Matching Specs of Different Model Frames? Also question about racquet handles.

[AeroPro Staff]

Hey! So I've been playing with my Pure Strike 16x19 frames since around March and I love them. However, I have been leaning towards leading them up a little bit as they dont feel hefty or stable enough against harder hitting players. My friend and teammate uses a customized Steam 99 and I absolutely love the feel of the weight and balance and it feels just right in terms of weight. Would it be a feasible idea to get my Strikes matched to the specs of his Steams? He also doesn't know the spec of his racquets as he got them customized at a shop. We estimated his frames to be around 12 ounces though.
Also! His frames have a much more pronounced flare at the butt of the handle when compared to my Strikes. Kinda feels like a Head handle the way it flares out. Is there a way to replicate that?

 

[Zoolander]

The steam and the strikes are pretty similar spec wise so you should be able to match them pretty closely. You would need some lead tape and something like bluetac to add weight to yours, and you really need a cheap set of scales that measure in grams to know what you need to do. And whether they would play the same when you match them is a different question alltogether.

To flare your buttcap just take your grip off and wrap around the buttcap half a dozen times with some electrical tape, then replace grip. Thats what i do. Dont like a buttcap with no flare, always feels like your hands going to fall off the end.

 

[esgee48]

You need to have your friend's Steam measured for mass, balance, SW (and TW). This should be done with no strings, no OG. If you want to, your could also measure his frame with everything on it, but this generally makes it harder to make your frames play the same. Then you should match your similarly stripped down frames to the same specs using lead tape. This assumes that your frames will be lighter overall than your friend's frame. If they're heavier (more massive), then try to adjust SW and balance. 2 cents.

 

[AeroPro Staff]

Funnily enough, it turned out to be impossible to match the specs of the two frames. My Strike stock was only 5g lighter than my friends leaded up Steam, with my racquets being 10pts HL compared to his 5pts HL. Oh well. I ended up throwing on 5g of lead at 3 and 9 on my Strike and I am still testing it out. Bit of a bummer we couldn't match the frames