Pros rackets

[zorg]

Why is it when theyh show a close up of pros rackets they have no scratches on them. Pros use rackets about half a year, and they hit the ground enough times in a match. So why is it they have perfect unscratched rackets, and my racket is all beat up from 2 months of use? This goes to Safin a lot. He throws his racket all the time, sometimes he breaks it, but sometimes not. And just now, he threw it, they showed a close up, and it is fine, not scratched at all. Are pros rackets covered in some special finishing to not scratch up?

 

[AkutsuJin]

HAHA good question i've been wondering that myself.

 

[RafaN RichardG]

even though its close, its not crystal clear. can you see physically the ridges(if that particular pro is using a real LM) on the LM racquets on tv? not really. like i mean unless youve got a racquet right in your hand, you cant see the scrathes.
if you hold one in your hand youll see. i held venus racquet after wimbledon and you could see some scratches and even a grass stain! obviously you cant see those from tv.

 

[Geico]

I think zorg may mean when they start off matches and are pulling the plastics off their racquets, they look new. Do pros start out each match with a new racquet? What do they do with the ones they played with in previous matches?

 

[supersmash]

Pros don't even use all of their 50000 racquets in a match. 5..6 tops, depending on the sets.

 

[BreakPoint]

I think zorg may mean when they start off matches and are pulling the plastics off their racquets, they look new. Do pros start out each match with a new racquet? What do they do with the ones they played with in previous matches?

No, they do not start out with new racquets. The racquets are in plastic bags to protect the strings after a fresh string job. That's all. The stringer puts the racquets inside the plastic bags.

 

[Barricade_steve]

pros get so many frames that you cant even imagine. A year or two ago i heard durring A-rods match that he gets 4 new frames strung every day durring tourneys

 

[shsman2091]

pros get so many frames that you cant even imagine. A year or two ago i heard durring A-rods match that he gets 4 new frames strung every day durring tourneys

Although I'm not an expert in this field, I would have to disagree with you. During one of Agassi's matches, Gilbert commented that the pros, inluding Agassi, do not throw away their racquets that they used, rather they keep onto them and get them restrung. Gilbert said that when he coached Agassi, he learned that Agassi like it when a single racquet recieved many string jobs, if I recall correctly, Gilbert said Agassi would get as many as 80 to 90 string jobs on one single racquet. However, I also read somewhere, that Safin broke 68 racquets in total in 2004. But I would think that most pros do hold on to their racquets for atleast 2-3 months. Thus I feel zorg's question is a good one, and all I can guess is that they do have some time of special coating that the brands do only for pros, not for regular consumers since it would eat up some of the profits.

 

[slice bh compliment]

Planned obsolescence

shsman, how did you know about the special force field around their sticks? Well, shhhs, man! Keep that quiet, okay? The racquet manufacturers don't want information like that out there.

As far as anyone is concerned, most pros who have a decent racquet technician get new bumpers and grommets every couple of re-stringings.

 

[uk_skippy]

pros get so many frames that you cant even imagine. A year or two ago i heard durring A-rods match that he gets 4 new frames strung every day durring tourneys

T.Johansson had 4 Dunlops strung for his semi at Wimbledon, Mauresmo also had 4 dunlops for her semi. Venus had 2 done for her semi, Bjorkman regulary brought in 5, Gonzalez had a total of 6 done for his quarter against Fed, Scott draper brought in 6 at the beginning of the 1st week-amazingly 3 were Aerodrive the other 3 were Controls (I think)

Paul

 

[david aames]

Pros' racquets are not different from yours in that they get chipped and scratched just as much. Cameras just don't pick up enough detail for you to see the scratches but they are there. Most stringers won't even bother with the stencil ink that gets spattered over the frame...

Some players will go through 20 racquets a year and some will need 80.

 

[Mike Cottrill]

some will need 80.

We know who needs 80 .

 

[shsman2091]

We know who needs 80 .

I do, and maybe Safin, but mainly me.

 

[doriancito]

ive heard a pro only gets around 20 racquets a year

 

[lookitstrevor]

The commentators on ESPN during Federer's match against Keifer were speaking of racquets. Federer had just switched racquetss during the ball switch, and they said that he has a couple different tensions on his racquets, and that most pros had maybe 2 different tensions. It seems really smart, maybe he will need more control or more power later on in a match, but Roger has a COUPLE different racquet tensions.

This gives me an idea...

 

[shsman2091]

The commentators on ESPN during Federer's match against Keifer were speaking of racquets. Federer had just switched racquetss during the ball switch, and they said that he has a couple different tensions on his racquets, and that most pros had maybe 2 different tensions. It seems really smart, maybe he will need more control or more power later on in a match, but Roger has a COUPLE different racquet tensions.

This gives me an idea...

It does seem quite intelligent, however there is a downside of course, what if he was using a racquet with a string tension that he was really playing well with, and then the string breaks or something happens to the racquet, or even if he gets into a lot of hard rallies and he drastically lowers down the tension, then what? He probably won't have another with the same tension because I do believe Gilbert said he had all with different tensions, and players usually only carry four frames. So if I was in his shoes (Nike Vapor Speeds of course), I would carry two racquets with say tension at 66, and another two with tension at 60 or lower.

 

[fishuuuuu]

I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume the man ranked #1 on the ATP Tour knows what he's doing, concerning racquet changes.

 

[shsman2091]

I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume the man ranked #1 on the ATP Tour knows what he's doing, concerning racquet changes.

Well sure, but I don't think you have to be an expert on racquet changes to be ranked #1 . Anyhow, Gilbert even stated that most players, including Agassi and Roddick, go with the plan I stated.

 

[lookitstrevor]

Doesnt he have more than 4 frames in his bag? I keep thinking 12, maybe they had said that or something when they were talking about it. They said something like 'he has a lot of racquets in his thermal bag'

I hope he has backups. How many times has he broken his string during a match?

 

[shsman2091]

I don't recall, but I do remember him doing it once, but I also don't see Federer changing racquets a lot anyhow. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure Brad stated "Looks like he has 4 frames packed in his thermal bag, I'm pretty close to Federer's bag, you think he's gonna get mad if I looked through it Cliffy" and the P'Mac said "He might, we love having you there on ********* Brad, and we don't want you kicked off out of there (laugh)". But whatever it was, lets not get ourselves uptight about it.