Powerful racquets with stiff ploys

[Quackadily Blip]

Hi TT. I notice a major trend in racquets and strings is to use stiff tweener style racquets for power and then balance it by using stiff poly at high tensions. I don't see how people can think this is a good setup. It is bad for your arm, and defeats the purpose of having a powerful racquet. I think a better combination is a flexy racquet combined with poly at low tension which gives you more power, more dwell time and is much better for your arm. Tension is the biggest factor in determining stringed stiffness for ploys. For example even a very stiff poly like luxicon 4g or kirschbaum max power strung in the 40's is as comfortable as a soft poly strung in the high 60's.

 

[TennisCJC]

I agree. Also, stiff poly seem to play well just a little longer than soft polys too - they keep the snap back and produce good spin just a little longer.

But, my current rackets as volkl v1 pro's which have 68 flex with 22/23/22 beams. Beam is still relatively thin and volkl manages to make them play soft with the racket material, vibration eating handles and big grommets.

In general, I think you have it right. Thin beam at moderate to low tensions with proper weight and balance are still the ultimate in rackets in my view.

 

[derek08844]

Or use stiff racquets with stiff strings strung loose like me.......

 

[fuzz nation]

Also agree, but the young killers who still think they're immortal too often want to use gear similar to the top local sluggers or the pros on TV. This trend has been mystifying me for maybe the last ten years.

I've seen more than just one or two high level local teenagers come down with arm issues that sidelined them for a while, but the beat goes on. Kids want to swing out of their shoes with rigid frames that are tamed with stiff string beds. And pros who sell gear and strings are more than happy to promote this stuff.

Maybe the biggest problem is that nobody knows whether they're particularly susceptible to tennis elbow, etc. until after they run into trouble. Until that happens, lots of wannabe killers want to use the "most powerful" rigs they can.

 

[torpantennis]

Stiff powerful racquet tamed down by high tension poly, vs. flexy control racquet strung with gut/poly hybrid. Stiff poly has to be restrung every 6h, gut/poly every 30-40h. Guess what I use?

 

[Muppet]

But then what do we do with all of the stiff frames available on the market and in warehouses? If you can't use a stiff string in a stiff racquet, won't a soft string become a trampoline and lose control? I think if we put more thought into our purchases, we'd match a soft string with a flexible frame and a stiff string with a stiff frame. This will give us the right amount of deflection in the string bed. A stiff frame would not overpower the stiff string bed. The performance could be tuned further with tension choice. And this stiff setup would be targeted to the small percentage of players who could benefit from it. Most of us would want something a lot more comfortable. I find it very helpful to choose a string according to how much string bed deflection I'm getting, among other factors. A string that is too stiff over flexes my soft frames.

 

[Quackadily Blip]

That's the point I'm trying to make. To get the level of power you want the best way is to use a flexy racquet and then adjust the stiffness of strings and or the tension to get it where you want to be. If you do the other option and use a stiff racquet and tame it down with stiff strings at high tension, your arm will remind of it.

 

[sundaypunch]

Stiff powerful racquet tamed down by high tension poly, vs. flexy control racquet strung with gut/poly hybrid. Stiff poly has to be restrung every 6h, gut/poly every 30-40h. Guess what I use?

What are you basing the 30-40 hour estimate on? It was just 1-week ago that you were asking about gut/poly and saying you were thinking of trying it.

 

[torpantennis]

What are you basing the 30-40 hour estimate on? It was just 1-week ago that you were asking about gut/poly and saying you were thinking of trying it.

I'm not a string breaker, and I've previously used multi/poly for 15-20h.

And gut/poly is great! The first two hours were not that great, but now it's settled. I've used it for 6h already, and it's still like fresh. Definitely compliments my game!

 

[Tennisist]

Everything is correct. If your concern is comfort, soft racquet + powerful strings is the way to go. However ...

If your concern is winning, then you will soon end up with a stiff / powerful racquet and stiff strings.

The problem with soft racquets is that they are very low in power. At least that's been my experience with the racquets I've tried. ( The only exception being Volkl C10, which is both soft and powerful -- but heavy ). Yes, you can compensate for the lack of power with loose or powerful strings. But that is not a good combination to play with. Pleasant -- yes, effective -- no. No precision + too much ball spraying.

Stiffer racquets (generally) provide more inherent power. Tight strings provide better control and better spin. These setups win matches. They are bound to proliferate. Probably, the more competivite you are, the more likely you are to end up with something like this.

This trend may reverse if someone figures out how to produce a racquet which is both soft and powerful.

 

[torpantennis]

Everything is correct. If your concern is comfort, soft racquet + powerful strings is the way to go. However ...

If your concern is winning, then you will soon end up with a stiff / powerful racquet and stiff strings.

The problem with soft racquets is that they are very low in power. At least that's been my experience with the racquets I've tried. ( The only exception being Volkl C10, which is both soft and powerful -- but heavy ). Yes, you can compensate for the lack of power with loose or powerful strings. But that is not a good combination to play with. Pleasant -- yes, effective -- no. No precision + too much ball spraying.

