg and transfer this energy more into the ball and stay more stable with the body in general,
instead of jumping of with the right leg, extreme rotation with the body and almost falling back and landing on the left.
guga also pushes off the right leg heavily but compare his energy transfer to your video, unfair comparison i know, but the fundamentals are the fundamentals.

 

[Hansen]

 

[Hansen]

even if he falls backwards he presses his right leg into the ground as a stable base for power instead of jumping into the air and rotating.

 

[Hansen]

just try the next time you play: energy into and through the ball!

not circular (i mean it is a circular motion, but you know what i mean), not from right to left, not falling back.

 

[nintendoplayer]

even if he falls backwards he presses his right leg into the ground as a stable base for power instead of jumping into the air and rotating.

Can my jumping then also be related to the low power of the Blade and me (being a weak amateur) needing to put lots of energy into the stroke - automatically making me jump? (especially at the 1:10 min position where I try to finish the point with powerful forehands)
Just like I have the feeling of swinging a lot more relaxed with the PD.

Thanks for all the tips, will implement them.

 

[Hansen]

i don‘t know, there is definitely a lot of movement in the forehands, and maybe that is the way you try to get power. but the energy must have a stable base „to push off“ like a starting block in sprinting, and the energy must go in the right direction, otherwise it fizzles out.
im curious to hear your feedback.

 

[TennisHound]

The 93p always has a seat reserved in this thread

Did you start with the 93p and end up with the 98L?

 

[nintendoplayer]

Did you start with the 93p and end up with the 98L?

I‘m not finished, yet. The 98L is my current go-to base racquet for customization, yes. Like a swiss army knife. As many reviewers state, the Blade frame truly is a perfect base for customization. And so I‘m using it also to find out what my optimal spec is regarding weight and balance.
I‘m still looking for that one sword (or setup) that works best.
The Blade reminds me of the Shure SM58 microphone. Every singer knows it, every live technician can work with it, but it doesn’t „wow“ you. It’s a bread and butter microphone and that’s kind of the status the 98L has to me currently.

 

[TennisHound]

I‘m not finished, yet. The 98L is my current go-to base racquet for customization, yes. Like a swiss army knife. As many reviewers state, the Blade frame truly is a perfect base for customization. And so I‘m using it also to find out what my optimal spec is regarding weight and balance.
I‘m still looking for that one sword (or setup) that works best.
The Blade reminds me of the Shure SM58 microphone. Every singer knows it, every live technician can work with it, but it doesn’t „wow“ you. It’s a bread and butter microphone and that’s kind of the status the 98L has to me currently.

Got it. Props to @Trip for his help and suggesting the 98L.

 

[nintendoplayer]

Got it. Props to @Trip for his help and suggesting the 98L.

Yes and @Trip also suggested a lighter Pure Drive to try the same experiment with the PD, as well.
There is a „PD Tour Black Edition“ or „Babolat Drive Black“ which is listed with 295g weight on several sites - can that be correct? Is this a „special lighter Tour Edition“ or could the shops list a wrong weight?

 

[TennisHound]

Yes and @Trip also suggested a lighter Pure Drive to try the same experiment with the PD, as well.
There is a „PD Tour Black Edition“ or „Babolat Drive Black“ which is listed with 295g weight on several sites - can that be correct? Is this a „special lighter Tour Edition“ or could the shops list a wrong weight?

Hmm, not sure. It looks like the 2015 PD version, obviously lighter edition.

 

[nintendoplayer]

If it isn‘t the 2021 frame (with better dampening) I‘m not interested But I hardly can find any info about that Black Edition. Ok, let‘s try a PD team then

 

[nintendoplayer]

Another clay court session....and now it's getting interesting.
So I decided to go with a stiffer string on the PD at lower tension....I was comparing Focus Hex Ultra, Super Smash, Atomos, Black Knight with my fingers....and after about 15 minutes of doing all kinds of tests with the strings I came to the conclusion that Atomos is the stiffest of them all. Wants to keep its shape the most when trying to bend it or wrapping it around objects. So I strung the PD with Atomos at 21/20kg.
And I strung the Blade even lower than last time, 20/19kg with FocusHexUltra/PLE.

Hitting with the PD and Atomos worked better than with FHU/PLE before, I also stepped into the ball more and then was able to hit with lots of pressure, but primarily flat shots - like laser beams. Not a lot of margin over the net, but lots of power and precision. And the biggest change I made was drastically reducing my takeback. Kind of like Fognini, only letting the racquet hang loose in my hand and then simply rotating my hips / core into the shot and not consciously taking back the racquet, all. A bit like the drum toy in Karate Kid 2.

