Problem matching racquets

[GuilhermeG]

Hi everybody,

I currently own two head liquidmetal instincts wich I "customized" by adding a head leather tour grip. My next step is matching them, but I'm having a hard time trying to do it.

Specs are as following:

Racquet 1:
Weight - 323g (it's 329g with a tourna grip on).
Balance point - 32cm from buttcap (7,21 pts HL?)
Swingweight - 327 (measured with swingtool)

Racquet 2:
Weight - 323g
Balance point - 32cm from buttcap also
Swingweight - 314

I must say that even though the initial specs are matched in balance and weight, they feel very different to me (obviously the one that has a higher swingweight is more powerful - much more imo).

I've been using tennis-warehouse customization tool in order to find out how much I need to add, but results are far from matched. Best I could get so far is match them on weight (333g) and swingweight (328g), but racquet 1 would maintain it's balance point (32cm), while racquet 2 would have it's balance point at 32,41cm from buttcap (5,92 HL?). Is this a good option or would it make a big difference?

Is there any way to calculate how to match them perfectly with the least added weight? I believe it wouldn't make me feel very tired even weighting around 335g.

I appreciate any help I can get for this difficult task.

Ps.: I know it's easier to get a professional to do this job, but it's very hard to find one with a Babolat RDC in Brazil, and I would have to ship my racquets to another city.

Thanks in advance,

GuilhermeG

 

[esgee48]

Which is more important to you? SW, weight or balance? You can add additional lead to the butt cap of #2 w/o affecting SW too much; probably 1-2 gm.

 

[GuilhermeG]

Which is more important to you? SW, weight or balance? You can add additional lead to the butt cap of #2 w/o affecting SW too much; probably 1-2 gm.

My inner instinct says that the balance is the least important spec for me, but I've read in many topics ppl saying otherwise regarding to balance.

I'm a bit confused right now, lol.

 

[esgee48]

Adding 1-2 gm to the butt cap will not change SW too much since it is below the pivot point. But it will change the balance back towards 32 cm. If you can feel the 2 gm weight difference, then you're pretty sensitive to weight. Most people would feel the SW difference more so than weight or balance.

 

[GuilhermeG]

Update:

It seems my initial measurements weren't very precise, especially regarding to swingweight.

Now I have matched both racquets to weight 327g and have a swingweight of 324, but there's a 0,5cm difference in balance, what makes them 5pts HL and 6,58pts HL.

I'll try them this weekend (if it stops raining in Rio...) and see if I notice the difference. Any personal experience related to different balance would help a lot.

Another thing bothers me: I had to add 4g to 12' in one of the racquets and the same 4g to the 6' of the other. Is it right to say that both are polarized, but in a different grade? I can't say that I like physics, lol.

Thanks,

Guilherme

 

[esgee48]

I have 2 racquets with SW ~340 and slightly different balance points. One is 2 pts more HL and I cannot tell the difference when swinging them. I would say try the 2 racquets out first before making any more changes.

The common definition for a polarized racquet setup is lead weights at the tip (12 o'clock) and the base or interior of the handle. Anyplace else is non-polarized. So your lead tape at 6 o'clock would not qualify as a polarized setup.

 

[Wuppy]

If you can tell the difference in balance points that are 5mm (3/16") off but otherwise exactly the same, you should be on tour.

 

[GuilhermeG]

Thanks, esgee.

Your help is very appreciated.

I'll try them asap and post my impressions.

 

[ced]

trying to make a Yonex Ultimum RD TI 80 UL into a SL

My Yonex Ultimum RDTI 80 SL weighs 12.6 oz with overgrip and dampener (no lead).

I could only get a UL and to match the SL I added lead in the handle (butt & top), replaced the original grip w/ leather, added an overgrip and dampener plus a tiny bit of lead at 9/3 ... strung the weight is 12.6 oz, same as the SL

Balance is identical in both racquets.

Strings are the same except for the crosses (SL= Bab N.vy, UL= PSGD) ,mains of both are Ashaway Dyn Soft 17 ... tension of both is 50#

the UL does not play with the solid feel or power of the SL .... is the X string the difference or have I missed something in trying to match the balance and weight ?

 

[esgee48]

Have you measured the swingweight between the 2 Yonexes?

 

[ced]

Have you measured the swingweight between the 2 Yonexes?

No, but using the TW calculater they should be very close to the same. Certainly feel it when swinging the racquets.

The UL just does not feel as solid as the SL

 

[esgee48]

There's about 15 grams less mass in the frames, so the UL can't feel as solid as the regular SL. The UL setup has to have less mass in the frame to start off. All you did was add mass at specific points.