lighter racquet with OHBH on ATP
- Thread starter muyun
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Lambsscroll
Hall of Fame
(20) Tsitsipas Racket | Page 3 | Talk Tennis (tennis-warehouse.com) look at post #124
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Musetti? SW 324 according to this link.
www.tennispassionate.com
The older guys are the ones typically with 1HBHs and they tend to play with heavier racquets. I wonder who are other young guys with 1HBHs and I am sure some of them have lighter racquets to go with their whippy FHs. I think Shapo plays with a lightweight Yonex also with SW below 320, but I’m not sure as it seems like he has used several models since he moved to Yonex.
Lorenzo Musetti Racquet – Specs & Setup - Tennis Passionate
Lorenzo Musetti has recently endorsed the newer Head Boom Pro racquet. He plays with the actual racquet (not just using the cosmetics) as he felt it had more power than his previous Head Extreme Tour racquet.
www.tennispassionate.com
The older guys are the ones typically with 1HBHs and they tend to play with heavier racquets. I wonder who are other young guys with 1HBHs and I am sure some of them have lighter racquets to go with their whippy FHs. I think Shapo plays with a lightweight Yonex also with SW below 320, but I’m not sure as it seems like he has used several models since he moved to Yonex.
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He only used the SV95 and for 6 months this year the Ezone 98 (2022)Musetti? SW 324 according to this link.
Lorenzo Musetti Racquet – Specs & Setup - Tennis Passionate
Lorenzo Musetti has recently endorsed the newer Head Boom Pro racquet. He plays with the actual racquet (not just using the cosmetics) as he felt it had more power than his previous Head Extreme Tour racquet.
The older guys are the ones typically with 1HBHs and they tend to play with heavier racquets. I wonder who are other young guys with 1HBHs and I am sure some of them have lighter racquets to go with their whippy FHs. I think Shapo plays with a lightweight Yonex also with SW below 320, but I’m not sure as it seems like he has used several models since he moved to Yonex.
bobeeto
Hall of Fame
Are these unstrung?
Hmmm...
Yes, without overgrip, and then strung sw.
If Shapo plays with 335sw strung, that means ~6g lead under the bumper and ~20g silicone in the handle, to get to 335g unstrung, starting from the retail frame. He would get the pro stock of course, but math is similar
I'm not doubting the info or the sources, to be clear. His fast swings kind of suggest lower sw, but then again, Tsitsi swings his 350sw fairly quickly, although he really is a physically strong athlete
If Shapo plays with 335sw strung, that means ~6g lead under the bumper and ~20g silicone in the handle, to get to 335g unstrung, starting from the retail frame. He would get the pro stock of course, but math is similar
I'm not doubting the info or the sources, to be clear. His fast swings kind of suggest lower sw, but then again, Tsitsi swings his 350sw fairly quickly, although he really is a physically strong athlete
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Anni.Angel
Semi-Pro
Why would it ever be important if there is a pro using a lighter racquet with 1HBH?
Who cares what they use and with what technique? We have to find what suits us.
Who cares what they use and with what technique? We have to find what suits us.
jmacdaununder2
Legend
In the ‘Pros’ Racquets and Gear’ section, really?
(I know, I know, don’t feed the troll...).
bobeeto
Hall of Fame
It’s the “new user tag” for meIn the ‘Pros’ Racquets and Gear’ section, really?
(I know, I know, don’t feed the troll...).
slipgrip93
Professional
Interesting. It kind of segues with the reported 362g sw / 370g(?) Dunlop Max 200g stats that Steffi Graf swung with.
_FrankTheTank_
Professional
May I ask where you got the shapovalov numbers from. Can't find ANYTHING about his specs and I'm checking on google periodicly, lol.
Don't remember that was 3 years ago. This forum probably
If I'm guessing today I'd say 340 minimum for sure, but I'm guessing 350 just by the way he swings, his backhand in particular, but all his swings are long and deliberate. Loved the match vs Sinner, although he really lost his confidence in the 3rd set onwards
Tsitsipas was at 315 unstrung since the beginnings of his pro career, so 347 with 18x20 1.25 4G, now seems similar with the prototype
Dimitrov was at 350 until mid 2023 when, with Delgado, he went with a much lighter racquet and lower sw, and found a lot of success. I'm guessing his sw is now 335 or 340, not more
Musetti still at 340, and Thiem's exact specs were published by Babolat themselves
If I'm guessing today I'd say 340 minimum for sure, but I'm guessing 350 just by the way he swings, his backhand in particular, but all his swings are long and deliberate. Loved the match vs Sinner, although he really lost his confidence in the 3rd set onwards
Tsitsipas was at 315 unstrung since the beginnings of his pro career, so 347 with 18x20 1.25 4G, now seems similar with the prototype
Dimitrov was at 350 until mid 2023 when, with Delgado, he went with a much lighter racquet and lower sw, and found a lot of success. I'm guessing his sw is now 335 or 340, not more
Musetti still at 340, and Thiem's exact specs were published by Babolat themselves
velvetsledgehammer
Rookie
Gasquet and Stan played with a 370-380 SW. I don't think any of the younger one handers play with SW anywhere close to that.
Fairhit
Hall of Fame
Faster balls incoming, lots of spin, power is the name of the game today, to be able to react, is important to have a lighter racquet or the one hander gets punished even more.
After years of experimenting, I've found that balance and swing weight are more important than racket weight.
Unlike the forehand, which has both bent and straight arms, the one-handed backhand only has a straight arm, leaving little room for error. Timing the swing correctly and maintaining arm stability are crucial.
Under these circumstances, too high swingweight can cause you problems. Correct timing and arm stability are more reliable than the stability the racket provides.
