I've playing with the Liquidmetal 4 for the past 3 years. I've started geing shoulder pain. I've tried the PK Kinetic 5g. Better on the arm, but not much pop. I also frame a lot of balls with the PK. Anybody have any suggestions for a racquet that's arm friendly and provides some pop. I'm 44 years old and not getting any younger.
Need arm friendly racquet
- Thread starter Barnes68
- Start date
It's going to be tough to find an arm-friendly frame with the power of the Liquidmetal 4. I would normally suggest the PK Ki 5, but it won't be much more powerful than the 5G. You might try the PK Ki 15, which I never tried, but it's supposedly more powerful than the Ki 5.
I've played with the Prince EXO3 Tour 100 in both 16x20 and 18x20, and it had surprising power for me off the ground, though not so much on serve and at the net. It's also the most comfortable racquet I tested, so maybe you should give it a try.
I've played with the Prince EXO3 Tour 100 in both 16x20 and 18x20, and it had surprising power for me off the ground, though not so much on serve and at the net. It's also the most comfortable racquet I tested, so maybe you should give it a try.
Magic of tennis
Semi-Pro
Also try Volkl Organix 10 295g. It has a lot of power with arm friendliness
I never tried that one, but I did try the heavier Organix 10 325. The Organix 10 325 is very comfortable, but it has to be the least powerful racquet I've ever used since graphite came along.
The problem your going to have is arm friendly raquets tend to be more flexy and thus less powerful. Both Pro Kennex and Volkl make some nice arm friendly frames but they won't have the power of your Head. If you didn't like the 5G you might like the 7G. It's the more powerful sister racquet in the kinetic series and is still very arm friendly. It is 1/2 longer, so keep that in mind. If you liked the 5G except for the muted power than I'd suggest giving the 7G a try.
mikeler
Moderator
If you do try the 7G, you need to give it a few outings. The extra 1/2" takes quite a bit of time to get used to. The great thing about the frame is that it feels like a medium powered frame but is great on the arm.
fuzz nation
G.O.A.T.
If you're framing the ball too much with your PK, that might just be an issue with your technique or just that you're using a racquet that you're not used to yet. If the heft and balance of the PK is significanly different from the LM 4, it will probably be easier for you to put the ball in the heart of your strings more often with one over the other.
It's tricky to define exactly what makes any racquet "arm friendly" for an individual player, but adside from getting consistently good contact on the sweet-spot, it's usually smart to consider softer strings if you're using something on the stiffer side of the street. If you have any poly in your racquet now, try something else and see what happens. As far as I've seen, poly is usually harder on elbows than shoulders, but it could be worth a try.
Sometimes shoulder pain can result from "arming" the ball too much, but some shoulders object to a racquet that's too heavy, especially for hitting lots of serves. Your LM 4 isn't a terribly hefty beast, so I'd only worry about hurting your shoulder with that frame from over-swinging with it.
Soft frames will typically be kinder to elbows, but can also yield less "pop". If you think you need a frame with a lot of flex, you will also want it to have some extra weight so that it can deliver some power when you swing it.
It's tricky to define exactly what makes any racquet "arm friendly" for an individual player, but adside from getting consistently good contact on the sweet-spot, it's usually smart to consider softer strings if you're using something on the stiffer side of the street. If you have any poly in your racquet now, try something else and see what happens. As far as I've seen, poly is usually harder on elbows than shoulders, but it could be worth a try.
Sometimes shoulder pain can result from "arming" the ball too much, but some shoulders object to a racquet that's too heavy, especially for hitting lots of serves. Your LM 4 isn't a terribly hefty beast, so I'd only worry about hurting your shoulder with that frame from over-swinging with it.
Soft frames will typically be kinder to elbows, but can also yield less "pop". If you think you need a frame with a lot of flex, you will also want it to have some extra weight so that it can deliver some power when you swing it.
I thinks that you're right on track with the comment about over swinging. I was playing a guy that was hitting pretty hard and I was trying to match him. I never had problems with the LM 4, before that match. Thanks!
Prodigy1234
Rookie
Try the Blade Team, its light but flexy at the same time.
ChipNCharge
Professional
If you've been playing with the LM4 for three years, and you're just now feeling shoulder pain, I doubt it's the frame that's the problem.
Muppet
Legend
It sounds to me that the LM4 is too light now. With a heavier racquet, the racquet will do more of the work for you, and you won't need to over-swing. This might help:
http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/RacquetSelector.html
