'polarize'?

Shroud

Talk Tennis Guru
What does it mean 'polarize'? What difference/benefit/effect does it have 'polarize' and 'de-polarize'?

SOme rackets have more mass at the tips and the weight is on the poles so those rackets are polarized in their weight distribution.

Mostly this is from modding them and adding weight at 12pm and in the handle.

Supposedly the polarized frames with allow for more spin.

An example would be you take a racket and add 10g to the racket. One racket you put 5 g at the tip and 5g at the handle. Take the same racket and add the 10g at the balance point in the middle of the racket.

THey will weigh the same and have the same balance point but play differently.
 

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
What does it mean 'polarize'? What difference/benefit/effect does it have 'polarize' and 'de-polarize'?

It means the weight is more on the outsides of the racket. When you have a racket in your hand it is hard to tell if the racket weight is concentrated in the center of the racket or on the ends because the center of mass determines everything until you strike a ball. When you strike a ball it is better you have the weight behind the ball. If you strike the ball primarily in the center of the mains every time it is best to concentrate the weight in somewhere on the centerline of the frame (handle to throat or 12 o'clock.) If a lot of your ball striking is done off center it would be better to move the weight off center but moving the weight to farther from the center of the racket has the biggest change of twistweight.
 

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
Polarized: mass concentrated in the head at 12 and in the handle towards the butt cap.

Depolarized: mass concentrated in the head at 3/9 or towards throat and in the handle it's more evenly distributed.

Polarized frames usually feel faster but less stable. Depolarized frames usually feel sluggish but more stable. This assume equal static weight. And there are many shades of gray between the two.

One clue as to how two stock frames would compare in this context, given the same static weight and similar balance point a polarized frame would have a higher swingweight value but might also be a little more head light. A depolarized frame would have a lower SW value and might be a little less HL.

You can take a stock depolarized frame and polarize it but it's going to become extremely powerful and have a high static weight very fast. A stock polarized frame can be depolarized but its launch angle can become less consistent.
 
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