Pros and Cons of 10+ Pts Headlight?

[Z-Man]

What are the pros and cons of going 10-12 Points Headlight? How should this effect serves, volleys, groundstrokes, etc?

I tried my POG LB with various configurations and found that the heavier, more headlight (12oz/11pts HL) frame generated the highest percentage of good serves. (This is very close to the stock config.) A more head-heavy setup (11.7/7pts HL) generated more pace and kick, but at lower percentage for me. Anyone got a favorite configuration for a POG or POG LB?

Are there any major drawbacks to using a stick that's as much as 12pts headlight? It's 12oz, so it has some mass. Should I expect stability problems or lack of punch on volleys? I know everyone is different and what matters is how the setup plays in my hands, but I'd like to find out if there is any conventional wisdom here. I'm a 4.5 baseline counterpuncher, but I play a good bit of doubles too. Thanks for your help...

 

[golden chicken]

POG long is 28" right? so 12 pts HL is the same as 8 pts HL on a standard racket. that's not unheard of.

personally, i find rackets more than 8 points head light get pushed around and lack "plow through the ball" especially when you hit near the top of the hoop.

you can try it out for yourself. have someone hit hard for you to volley. are your "not perfect contact" shots causing the racket to twist in your hand? are you coughing up sitters? are you late getting the racket head in position? are you consistently hitting above the sweetspot?

then, check your groundstrokes. are you swinging smoothly? are you coming around too fast? too slow? are you getting that sweet spot yet?

if these things are happening to you, then try a little lead tape. use the lead tape to make the racket more stable and to add a little mass to the head if you're not getting the pop you want. use the lead to make it more head light if you're coming around too late, etc.

 

[timmyboy]

i dont' find a problem with the plow through the ball. i get more than enough power with both the ncode/tour 90 and the rdx 500. easy.

 

[thejackal]

I find that too HL makes a racket too "whippy" and unstable.

 

[R-Fed]

I play with a N-Code Six-One 95 that is 10 points hl light and and plows through the ball a great deal, if you can generate decent racquet head speed. Because of that I have great accuracy on serves, decent amount of punch on the volleys and accurate ground strokes while swinging for the fences.

 

[AAAA]

What are the pros and cons of going 10-12 Points Headlight? How should this effect serves, volleys, groundstrokes, etc?

Depends on the racquet stiffness in head and throat.

 

[louis netman]

Also depends on the amount of mass in the head. For example: an 8 pts HL racket weighing 12.5 oz will have the same mass in the head as when you add weight in the butt to make it 16 pts HL, that is, the mass doesn't change....Question is, can you still swing it at relatively fast speed???

 

[Keifers]

Two of my favorite racquets, Prince CTS Approach OS and Prince DB 26 OS, are weighted up to 371g/13.1oz/11 pts HL and 372g/13.1/11.5 pts HL, respectively. Both are quite maneuverable (fine for doubles, for example) but only because they are so head light.

One advantage of weighting a frame to be very head light is that you can then add weight at specific points on the hoop and still have a HL racquet. I really like adding lead or head tape at 3 and 9 o'clock (sometimes 2-4 and 8-10) because it adds some very nice punch to all shots -- and adds definition to my swing (in my mind, at least!).

 

[Z-Man]

Good points. I believe there is sufficient mass in the head, or at least the whole racquet is heavy enough to plow through the ball. At 12oz and 28in long, I'm afraid to add any more swingweight. I can take the leather grips off and add weight to the head to keep the same swingweight but with a more HH balance, but it seems my serve % goes down (even if the ball is heavier).

That is something I've noticed that I'm wondering if it is real or imagined. Has anyone else found that a heavier, very headlight racquet is good for serving? I feel like I have better control of exactly where the head is, so maybe I'm making better contact. I'll try this setup out for a few weeks and see if my groundstrokes suffer. Thanks for your responses.

 

[Mies]

For the record, balance is not the most important factor when considering the "plow through factor", swingweight is more important. While both are dependent on the weight distribution, balance says nothing about swingweight and vice versa.

For instance, add 3 grams to the tip of your racket. The balance point will hardly change, but the swingweight will be significantly boosted.

Compare the Nxis one 95 and the tour 10 Gen II. Only 6 gram weight difference, the Nsix one is more headlight but has 15 points more on the swingweight! Now that's a big difference while the difference in balance is hardly noticeable.

Mies