All the best in the future if you ever do get the chance demo a few frames and if you don’t gel with them in the first 5-10 minutes I’d move on. Good to play it safe if you’re not demoing or as you did win the tournament with the Head look into that when it comes to thinking of changing. Happy hitting
Good luck! Nah, like many of these types of threads (ie, "need help picking a new racquet") a narrative w/in a narrative starts to develop lol - this one triggered the old arguments of "stick with what you got", "you can win with anything if you're good", "try these new xyz frames cause they're awesome", "100in power frames aren't just for middle aged hackers anymore", etc.. What made this interesting and new is the narrative around how far can one go in their tennis journey without any lessons just based on pure athleticism ;-)
Nah, you haven't upset anyone, we just want to see some videos of you playing. It must be interesting to say the least.
Yeah I don’t think you upset anyone as tennis at the rec level is all about fun and fitness, you being coached makes a little more sense as muscle memory comes into play. Athleticism is very important no doubt I had an ex pro boxer that I was coaching and the guy was incredible if he had put 100 into tennis as a junior he could of got really far life is unfair sometimes someone can put 100 hours in then someone more naturally gifted comes put in 20 and beats them that’s just the way it goes I think we were more intrigued than anything because you’d expect 4.5 level players to hit some kind of consistent ball I guess you were keeping the points short. I don’t have much time for ytube but sure I’d sub why not.
Yeah D1 basketball height, still athletic, finding no issues controlling a Pure Drive? I can imagine the points are short. This guy was destined to be the 4.5 GMP.
Sure.
I assumed that was further along in the tournament. Unless it broke first round he still did pretty good with it.
It was a vague answer that’s why I didn’t recommend the PD as it seemed he won and beat the better opponents using some random Head racquet and that is also why I recommended more control orientated racquets that still have good power as Head aren’t known for their power frames. Unless it was a boom or extreme? Would be nice if OP could clear that up as it would be easier to recommend him some frames to demo.
Total mass is only one component of torsional stability. Beyond that, the PD's elliptical hoop cross-section, very high twist weigh (15.7 strung on the 2025) and layup mapping all combine to offset a huge portion of fluttering/twisting against high-velocity impact. And while, in principle, 100's tend to be more susceptible to perimeter instability than smaller heads, in practice, most of the current 100" tweeners are well beyond the baseline minimum required by most players. The PD, EZ100, FX500, etc. are all highly stable, independent of just total mass or head size. Purporting otherwise would be ignoring the myriad of high level players, including ATP pros, who use them (some previous, more-or-less identical version) successfully, day in and day out, against the heaviest of heavy hitters.
I doubt a competitive male ATP pro is going to use a stock PD or any other unmodified 300g frame.
That is likely true in a lot of cases, though static weights and swing weights have been plummeting in recent past, so specs that are closer to stock weightings wouldn't be surprising. Regardless, those frames are still being used as platforms, and effective platforms at that. So the OP doesn't necessarily need to switch to something higher-weight in stock form, much less so a thin-beamed flexy control frame. If he really thinks he needs to, he can simply add a bit of lead, while holding everything else he's already used to at a constant.
The Speed MP is a cross between a control and power frame. The current iteration is about 60% power frame, 40% control frame.
Great racquet yes as used by sinner it’s more of an all round racquet but when you naturally produce your own power these control orientated frames with good power are great I had recommended it to you because unless you use a lot of topspin the PD is hard to tame and you might have to string high 55 lbs 25kg and higher which I recommend to nobody as that’s an easy way to get injured maybe demo both?
Sinner uses the old Graphene Touch Speed MP. Although imo the Graphene 360+ version is the best of the last several years.
No pro or high level player is using a stock racquet full stop not even juniors even though I saw one junior rip up the junior circuit with a 285g 300sw racquet till he was 16 beating some of the best juniors and adults from everywhere and took a lot of convincing to get him to change his gear. In the ATP you wouldn’t be able to return serve with a stock 300g racquet not stable enough
Yeah some type of speed he’s incredible I watched him from close the man is like a robot he hits a very heavy ball.
I’ve never used the Speed but I rate it as a great racquet as I’ve seen good players use it.
its a good racquet for sure. and yes sinner really does give a heavy ball with it. the graphene xt speed mp available now for $100 is the same mold Sinner uses, different layup however.
You calling Jordan Thompson and Taro Daniel, Not Pros?
retail version of sinner's speed is far easier to swing than the current one.
But his final on court customized one is closer to the current retail one so if OP does not want to customize just buy the latest one and call it a day.
Totally agree with this some of the specs I hear some 4.0 to 5.0 players use blows my mind but the specs of the stock racquets are for the most part fine for rec players like the speeds in stock form or slightly customised.
100%. Thus, my entire initial post.
Btw I’m not trying to be rude but unless I’m really intrigued,think I have something to learn or interested in the topic I tend to skip the longer posts. Please don’t take it personally as that’s just me I say this so if it happens in the future I don’t offend you as that’s not my intention.
I just skim through the posts as I jump on sporadically my apologies if I offended you.
All good. Never any offense.
However there are pros that do use unmodified advanced player frames, namely heavier ones with smaller head sizes. So I disagree with your previous assertion that stock 100-inch frames are more challenging and subsequently require a higher skill level.
I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on that point then, which is fine. Ultimately, I think both can offer their challenges — the smaller-headed, heavier frames trending towards being too unforgiving and/or too low on power-to-weight ratio at times, and the higher-power 100's trending towards being too explosive or possibly tough to control in certain moments and/or for certain strokes, whether in stock form or otherwise. Both require a certain level of skill and coordination to maximize their usability, and neither are a universal silver bullet.However there are pros that do use unmodified advanced player frames, namely heavier ones with smaller head sizes. So I disagree with your previous assertion that stock 100-inch frames are more challenging and subsequently require a higher skill level.
Could be why they call them tweener frames
Might have been strings but I suspect it’s the VCore’s low flex not suiting your preferences. The way you’re talking reminds me of people who like stiff frames talking about their experience with more flexible frames.