Length was still an issue but this "flat laser beam" way of striking definitely worked a lot better than previously. The stiffness and stability of the PD then helps a lot, simply blocking pace back most of the time. I have to concentrate on not doing too much, not overhitting, not swinging too fast.
Atomos was quite OK in this context, comfort was better than Hyper G Soft, not as good as FHU/PLE but still OK.
For competition I would go up in tension or probably try another string - maybe even Super Smash and finally hit with the same setup as Nic from Intuitive Tennis When you see his practice matches you can exactly observe what I mean with flat laser like strokes - he's doing exactly the same.

I was maybe even more surprised by the 98L and FHU/PLE at 20/19kg - cause I still think I could go lower. And I then took over this "Fognini reduced takeback" approach to the Blade which also worked quite well, at least on the forehand. The difference was that I could go "all in" with the Blade and not worry about the ball going long. On the backhand I often felt that I miss power and had to work a lot more, so the backhand currently works noticeably better with the PD.
(I hear @Trip whispering "Blade 100.....Blade 100..." )

Still.... the Blade needs a lot more work and energy. So I'm getting more and more comfortable with the idea of primarily hitting with the PD. It's a lot more of a "blocking game" with the PD but the energy I save particularly on the backhand is a big factor. When hitting 4, 5, 6 topspin backhands in a row, I won't have much energy left with the Blade...with the PD this is no issue and I'm still able to hit a backhand winner afterwards. I also hit quite a few backhand winners with the PD today which very rarely happens with the Blade.

I was also re-considering the Clash but my logic tells me I won't be happy with the Clash in comparison to the PD, especially because of the rock solid stability and precision the PD offers. Now have to dial in the strings a bit more and then observe my sensitive arm.
And lowering tension on the Blade a bit more, maybe getting a bit closer to Clash 98 power levels

I also ordered the PD team for testing.

 

[Hansen]

stiff frame, low tension, short swing, you are on the path to mannarino territory.
not a bad thing.

 

[nintendoplayer]

Do you guys have any further recommendations for low powered strings that could work well in the PD at low tension?

 

[Trip]

All depends on how low powered and low tension you want to go. A medium/medium-soft poly, like many of those that you're used to, could probably still play pretty well down to as low as 35-ish pounds (~16 kgs). Stuff like Atomos, Black Knight, HG/HGS, etc. If you want to go much lower than that, like down into the low 30's and lower lbs, so like <=15kg, that's when even more firm polys would probably play better, to keep the string bed from getting overly flexy/baggy. For low-powered options in that space, I'd look at the likes of 4G/4GS, Hawk, Max Power (ironic name, considering), Dunlop Explosive Speed (super firm, dead and boardy), etc. -- strings with high static stiffness, that will still hold their composure very well, even at super low tensions.

The other advantage of playing a firmer poly at lower tension, is that most of the more firm polys tend to have the best marks for tension maintenance, which gets compounded even further the lower you string them, as there is that much less tension to lose over the string bed life. So it's like a best-of-all-worlds scenario -- provided your arm can handle it. But at that low a tension, most of even the firmest poly's can be comfortable. Not every time. But often.

 

[nintendoplayer]

I‘m not planning to go that low. I think 20kg is low enough, possibly 19. At much lower tensions I often encountered these irritating, unnatural vibrations.
21/20 with Atomos is just a bit too powerful and comfort isn‘t optimal.
Hyper G should be more powerful than Atomos or Super Smash, shouldn‘t it? At least that‘s how I remember Hyper G.
Black Knight, at least in the Blade, was also more powerful than Atomos.

 

[nintendoplayer]

Had another clay session with the PD, this time strung with Kirschbaum Super Smash 1.23 at 22/21kg.
Actually felt slightly more comfortable than Atomos, control also a bit better. I still had balls launching, especially when overhitting / trying to hit short balls too hard to hit winners. Also when being too late on contact, not hitting the ball cleanly.
But apart from these issues the easy depth, the pressure I was able to put on the opponent and the touch I had were remarkable. People often talk about the PD missing touch - but I‘m hitting more dropshots with this racquet than any other I suppose. Serve was also strong again.

I re-measured the swing weight and currently the PD measures at 327SW including dampener strung with Super Smash.
So I assume the relatively high swingweight is also responsible for the overwhelming power I feel from time to time and the PD Team frames could solve this issue. Just have to hope the reduced swingweight doesn‘t lower the comfort, as well.

It‘s still hard to control, I have to get used to „Karu Sell hitting mode“ and swing with a constant relaxed body rotation, not swinging too fast. But being able to hit for 2 hours in midday heat with the PD without getting too tired currently feels like the objectively logical route to take.

I‘m not yet certain about long term arm health, in case the PD hurts too much the Clash could still make sense. The tendency to launch the ball on late or unclean contact reminds me of the Clash.
Maybe this is a general issue with power racquets.

