Junior to adult racquet

A

archer

New User
My daughter will be turning 10 in one month. She's about 4' 6" (more or less) 83lbs, athletic. She currently uses a the Federer 26" 95 head junior racquet - I think it's about 9.3 onces strung. Anyhow, just wondering if and when she should bump up to an adult racquet and what kind of weight increase is typical.
Thanks!
 
Like usual, you will get all kinds of opinions. Mine is that I do not believe junior racquets are designed for hitting regulation balls. My daughter got her first full size racquet on her 5th birthday and her strokes look like a pro. I am joined in this opinion by such coaches as Rick Macci.

I do not believe the difference between 9 ounces and 11 ounces makes a bit of difference to a child. I think junior racquets are only for low compression balls and very young kids.

In my opinion you should get your daughter a full size racquet with decent flexibility tonight. Have the stringer suggest the best strings for a young girl. This is the one we use now.

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpageRCHEAD-HMGXT.html
 
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Each kid is different in how they develop but I have few suggestions

Volkl PB 10 (26.8 ) zero to 1/8 grip strung with soft thin Multi at low tension, this frame is very soft and very flexible

or


Pacific X Force Lite is another flexible frame

or

Go with Babolat Pure Drive GT lite (27), even to 1/8 grip strung with Klip legend 18g at low tension (these frames are stiff but can be manipulated to feel soft using proper string setup and few thick soft over grips instead of original grip)



last.........

Wilson BLX lite (27.25) same as above setup


BTW yesterday, my 4 year old son picked up my pimped out professional Head Pro Tour 630 and he was hitting the fence with it, I was shocked:shock: about his ability to swing an 12oz frame. Would I let him play with it now? no. He is following in his brothers footsteps to what he should be hitting with next as he grows and develops.
 
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My 10 year old daughter has recently made the change. She has tried all the Babolat lite racquets Puredrive, Z Drive and Areodrive as well as the Wilson BLX lite.
She has now settled on the Wilson K Bold which is light but most importantly a very good flex rating. It seems to suit her game but she does play a lot more at the net than most girls her age. We have strung it mid tension with natural gut but we might get her a second one looser strung for a bit more power to go with the feel.and control..
Thanks by the way to Pro Tour 630 for the Pure Drive recommendation but I just don't think Babolats suit the way she plays.
By the way wouldn't it be nice if someone offered demo racquets in small grip sizes ? A kid who needs a zero grip does not get a real sense of a racquet when he or she tries out a demo in a size 3 grip. Also of course no junior racquets at all are available as demos.
 
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Thanks for the responses. I have my eye on, so far, the Wilson K Bold, Blx Tidal Wave and maybe the K factor K Fierce Fx. They all seem like a good weight/stifness. Probably leaning towards the K Bold.
 
Babolat drive z light what i use im twelve 5'1 ft. Light great for girls between 12-14 but very light weight light blue design. (Im talking about the new version).
 
dannythomas said:
My 10 year old daughter has recently made the change. She has tried all the Babolat lite racquets Puredrive, Z Drive and Areodrive as well as the Wilson BLX lite.
She has now settled on the Wilson K Bold which is light but most importantly a very good flex rating. It seems to suit her game but she does play a lot more at the net than most girls her age. We have strung it mid tension with natural gut but we might get her a second one looser strung for a bit more power to go with the feel.and control..
Thanks by the way to Pro Tour 630 for the Pure Drive recommendation but I just don't think Babolats suit the way she plays.
By the way woulldn't it be nice if someone offered demo racquets in small grip sixes ? A kid who needs a zero grip does not get a real sense of a racquet when he or she tries out a demo in a size 3 grip. Also of course no junior racquets at all are available as demos.
Click to expand...

