jersey34tennis
Professional
I'm always tinkering with frames. Big fan of heavy 11-13 ounce sticks and i've tried adding weight to a lot of frames over the years with mostly lead tape and sometimes silicon. Going from brand to brand i'm going to list the frames that played the best with the mods (don't have exact specs as some racquets are coming and going from my posession.)
Prince tt warrior mp and o/s ; didn't do wonders for adding pace but the stability and the feel wasn't compromised. loved the feel when either frame was bulked up and could carve a drop shot or bite a slice anytime i wanted.
Head youtek extreme ; moved it up to about 12.3 ounces with weight the length of the handle and it plays like how you'd envision a softer, more controllable pure drive roddick should play. the .25 and the round head gives you enough leverage and spin to gasquet backhands regularly. i could never hit my one-handed backhand with the pure drives of any generation but for similar specs i could crack that shot at will.
Wilson newest blx blade 98 16x19 ; at 12.4 ounces with generous lead at sides and under grip strung with lux alu power and a dunlop leather grip this thing really shines. swingweight feels like 330's and managable. could find angles but i could really penetrate the court with this stick. i liked prestige pros but this racquet plays better for a two-handed backhand than the prestige pros do at this setup. just solid, crisp, nice grip shape and can really go after my shots .
wilson steam 100 (11.8 ounces, silicon in handle, lead on sides of frame. 330 swingweight) . took out the flimsy feel and just made it a very solid all court stick especially for two handed backhand. strung with revenge at 56 lbs, maybe the stiff poly brought back some of the feel. never hated a racquet more in stock form and loved it after it'd been weighted.
Dunlop 300's. 11.9 ounces. all in handle with head rip control. i was in a tommy haas-inspired mood and i know he never used this frame but making it more headlight , a little more stable and a lot more whippy. with this setup i could really go after a topspin drive backhand return on the rise and never worried about taking it take. it was a aerogel 300 for the record.
next experiment is a 11.8 ounce wilson steak 96. all weight on the handle. going with soft multi and trying to take the ball on the rise with this frame just is a piece of cake. not much for spin but i've managed to channel my inner nalbandian and angle off returns and hit nice deep drives very consistently with this frame
Prince tt warrior mp and o/s ; didn't do wonders for adding pace but the stability and the feel wasn't compromised. loved the feel when either frame was bulked up and could carve a drop shot or bite a slice anytime i wanted.
Head youtek extreme ; moved it up to about 12.3 ounces with weight the length of the handle and it plays like how you'd envision a softer, more controllable pure drive roddick should play. the .25 and the round head gives you enough leverage and spin to gasquet backhands regularly. i could never hit my one-handed backhand with the pure drives of any generation but for similar specs i could crack that shot at will.
Wilson newest blx blade 98 16x19 ; at 12.4 ounces with generous lead at sides and under grip strung with lux alu power and a dunlop leather grip this thing really shines. swingweight feels like 330's and managable. could find angles but i could really penetrate the court with this stick. i liked prestige pros but this racquet plays better for a two-handed backhand than the prestige pros do at this setup. just solid, crisp, nice grip shape and can really go after my shots .
wilson steam 100 (11.8 ounces, silicon in handle, lead on sides of frame. 330 swingweight) . took out the flimsy feel and just made it a very solid all court stick especially for two handed backhand. strung with revenge at 56 lbs, maybe the stiff poly brought back some of the feel. never hated a racquet more in stock form and loved it after it'd been weighted.
Dunlop 300's. 11.9 ounces. all in handle with head rip control. i was in a tommy haas-inspired mood and i know he never used this frame but making it more headlight , a little more stable and a lot more whippy. with this setup i could really go after a topspin drive backhand return on the rise and never worried about taking it take. it was a aerogel 300 for the record.
next experiment is a 11.8 ounce wilson steak 96. all weight on the handle. going with soft multi and trying to take the ball on the rise with this frame just is a piece of cake. not much for spin but i've managed to channel my inner nalbandian and angle off returns and hit nice deep drives very consistently with this frame