 

[Trip]

Great observations again.

With the PD Team, I've strung enough of them to feel confident in saying: don't rule out the possibility of augmenting lighter hitting weight and potentially less comfort (due to lower recoil weight) with a softer, more explosive string bed (either softer/bouncier poly, or a hybrid). In that vein, for certain frames with lower power, either from less hitting weight or from thinner-beam/lower-flex, I often find the best blend of overall power to come from having more string bed pop (as opposed to having power primarily come from a higher swing weight, coupled with a more firm/low-powered string bed). Just something to keep in mind as you look to dial in the PD Team.

 

[nintendoplayer]

Session 4 with the PD, this time strung with HyperG 1.20 at 24/23kg. And the remarkable thing is that this was one day after 2 hours of hardcore midday heat hitting. And my arm is still holding up a lot better than with the Blade before. But the biggest difference I notice is reduced systemic fatigue. Usually, with the Blade or 97p or similar racquet, my whole body would be so sore the next day after such an intense session that I would have to take 1-2 rest days. And even after this short rest I could still feel soreness slowly accumulating if I would continue with regular intense hitting sessions.
This systemic effect is extremely reduced with the PD so far. So the whole body is a lot less sore and fatigued. And the shoulder / arm (at least so far) is also less sore and strained. I switched to the Blade in between rallies just to compare and instantly felt that the 98L actually transfers a lot more vibration to my arm (due to the smaller sweetspot I suppose) and took a lot more energy from my body on every stroke. And that higher amount of effort I have to put into every stroke leads to this systemic soreness is my interpretation. Combined with the smaller head size of course which reduces forgiveness and makes you move more.
And the rallies develop differently. You could interpret this as a double-edged sword, cause the PD "has to be played aggressively" - otherwise it just won't work as well. Laying back and pushing balls back can work but it won't work well with the PD, at least not for me. So I have to be intense on every stroke which automatically leads to shorter rallies - which also reduces the overall strain on my body. With the Blade I still have to be intense on almost every stroke but the result often still is an endless rally and if I want to finish the point and attack it's still a lot more work than with the PD, especially on clay.
And even after lowering the tension to currently 20/19kg on the Blade, I don't feel the power has improved but actually only the trajectory and depth - making the Blade harder to control right now with this lowered tension. So with the Blade I now have easy depth and could get used to the low tension but my balls still wouldn't have nearly as much force as with the PD.
One thing I'm still fighting with is reacting correctly to pushers. Especially in the "advanced aged players" category I meet a lot(!) of pushers. Guys who have perfected the art of pushing, hitting balls back with seemingly 0 pace but 99% consistency. And against these guys I often(!) get short balls that a pro would instantly convert into a winner. And controlling these shots with the PD is currently my biggest weakness, even more if they start moon balling. In these situations I often feel insecure and the funny thing is that this always seems to lead to an unforced error. As if the PD has a "if you're not sure what you're doing next I won't help you out, sorry" sensor integrated
So when you watch me currently hit against these seasoned, much higher ranked "aged pushers", you always get the same picture: I dictate most of the rallies, I push them into corners and behind the baseline, they hit a short ball.....and then you see me either hitting the ball long or hit a nice drop shot winner. That's probably part of the reason why I hit so many drop shots with this racquet. On one hand they simply work remarkably well with the PD but on the other hand I'm often afraid of not being able to control the power on winners.

So the same way I slowly learn to "be intense from the baseline without overhitting" I have to find the same confidence when attacking short balls and finishing points. Always move my arm in sync with my body rotation - never overhit / swing too fast with the arm. Just like control racquets felt like forcing me to have clean technique the PD now forces me to stay calm - which I interpret as a good thing.

HyperG on the PD also felt a lot more comfortable than I would have imagined. This vibration dampening system seems to work better than probably any other tech I demoed so far on other racquets. And I still don't have the feeling that the PD "transfers vibrations I can't feel" which could slowly wreck my arm. I can feel tendons being irritated, yes - but still a lot less irritated than they have been after sessions with the same intensity hitting with the Blade.

And another thing I recognized is that the PD obviously "eats strings" as well - just like the Clash. As if this is a normal effect of power racquets. The grommets don't look big, as if the strings couldn't move much like on the Clash or other racquets with "spin grommets". But the main strings move out of place / get pulled apart a lot, mainly towards the outside of the frame. Notching happens also a lot earlier than with the Blade. My interpretation of this would be that the frame sends a lot of energy through these strings which then get pulled apart because they don't have "anywhere else to move" with these tiny grommet holes.
The tension loss (judging by my measurements so far) isn't the main issue but I assume the intensified notching will lead to strings breaking much earlier on the PD.
Which is also OK for me if the other aspects of the racquet continue to work as well as they currently do.

