superbooga said:About the second set of videos, putting the radar gun at the service line will drop the speeds by at least 10mph.
maverick1 said:I used to have one that looked and worked exactly like this, except it had the brand name SpeedCheck. I used it for cricket, which is what I played until last year when I switched to Tennis.
I felt it understated the speeds(or the speeds you see on TV are overstated). I have a good throwing arm, can throw a cricket ball(roughly like a baseball, but fractionally heavier and harder) 75 yards(225 ft) in the air, but the best throwing speed I could ever clock was 74 mph.
In terms of bowling speeds, the fastest in my team was only 68 mph, and a "first class"(cricket equivalent of a NTRP 6.5) fast bowler reached only 71 mph. But when you watch international matches on TV, the fastest bowlers are between 95 and 100, and even part-time bowlers who just jog in and turn their arm are in the high 70s.
shrakkie said:wow going by the OP's vids my serves must be above 100mph aswell,haha!:mrgreen:
boojay said:so would you not recommend getting the SpeedCheck then? Because I was about to get my hands on one.
maverick1 said:I think the manufacturer should have given this to drakulie for freeHe will probably generate at least 10 sales for them!
BigServer1 said:This is getting out of hand. Drak's serves are well into the 100MPH range. If you can hit 100+MPH, then post it, with radar. That goes for all of the haters out there. Drak, nice serves man, they look good on the video, I'm glad that someone posted serves with radar. So let's see....70lb kevlar in a PS 85. Try a PDR + with gut at 55lbs and see if you can't hit 150.![]()
Good work man, Peace,
Josh
drakulie said:Oddly enough I've hit with a Pure Drive a few times, but felt the swingweight was heavier than the 85. It was flying off the strings but absolutely no control.
edberg505 said:Yup, that's exactly what I thought. I had seen tons of kids and adults using those racquets so I decided to try it and see what everyone was raving about. So, I take the first 10 swings with the racquet and every ball flies a mile out. I think those racquets suck. Now, what I'd like to see you serve with are some of the old Wilson Hammers. I bet you could serve abou 120 using those things. Hahahaha.
drakulie said:Ashaway Kevlar Crossfire II, 16 gauge strung @ 70 lbs. Here is the link:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/descpageACASH-XFIRE2.html
maverick1 said:Actually, I thought it was well worth the price I paid ($100 in 1999). Unfortunately I don't have it any more because a friend of mine accidentally left it on top of his car and drove. It was never seen again.
I think anyone who can afford multiple rackets will find it worthwhile, if he is curious about speeds.
I felt it understated speeds, but I am not 100% certain. Consistency is more important than calibration error, and this device IS consistent. You can see that in drakulies videos. It is not like it randomly displays 80 mph or 125 mph.
The only drawback was that it had to be placed in close range unlike the more expensive guns that operate from a distance of 300 feet.
Also it picks up the speed of the first object in its range that moves faster than its cutoff(20 mph or 35 mph depending on the mode you set). This makes it bad for measuring bat or racket speeds, The racket will be continuosly accelerating while being in range the whole time. I am guessing it will show 20 mph regardless of how much faster you swing.
I think the manufacturer should have given this to drakulie for freeHe will probably generate at least 10 sales for them!
drakulie said:Thanks, I appreciate support from some of the non-haters.
Your post is ironic in that I actually posted these because I[/] find it ironic that "everyone" on this board could hit 100 +. Much easier said than done. And although it might not look like it is travleing fast----it is.
Oddly enough I've hit with a Pure Drive a few times, but felt the swingweight was heavier than the 85. It was flying off the strings but absolutely no control.
maverick1 said:Now you need to lobby Ashaway to give you free string!
A few TT members love you; a lot of them love to hate you; no one can deny you are a minor celebrity around here.
Now that you have shown, with your 100+ mph serve videos, that you can walk some of your mighty talk, your fanbase can only be growing![]()
BigServer1 said:Yeah no problem. I find it ironic as well that everyone here can serve 100+. Hence my call for video with radar to anyone who thinks they can
First you have get some skillz, which you admit to not possessing.no skillz said:So if I beat Drak, can I be a minor celebrity too?
onehandbh said:hey drak,
Have you tried poly/synth gut hybrid string jobs as well?