Glad your girl found her frame, and yes I agree there should be more Jr. demos frames with zero grip

Just a quick note on the Bold, it is basically an Nfury (blue) or the later version Nfury two (red) or the last version K court now at huge discounts $69. I did recommend these frames in the past (TCF daughter and other 5-10 year olds) but was shot down by a so called racquet expert as being a walmart special frame (even though they do sell them at walmart) who said they are cheaply made. There has been lots of premature breakage report on these boards with the court/bold maybe by sluggers who should not be using this frame. Anyway, Wilson took out an old mold and painted it with the now older Kfactor paint job which was suppose to be new by reversing the black color hence BOLD. Next wilson will paint that mold 1/2 flat black and call it BLX bold or bold two etc...... It is a good frame for (5-10 olds) who want a 27 light flexible frame. The reason your daughter likes it is because it is extremely HL and very easy to maneuver at net. But as she grows into the 12's and is competing against bigger hitters which is very soon, she can get pushed around at net with it http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/feedback-KBOLD.html

If she is that good and getting coached by the best coaches in the world and loves to SV and her game is around coming to the net, Heck just get her a PS 6.0 85 or a Prestige or volkl Mid in 1/4 grip and sand it down, :)
 
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Pro_Tour_630 said:
Glad your girl found her frame, and yes I agree there should be more Jr. demos frames with zero grip

Just a quick note on the Bold, it is basically an Nfury (blue) or the later version Nfury two (red) or the last version K court now at huge discounts $69. I did recommend these frames in the past (TCF daughter and other 5-10 year olds) but was shot down by a so called racquet expert as being a walmart special frame (even though they do sell them at walmart) who said they are cheaply made. There has been lots of premature breakage report on these boards with the court/bold maybe by sluggers who should not be using this frame. Anyway, Wilson took out an old mold and painted it with the now older Kfactor paint job which was suppose to be new by reversing the black color hence BOLD. Next wilson will paint that mold 1/2 flat black and call it BLX bold or bold two etc...... It is a good frame for (5-10 olds) who want a 27 light flexible frame. The reason your daughter likes it is because it is extremely HL and very easy to maneuver at net. But as she grows into the 12's and is competing against bigger hitters which is very soon, she can get pushed around at net with it http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/feedback-KBOLD.html

If she is that good and getting coached by the best coaches in the world and loves to SV and her game is around coming to the net, Heck just get her a PS 6.0 85 or a Prestige or volkl Mid in 1/4 grip and sand it down, :)
Click to expand...

Thanks once again PT 630 for the constructive advice . We too see the Bold as a transition racquet and as she gets a little older / stronger maybe she can upgrade to something a little more powerful.
But we have tried out so many racquets over the last month or so ( and we have 3 new Babolats that I may want to re- sell ! ) that I think she will stick with the Bold for a while since she likes it ! Would you think stringing it looser would be a good idea ?
I could try out the PS 6.0 85 demo myself as I need a new racquet and let her experiment a bit with it ( I could not find it on TW - do you have a link ? ) and which Prestige would you suggest ?
BTW I am in the process of setting up a new fun tennis website just for kids and I am going to invest in a few of the more popular demo racquets for kids in 0 and 1 gripsize !
 
dannythomas said:
Thanks once again PT 630 for the constructive advice . We too see the Bold as a transition racquet and as she gets a little older / stronger maybe she can upgrade to something a little more powerful.
But we have tried out so many racquets over the last month or so ( and we have 3 new Babolats that I may want to re- sell ! ) that I think she will stick with the Bold for a while since she likes it ! Would you think stringing it looser would be a good idea ?
I could try out the PS 6.0 85 demo myself as I need a new racquet and let her experiment a bit with it ( I could not find it on TW - do you have a link ? ) and which Prestige would you suggest ?
BTW I am in the process of setting up a new fun tennis website just for kids and I am going to invest in a few of the more popular demo racquets for kids in 0 and 1 gripsize !
Click to expand...