Unlike the forehand, which has both bent and straight arms, the one-handed backhand only has a straight arm, leaving little room for error. Timing the swing correctly and maintaining arm stability are crucial.
Under these circumstances, too high swingweight can cause you problems. Correct timing and arm stability are more reliable than the stability the racket provides.
With these specs it's no wonder Musetti struggles on hard.
StringSnapper
Hall of Fame
why?
WYK
Legend
Recall she sliced like 95% of her backhand. Putting Dan Evans to shame, another one hander with a heavy stick.
Like Graff, Dan's stick is from a different time. Back then they used weight as much as design for stability. 22mm was considered wide back then.
My Prince Pro aluminum from 1979 is 356g strung with nylon. I used that when I was 8.
My college stick was a Prince Graphite midplus(93). That weighs 340g strung.
One hander since the time I could swing those things one handed.
Today, 35 yrs since I was in college, I use a 2022 Extreme TEAM(which is basically like a pro stock extreme). 61RA, 275g stock as HEAD does not add any lead to the hair pin on these models.
It's a bit modified, tho...
Well, there is a reason why these young guys are generally very bad in ROS. It is much easier to block/chip back serves with a heavier stick.
Heavier sticks also give players more easy power by allowing them to leverage gravity. Other than Shapo, these guys also struggle to crush the balls, especially Tsitsipas who could have hit the balls much harder with his height and body frame.
WYK
Legend
This is one of the main reasons I went with an Extreme recently. I don't really need the extra spin and power on most other shots(though I do welcome the help), but it is very difficult to go to a lighter frame and block back hard serves well. I tried it with a weighted up Gravity MP for the longest time and just gave up and went to the extreme.
WYK
Legend
At 320 unstrung, that is 15g of lead and silicon added to an Extreme Pro(though I think he uses the previous 98 version/lay up called the Tour).
it is surprisingly stable at this weight. I see a LOT of one handers use a modified Extreme 98, it just works well for them. I used one for a while and one of the better 1E's at the club uses one too.
_FrankTheTank_
Professional
Mpetshi Perricard has "315g naked, Lots of weight in the handle" according to his own words in an recent interview.
For todays standards not a light frame, but likely a low SW for an OHBH ATP player
For todays standards not a light frame, but likely a low SW for an OHBH ATP player
Maybe I misunderstood, but Tsitsipas plays with 360sw and most definitely doesn't struggle to crush balls. Maybe you haven't watched him recently, since he's now done with his racquet experimenting that started in H1 2024 and he went back to his old setup and crucially swingweight some months ago. Still struggling a bit due to his lowish ranking, meeting best players in first rounds is a problem, lacking a bit of form because not enough matches, but he's been playing good tennis
StringSnapper
Hall of Fame
Absolutely, and some of it is due to top heavy setup, not enough weight in the handle for a more normal one handed swing. All good one handers have a lot of weight in the handle, while his is super light for the swingweight
That setup makes his hand flick forward but racquet tip coming through late behind. If he didn't have his physique, and shoulders the size of a shipping container, he wouldn't be able to muscle it like that. Should've been corrected when he was 16 really
Kova for example has a ton of weight in the handle, also a Blade player, but 16x19 I think. Thiem's setup was closest to Stef's, but Thiem always paid a lot of attention to swing the whole arm, and he stood behind to give himself time to to so
Weight in the handle makes slices, stabs and blocks easier too, super important for defending the ohbh, see Fonseca for example. Or Federer
StringSnapper
Hall of Fame
why do you say that? what is it a good set up for?
StringSnapper
Hall of Fame
if pbb's post is accurate, i'm really surprised all these pros have their swing weight much higher than their static weight. i thought it was hard to do it like that.
my racquet without lead is 320 SW and 372g, with lead its 333 SW and 385g... do you think thats too headlight?
i'm wanting to experiment with more swing weight but the static weight is going crazy high. I use a yonex 95D and they're hard to get, so i wasn't able to get a fat enough grip for my hands so i've added a thicker grip on + an over grip. The thick one is lighter than leather but i still think its adding a lot of weight. I guess the next experiment is either trying to get a ligher thick grip, or just trying to accept a thinner grip.
WYK
Legend
Maybe not for municipal tennis courts. But modern tournament courts are extremely slow and full of grit that pro players are actually tripping and occasionally injuring themselves due to the their shoes being caught up by the grit.
Now, for some of the faster Asian venues and some faster indoor venues, you might be right.
WYK
Legend
Mpetshi his a very flat backhand, almost 70's style. As he would, the PD isn't really a spin monster, and he uses it for the power mainly.
Hitting flat and through the court with it, as well as punching back serves very well one handed.
I hit with a PD for a couple of weeks to try it out. You have to have very good timing to use a PD one handed. It is just so much more powerful than anything I have ever used previously. My partners said I got a good deal more on serve, so I tried to stick it out. But I just have too much of a wiper backhand to survive a PD. I developed it not just to get topspin on that side, but to control the Prince MP back in the day with nylon and gut(yes we were hybriding even back in the early 90's). But the PD has such a short contact span I just can not guide it with my BH. It takes way more skill than I gots.
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WYK
Legend
He uses a leather grip with two over grips according to his Changover PodCast interview. Potentially adding something like 20g+ to the handle.
Since he is sponsored, it is likely a WIlson leather grip and wilson pro OG. Certainly the weight of these are available somewhere on this forum would be my guess.
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
My son asked me the other day what pros with one handed (topspin) backhands use the Pure Aero. I was only able to immediately respond with two: Rajeev Ram and Francesca Schiavone. Do you all know of any others? Past or present? APD pros?
