Nadal added extra lead?

YellowFedBetter

Hall of Fame
Been watching the TC replay of the Raonic match and for the second straight match the commentators mentioned Nadal adding some more lead to his setup after his little off season Head experiment and said both times his speed and RPM's have picked up slightly this tournament. Is this true? Can someone shed light on this?
 

Arti

Professional
Rafa tinkers with his specs, as do all of our players. We work to give them the equipment they need to perform at their highest levels. I cannot disclose Rafa's specs at this time, as he has asked us not to release them. But, if that changes in the future, I will let you know.
is his old string duralast still available, do you know what may be similar to it?
 

YellowFedBetter

Hall of Fame
Rafa tinkers with his specs, as do all of our players. We work to give them the equipment they need to perform at their highest levels. I cannot disclose Rafa's specs at this time, as he has asked us not to release them. But, if that changes in the future, I will let you know.
No problem, thanks again for the response!
 
Rafa tinkers with his specs, as do all of our players. We work to give them the equipment they need to perform at their highest levels. I cannot disclose Rafa's specs at this time, as he has asked us not to release them. But, if that changes in the future, I will let you know.

you are kidding me as if bobolat will release it either...no offense but it is open secret that rest of the world never know what pros are using :p
 
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Attila_the_gorilla

Guest
Some people on this forum are convinced that players don't have a clue about lead tape and would be happy to play with anything they can find. Thanks for confirming otherwise.
 

nn

Hall of Fame
I don't trust any company (cheater :mad:) because pros use something else and general public never knows real spec (real racquet is out of question)

Babolat was sued while ago if I am not wrong.
 

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
The lighter balls probably have more of a say on this than the changes to Nadal's racket. I'd say it's 99% the lighter balls, and maybe 1% a few extra grams on his racket, if they're there.
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
Been watching the TC replay of the Raonic match and for the second straight match the commentators mentioned Nadal adding some more lead to his setup after his little off season Head experiment and said both times his speed and RPM's have picked up slightly this tournament. Is this true? Can someone shed light on this?
Is this why RAFA is serving HUGE with incredible Sampras like Accuracy in this aussie open ??
 

Kalin

Legend
... the Raonic match ... the commentators mentioned Nadal adding some more lead ... Can someone shed light on this?

I know it's supposed to be a trade secret but I'll give it to you for free because I'm in a charitable mood today.

Based on my observation, some lead was indeed added. I'd say around 50 pounds and it was inserted into an orifice of Raonic's that can't be mentioned here and not just because it is a trade secret.
 

Babolat Official

Hall of Fame
I know RPM blast is fairly stiff poly. but that RPM blast Rough seem to be softer...or is that just my imagination ?

In our experience, it is. But, as we have a playtest going, I'd rather hear more from our playtesters on this forum before expanding (I think even saying so now may influence perception :))
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
In our experience, it is. But, as we have a playtest going, I'd rather hear more from our playtesters on this forum before expanding (I think even saying so now may influence perception :))
See how perceptive I am with minute differences in these strings... You guys should make me the Official Babolat string tester. lol. I can sense 1/4 lbs difference in tension even
 

Babolat Official

Hall of Fame
you are kidding me as if bobolat will release it either...no offense but it is open secret that rest of the world never know what pros are using :p

We've released player specs in the past on these boards. If you do a search, you can find it mentioned in a few threads. Each time we do so, we release them with the players' permission ahead of time. In this case, we do not have permission to release Rafa's specs, so we respect his wishes and keep the information confidential.
 

markwillplay

Hall of Fame
Sorry, I mean no personal disrespect, but Bab and Rafa "not releasing how much lead" is absolutely hilarious. Why is it a secret? I mean, silly, what harm could come from releasing that information? Does he think that if his competition knows this that he won't have some sort of advantage? Gimme a break. If people know what his specs are and where he puts his lead, that would only result in selling more lead. Wait, maybe another pro will get the info and then do the exact same thing...and then be as good as him..... Silly.
 

AndreBtr

New User
Sorry, I mean no personal disrespect, but Bab and Rafa "not releasing how much lead" is absolutely hilarious. Why is it a secret? I mean, silly, what harm could come from releasing that information? Does he think that if his competition knows this that he won't have some sort of advantage? Gimme a break. If people know what his specs are and where he puts his lead, that would only result in selling more lead. Wait, maybe another pro will get the info and then do the exact same thing...and then be as good as him..... Silly.
Actually there is a lot of info about the changes on the internet, especially in spanish. Also is not rocket science, just more weight. Who cares about the very especific technical specs? we are tennis players not engineers.
 

markwillplay

Hall of Fame
Don't get me wrong, I am certainly intrigued by his set up. Fun to know what the pros do. Just makes no sense to me that they would not want their specs out there. Maybe they don't care but the racquet manufacturers don't want them to put them out there because it may take away from the stock frame they are selling. I suppose that would make sense....
 

lidoazndiabloboi

Hall of Fame
Sorry, I mean no personal disrespect, but Bab and Rafa "not releasing how much lead" is absolutely hilarious. Why is it a secret? I mean, silly, what harm could come from releasing that information? Does he think that if his competition knows this that he won't have some sort of advantage? Gimme a break. If people know what his specs are and where he puts his lead, that would only result in selling more lead. Wait, maybe another pro will get the info and then do the exact same thing...and then be as good as him..... Silly.