Let me know if you want to sell the PDGT lite, the offer still stands. Also if you need contribution (information) to your website from me regrading Jr frames I can contribute as well. Yes looser is a good idea. We have a kid who is 8 years old and top in his section in 10 and under who strings his frames at 40lbs. Give it a try with a thin $3 string like gosen OG sheep 18g and report back. The PS 6.0 85 is the best volleying frame ever..... you can find used ones on e b a y as well as the prestige Mid. If you want a new one and do want to pay $500, the MG prestige Mid is nice. The best S/V frame for the money right now is DNX 10Mid http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Volkl_DNX_10_Mid/descpageRCVOLKL-DNX10M.html

check out the review on the Power bridge 10 mid which is very high (highest I think)
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/reviews/VPB10M/VPB10Mreview.html

and the DNX mid is better than the PB 10 mid IMO and less money
 
Pro_Tour_630 said:
Let me know if you want to sell the PDGT lite, the offer still stands. Also if you need contribution (information) to your website from me regrading Jr frames I can contribute as well. Yes looser is a good idea. We have a kid who is 8 years old and top in his section in 10 and under who strings his frames at 40lbs. Give it a try with a thin $3 string like gosen OG sheep 18g and report back. The PS 6.0 85 is the best volleying frame ever..... you can find used ones on e b a y as well as the prestige Mid. If you want a new one and do want to pay $500, the MG prestige Mid is nice. The best S/V frame for the money right now is DNX 10Mid http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Volkl_DNX_10_Mid/descpageRCVOLKL-DNX10M.html

check out the review on the Power bridge 10 mid which is very high (highest I think)
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/reviews/VPB10M/VPB10Mreview.html

and the DNX mid is better than the PB 10 mid IMO and less money
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer but I am thinking maybe I will use the PD Lite as one of the ones for my website. I might take you up on your offer of advice re a small range of junior / small grip size adult racquets. Is there a way we can communicate off line ?

Back to the Wilson I already strung it at 55 mid range with Klip Legend Natural Gut 17 as you recommended for the Babolat. I was thinking of getting her a second one ( especially as they are on special offer ! ) and stringing it at 53 slightly looser to give her a slightly different feel on the 2 racquets. I am not too keen on putting in a different string for the 2nd one but do you think I should make it 50 so there is a more noticeable difference between the 2 ?
 
Interestingly the only player on the WTA tour who plays serve volley is Martinez Sanchez and she uses a Prince EXO3 black where all of the TW reviewers complained of its lack of feel !
 
dannythomas said:
Thanks for the offer but I am thinking maybe I will use the PD Lite as one of the ones for my website. I might take you up on your offer of advice re a small range of junior / small grip size adult racquets. Is there a way we can communicate off line ?

Back to the Wilson I already strung it at 55 mid range with Klip Legend Natural Gut 17 as you recommended for the Babolat. I was thinking of getting her a second one ( especially as they are on special offer ! ) and stringing it at 53 slightly looser to give her a slightly different feel on the 2 racquets. I am not too keen on putting in a different string for the 2nd one but do you think I should make it 50 so there is a more noticeable difference between the 2 ?
Click to expand...
click my user name and you should be able to send me an email,

The reason I suggested the cheap $3 gosen was for a test run, if the balls are flying at 50lbs then the balls would fly more using Natural Gut at 50lbs. Not sure if she really needs two frames unless she is very rough like my son. HE goes through frames very quickly, he would break the Bold in a few months for sure.

dannythomas said:
Interestingly the only player on the WTA tour who plays serve volley is Martinez Sanchez and she uses a Prince EXO3 black where all of the TW reviewers complained of its lack of feel !
Click to expand...
the black is a very stiff frame over 70 I think which is why it lacks in feel, it is very solid and has a High SW for a Jr. Serve and Volleying with frame is nice because it has mucho punch with a huge sweet spot. I teach with the red it is by far my favorite feeding frame, nice easy pops. There is a white Lite which you might want to consider. They come in zero grip.
 
Even young tennis kids have their quirky ways and even when she played with the Junior Prince Sharapovas she had 2 with the same strings ( usually Wilson Sensation 17 ) one slightly looser than the other. If she was playing badly she could blame it on the racquet and switch to the tighter / looser one !
Assuming we go the same way I was thinking to go with both in the Legend one at 55 mid range that she is using now and the other at either 53 or even slightly looser . What do you think ?
 
Just strung up my daughter's new Dunlop Aerogel 4D 300 Lite...beautiful looking racquet....like the specs on it, think it will work out well.
 
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