Problem balancing racquets

[suunnygirl]

I have two racquets, both strung, both have different strings in them, both weigh 296g (with strings), but balances are different. 1 racquet is 4.5 pts HL and one is 3.56 pts HL. I have a third racquet without strings and that one weights 287g and is 7.65 HL.

First I added lead tape at 10cm's on the handles to bring the racquets back to 7pts HL. One racquet now weighs 299g and the other one weighs 306g.

So now I wanted to add lead tape to 3&9 and then counter balance back to 7pts HL.

I took the heavier racquet (306g) and added 3g of lead tape at 3&9. The center of that tape is at 16.3cm, so I then added 3g of lead tape at 16.3cm's from the butt to counter-balance it. It didn't go back to my 7pts HL setup. I would have to add another 4g at the 16.3cm mark to get it back to 7pts HL.

I thought you are supposed to add the same amount of lead tape on the handle the same distance the middle of the tape is on 3&9. It doesn't seem to be working though.

Does this make sense? If not, how do I fix it?

 

[psp2]

I have two racquets, both strung, both have different strings in them, both weigh 296g (with strings), but balances are different. 1 racquet is 4.5 pts HL and one is 3.56 pts HL. I have a third racquet without strings and that one weights 287g and is 7.65 HL.

First, what is the target weight and balance of your racquets. You never stated that. Basically, what are you trying to achieve?

It is mathematically impossible to balance the 2 strung racquets and keep both at 296 grams. The 2 strung racquets are ONLY 1 pt. off from being equal. Frankly, can you feel the difference in 1 pt of balance difference? I doubt it.

 

[suunnygirl]

Counter Balancing

My question is about counter balancing.

My racquet is 7pts HL before adding lead tape around the 3&9 position and then trying to counter balance it to keep the racquet at 7pts HL. So what I am trying to achieve is to add the lead tape and then counter balance to keep the racquet at the same balance.

If you add lead tape to the head of your racquet to counter balance it you are supposed to measure from the center of where you put the tape to the top of the head and then put the same amount of tape on the handle, the same distance from the butt.

I put 3g of lead tape near 3&9 on the head of my racquet. The center of the tape measures 16.3cm from the top of the head. I then placed 3g of lead tape on the handle 16.3cm from the end of the butt.

It did not counter balance the racquet and bring it back to 7pts HL. For me to bring the racquet back to the same balance it was before I added the tape, I would have to add an additional 4g of tape at the same place on the handle. That is more than double the amount of lead tape I added to the head of the racquet.

I thought you only needed to add the exact same amount of tape to the handle as you did to the head. Is this correct? Is this not correct? Should you need twice as much on the handle?

 

[TW Professor]

The TWU Customization tool will do this for you. Go to:

http://twu.tennis-warehouse.com/learning_center/customization.html

You will have to put your balance preferences in inches or centimeters, not points.

The Customizer will tell you where and how much lead to add to meet your goals. It automatically tries to find the closest solution that places lead at 2 and 10 o'clock, not 3 and 9. That is because the most stabilization occurs comes from adding lead there. That is because on off-center hits the racquet both twists around the long axis and rotates backward around an axis through your wrist. Lead at 2 and 10 better addresses both rotations and better increases stability.