As some players don't mind, revealing their specs, others do, and the decision is totally up to them. From videos that I've seen, Babolat customizers work with Rafa on court, stringing and modding different rackets for him to try. Players do not focus so much on how much lead tape is added as much as how the racket feels in their hand and how it swings through the ball. If adding more weight feels good, then they'll stick with it.
 
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Attila_the_gorilla

Guest
I can't recall Rafa playing with so much consistent depth as he is in now, This may well be thanks to some extra lead tape.
In the past his issue on quicker courts used to be giving up too many short balls.
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Sorry, I mean no personal disrespect, but Bab and Rafa "not releasing how much lead" is absolutely hilarious. Why is it a secret? I mean, silly, what harm could come from releasing that information? Does he think that if his competition knows this that he won't have some sort of advantage? Gimme a break. If people know what his specs are and where he puts his lead, that would only result in selling more lead. Wait, maybe another pro will get the info and then do the exact same thing...and then be as good as him..... Silly.

They may not want this discussed. Some players don't like unwanted attention and questions, which can jinx them. Same reason why some people don't like to reveal some details.
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
He is man.....that is why he is in the Final.... even Roger won't be able to read where RAFA is going with the serve....he couldn't beat him when he knew where RAFA was going,,,,now imagine what will happen when Roger has no idea...
 

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
I know RPM blast is fairly stiff poly. but that RPM blast Rough seem to be softer...or is that just my imagination ?

This is likely due to the fact that rough versions of strings tend to be slightly thinner. There are a bunch of different ways to texture a string, so it depends. But if it's like ALU Rough, it's basically the original string with indented cuts in them, which makes it effectively thinner, or at least less material, in those areas. And thinner strings tend to be softer even if it's the same model. I'm sure there's an engineering explanation based on amount of mass or circumference or something, similar to calculating stiffness.
 

hoodjem

G.O.A.T.
He is man.....that is why he is in the Final.... even Roger won't be able to read where RAFA is going with the serve....he couldn't beat him when he knew where RAFA was going,,,,now imagine what will happen when Roger has no idea...
OK. (I thought his serving looked good or better than usual, but if you say so.)

HUGE!
 

FedLIKEnot

Professional
If he wants to keep it private so what? As was commentated he played around with his specs a little and found something that added back a little oomph into his game which is good and hopefully keeps him viable on tour a little longer much the way the racquet changed helped Federer....
 

big ted

Legend
i think they said carlos moya advised him to try more weight in the head. from what i remember moya played with a pretty light racquet that was heavier in the head for more power..

these days it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep their racquet specs a secret.. don't some coaches take other players racquet specs to see how they hit the ball ? i think i heard lendl would try out opponents frames to see what shots are easy or hard to hit
 

moon shot

Hall of Fame
He is man.....that is why he is in the Final.... even Roger won't be able to read where RAFA is going with the serve....he couldn't beat him when he knew where RAFA was going,,,,now imagine what will happen when Roger has no idea...

Thanks for spoiling the match.
 

SpinToWin

Talk Tennis Guru
i think they said carlos moya advised him to try more weight in the head. from what i remember moya played with a pretty light racquet that was heavier in the head for more power..

these days it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep their racquet specs a secret.. don't some coaches take other players racquet specs to see how they hit the ball ? i think i heard lendl would try out opponents frames to see what shots are easy or hard to hit
That was Agassi, not sure if Lendl did it as well though
 

DNShade

Hall of Fame
That was Agassi, not sure if Lendl did it as well though
Lendl would have Bosworth (Warren and Jay and crew) set up sticks identical to his opponents - which was pretty easy since they worked on a lot of his opponents equipment too - and then have players play with them against him so he could get used to how the ball felt coming off their sticks and play with them himself so he could feel what the sticks could do well etc.
 

Booger

Hall of Fame
Any guesses as to the balance on his new setup? Someone tried to tell me that announcers called it head heavy, but that seems highly improbable. Maybe only 4-6 points head light, but no way it's head heavy.
 

THE MAN

Professional
Any guesses as to the balance on his new setup? Someone tried to tell me that announcers called it head heavy, but that seems highly improbable. Maybe only 4-6 points head light, but no way it's head heavy.
Yeah.....I was surprised when they keep saying head heavy
 
I look forward to seeing opposite emotions again. Rafa all smiles and Federer with a tear or two at the trophy presentation!
Yep, Fed had '...a tear or two at the trophy presentation!' - can't remember seeing Rafa look grimmer though, at least until the ceremony started, then he was back to his usual, affable self. (Fan of both.)
 
I look forward to seeing opposite emotions again. Rafa all smiles and Federer with a tear or two at the trophy presentation!
Yep, Fed had '...a tear or two at the trophy presentation!' - can't remember seeing Rafa look grimmer though, at least until the ceremony started, then he was back to his usual, affable self. (Fan of both.)
 
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