Also received two PD Team frames today:

#1 291g static weight, 282SW, 32cm balance
#2 291g static weight, 281SW, 32cm balance

So both heavier than specified, but still below my preferred weight which is OK, and both pretty close in specs.

 

[nintendoplayer]

First time with the PD Team and wow.....I didn't expect that. The strung Team racquet had 309.3g static weight, 317 swingweight and a balance of 330. And you were exactly right @Trip, in this lighter frame a "bouncier" string like FHU worked a lot better than in the vanilla PD. When switching between the Team and vanilla PD I couldn't believe how heavy the vanilla PD felt, which currently measures at 327 with an overall weight of 323g and a balance of 339. Sometimes there was this slight instability again that I encountered on the Blade before, this "horizontal" instability when trying to hit a cross court ball longline for example....and when having to reach out with my arm for a defensive backhand in the corner, I could sometimes feel the lack of mass in my forearm which then had to compensate....but apart from that my hitting partner instantly recognized "this racquet fits you well. Your balls have more power and spin", because I was able to swing out a lot better than with the vanilla PD. I strung FHU at 24/23 which feels noticeably more comfortable than Hyper G and the swingweight / string stiffness ratio also fits a lot better. With the vanilla PD I tried to somehow tame its heavy swingweight with stiff strings, with the Team I don't see the need for stiff strings so far.
Vibration dampening was also on the same level as with the vanilla PD, very muted and so far no issues with the arm.
I will probably raise the swingweight slightly to 320ish, but even in the current stock form this frame comes closest to what I'm used to from my Head TI.S2 days. I would have never expected the Pure Drive to impress me that much, let alone the Team version. Nice.

 

[Trip]

Excellent update. So it sounds like the PDT gives you a similar ease-of-play advantage over the PD, in much the same way that the 98L does over the regular Blade 98. Obviously, you'll still need to dial in the most optimal spec on the PDT, but your initial encounter is very positive.

Looking forward, I see an upcoming playoff between the 98L and PDT. Ultimately, I would focus on trying to pick one winner -- most likely whichever frame plays best across the most variables (surface, opponent type and level, your condition/level, etc.).

The only last option I would say is worth considering would be a Blade 100L, or even the 101L (which has a slightly thicker 23mm beam and 16x20 pattern), but only if you're absolutely torn between the PDT and 98L, as the 100L has a layup and forgiveness level of the PDT, but the control and flatter hitting bias of the 98L. I would abide with caution, though, for as much as the 100L may be a best of both worlds, it may also end up as kind of a jack of all trades, master of none, compared to the two extremes that it splits. So, I would keep the 100L/101L as a someday-maybe type of option, only to visit if, as I said, you're truly torn between the PDT and 98L.

Hope that helps again. Interested on more updates as you have the time.

 

[nintendoplayer]

Excellent update. So it sounds like the PDT gives you a similar ease-of-play advantage over the PD, in much the same way that the 98L does over the regular Blade 98. Obviously, you'll still need to dial in the most optimal spec on the PDT, but your initial encounter is very positive.

Looking forward, I see an upcoming playoff between the 98L and PDT. Ultimately, I would focus on trying to pick one winner -- most likely whichever frame plays best across the most variables (surface, opponent type and level, your condition/level, etc.).

The only last option I would say is worth considering would be a Blade 100L, but only if you're absolutely torn between the PDT and 98L, as the 100L has a layup and forgiveness level of the PDT, but the control and flatter hitting bias of the 98L. I would abide with caution, though, for as much as the 100L may be a best of both worlds, it may also end up as kind of a jack of all traders, master of none, compared to the two extremes that it splits. So, I would keep the 100L as a someday-maybe type of option, only to visit if, as I said, you're truly torn between the PDT and 98L.

Hope that helps again. Interested on more updates as you have the time.

One lesson I've learned from this experiment is that (especially on clay) I obviously should stay in the 100sq inch zone. More forgiveness, more spin, bigger sweetspot, less strain on the body. So I'm actually already saying goodbye to the 98L, internally. And the 100L is already on my "just in case" list

 

[Trip]

One lesson I've learned from this experiment is that (especially on clay) I obviously should stay in the 100sq inch zone. More forgiveness, more spin, bigger sweetspot, less strain on the body. So I'm actually already saying goodbye to the 98L, internally. And the 100L is already on my "just in case" list

Nice. For clay especially, I would largely agree with that.

Also, I edited my post to include the 101L, which has a bit thicker beam (23mm) and a 16x20 pattern; some qualities that harken back to certain Hammer Tour and/or Steam frames. And it's a fair bit cheaper than the 100L as well. Might also be worth a look. Another option if you're thinking about that realm of stick would be the 2024 Pure Strike Team.