If so, how did it compare to the kevlar? I never considered
kevlar before. isn't it much stiffer than even poly?
maverick1 said:Now you need to lobby Ashaway to give you free string!
A few TT members love you; a lot of them love to hate you; no one can deny you are a minor celebrity around here.
Now that you have shown, with your 100+ mph serve videos, that you can walk some of your mighty talk, your fanbase can only be growing![]()
maverick1 said:First you have get some skillz, which you admit to not possessing.
That would probably still leave you short of the women, the cars and the charisma![]()
drakulie said:Here are some serves from a different view. They are all to the deuce side. I placed the camera facing away from me directly on the opposite side of the net a few feet off the floor. The radar gun is also on the opposite side of the net, and half way up the T.
98 MPH:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjBOV9zsrps
92 MPH up the T (How sweet it is to hit an ACE!) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvs1-q9ip5E
84 MPH Topspin (this one was a little long):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cH4w0H1V5c
Enjoy!
boojay said:I agree, but at the same time you have to appreciate that not everyone has access to or is willing to purchase a radar gun simply to prove a point to someone he doesn't even know over the net.
maverick1 said:You can get a very good estimate(may be as good this radar gun) of your serve speed if you can step through the video frame by frame and count them. Each frame is 1/30th of a second.
Because the ball slows down in the air and after the bounce, and the amount it slows is different at different speds, converting the frames to a speed can be tricky.
boojay said:estimates are just that though....estimates. And that also becomes a problem because as many have pointed out, the quality of videos are pretty low which makes it very difficult to come up with a decent estimate. I'm not doubting that your method is the best alternative given what we have to work with, but in the end, a radar gun (a good one, anyway), is the only way to know for sure.
chopps said:seems like it would be fun to get!
Where did you get it and how much?
darknight08 said:Nice MAn. I am not doubting you. You have clear evidence.
drakulie said:Thanks, glad you like it. Hopefully it will give people an understanding that you don't really have to swing "hard", rather with good technique you get decent results.
boojay said:I'm starting to figure that out for myself too. Even though it doesn't feel like I'm hitting with much pace, it seems opponents are having a much harder time returning my serves (if I can actually get them in). My serves probably aren't as fast as they used to be, but they're kicking up like crazy now and forcing quite a few errors.
No because as far as I know, Youtube doesn't let you step frame by frame.boojay said:nice. can you give estimates to some of the serves posted in this forum? if it's too time consuming, n/m.
maverick1 said:You can get a very good estimate(may be as good this radar gun) of your serve speed if you can step through the video frame by frame and count them. Each frame is 1/30th of a second.
Because the ball slows down in the air and after the bounce, and the amount it slows is different at different speds, converting the frames to a speed can be tricky.
But a book I have, The Physics and Technology of Tennis by Howard Brody et al, says that a
102 mph serve takes .71 sec(21.3 frames),
110 mph serve takes .65 sec(19.5 frames),
120 mph serve takes .59 sec(17.7 frames),
to get to the receiver's baseline.
These numbers are for fairly deep serves down the middle.
You will need a side view where you can see the ball being struck as well as the ball passing the opposite baseline.
drakulie said:Thanks, glad you like it. Hopefully it will give people an understanding that you don't really have to swing "hard", rather with good technique you get decent results.
Mike Cottrill said:Does your book give you and estimate on how much the ball will slow per foot before the bounce? Assume no wind and a no angle.
Thanks
Mike
Mike Cottrill said:Does your book give you and estimate on how much the ball will slow per foot before the bounce? Assume no wind and a no angle.
Thanks
Mike
drakulie said:Maverick, just to make sure I am following you:
A slower hit ball slows down less than a faster hit ball? Is that correct?
Ineteresting, any reason for this?
MotoMD said:What about if they want to hit a giganto kick serve? I would suppose that they go for the ultra frayed balls.