Stiffer racquets (generally) provide more inherent power. Tight strings provide better control and better spin. These setups win matches. They are bound to proliferate. Probably, the more competivite you are, the more likely you are to end up with something like this.

This trend may reverse if someone figures out how to produce a racquet which is both soft and powerful.

I've figured out that combo! It's leading up the soft racquet to higher swingweight and static weight. I'm currently at 350SW/12.8oz. This works 100% with my game, because I'm a counter puncher with compact backswing, so I have no trouble accelerating the heavier racquet. Actually, the heavier racquet head deflects less and helps with redirecting the opponent's pace into whatever direction I want.

 

[Quackadily Blip]

Everything is correct. If your concern is comfort, soft racquet + powerful strings is the way to go. However ...

If your concern is winning, then you will soon end up with a stiff / powerful racquet and stiff strings.

The problem with soft racquets is that they are very low in power. At least that's been my experience with the racquets I've tried. ( The only exception being Volkl C10, which is both soft and powerful -- but heavy ). Yes, you can compensate for the lack of power with loose or powerful strings. But that is not a good combination to play with. Pleasant -- yes, effective -- no. No precision + too much ball spraying.

Stiffer racquets (generally) provide more inherent power. Tight strings provide better control and better spin. These setups win matches. They are bound to proliferate. Probably, the more competivite you are, the more likely you are to end up with something like this.

This trend may reverse if someone figures out how to produce a racquet which is both soft and powerful.

I disagree. First off Flexy racquets are very good control wise even with poly strung loose. Tight strings do not provide better spin only more control. Also many people think that loose strings increase spin. The more competitive a player you are does not increase the chance that you use stiff racquets and strings. The average flex of a pros racquet is substantially lower than the average flex of rec players racquets. Even Nadal who uses a apd has a lower flex than a regular apd so as not to have too much power. Also how do you explain the numerous pros who use low tension poly? Some even go as low as in the 20's.

 

[BreakPoint]

Hi TT. I notice a major trend in racquets and strings is to use stiff tweener style racquets for power and then balance it by using stiff poly at high tensions. I don't see how people can think this is a good setup. It is bad for your arm, and defeats the purpose of having a powerful racquet. I think a better combination is a flexy racquet combined with poly at low tension which gives you more power, more dwell time and is much better for your arm. Tension is the biggest factor in determining stringed stiffness for ploys. For example even a very stiff poly like luxicon 4g or kirschbaum max power strung in the 40's is as comfortable as a soft poly strung in the high 60's.

Or even better IMO, is a flexy racquet strung at low tension with a soft powerful non-poly string like natural gut or a multi. Your arm will thank you for it.

Much better for your long-term arm health to use a soft, low-powered racquet strung with a soft, high-powered string than to use a stiff, high-powered racquet strung with a stiff, low-powered string.

 

[BreakPoint]

I've figured out that combo! It's leading up the soft racquet to higher swingweight and static weight. I'm currently at 350SW/12.8oz. This works 100% with my game, because I'm a counter puncher with compact backswing, so I have no trouble accelerating the heavier racquet. Actually, the heavier racquet head deflects less and helps with redirecting the opponent's pace into whatever direction I want.

That's the kind of racquet most of the pros use. For example, Djokovic uses a very flexible racquet (somewhere between RA 51 - 60), but it is heavy with a high swingweight (around 370).

 

[RogueFLIP]

Hi TT. I notice a major trend in racquets and strings is to use stiff tweener style racquets for power and then balance it by using stiff poly at high tensions. I don't see how people can think this is a good setup. It is bad for your arm, and defeats the purpose of having a powerful racquet....

I use my setup in my signature bc after a countless number of demoing rackets, the APD with RPM "felt right".

And I'm only a lowly 3.5, so my technique is garbage.

Yet, I've been using this setup since 2010, and I haven't had any issues with my arm.

 

[ThirdEye]

I use my setup in my signature bc after a countless number of demoing rackets, the APD with RPM "felt right".

And I'm only a lowly 3.5, so my technique is garbage.

Yet, I've been using this setup since 2010, and I haven't had any issues with my arm.

I have the opposite experience. Played for 6 months with a Wilson Juice 100 Blx plus Tf Black Code at 24kg: I got elbow pain and my game sucked anyway. I then switched to a 10 years old flexy Yonex with poly at much lower tension: I can now put the ball where I want and my elbow pain went away. It is even more powerful than the Juice. Tested Apd, Pd, Steam 100, Head Extreme and Radical Graphene Pro, as they sounded like the latest fashion (I started playing tennis again 6 months ago, after 15 years of tennis inactivity, used to play with an old pro kennex 90 when I was a kid): all powerful and spinfriendly racquets, but they all vibrate like my first frame: a 40 bucks Wilson aluminium one. Heavy, flexy and comfy: that's all I want now, I'm a big guy in his thirties, I can provide the power.