Racket hipsters: What would they talk about? How would they sound?

[MAXXply]

An Austrian Prestige is cool but a Czech-made one has a more bohemian feel. I like that.

I was using the Pure Drive when it was a Pro Kennex.

You can't beat the feel of a St Vincent, it's like it was made by nubile island virgins.

I believe Fair Trade pricing should extend to gut strings too. It's a natural commodity just like coffee isn't it?

I was using overgrips when Sampras won the '90 US Open using peach-coloured VS Gripsy OG's

Dunlop lost their way when they stopped using Max- in front of every racket name

Lendl had some cool Adidas collections. The Dali-esque 'Eye' range was great but his last range 88-89 before he switched to Mizuno was the best - very Mondrian.

Any others? Do you know a racket hipster? Are you one? Add more racket hipster talk here.

 

[vandre]

i get what you're saying about he 89 adidas lendl line, but honestly i expect racket hipsters to play tennis in clothes like this:

 

[Shroud]

Friends don't let friends play Babalot

 

[moon shot]

Cracks me up that R. Lacoste from the above photo showed up to the match with several of those hats to change throughout the match. I guess it isn't a Isner thing so much as it is a Lacoste thing.

 

[n8dawg6]

if two racquet hipsters were drowning, what kind of sandwich would you make

 

[Lance L]

I'm guessing they would be making their own "artisinal" gut strings.

 

[Chuonfood]

-Handcrafted leather grips made of local grass fed cow assembled in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

 

[Power Player]

Search FedKennedy's posts. He is the Racquet Hipster master.

 

[lwto]

I heard John McEnroe tell a story during Wimbledon of a guy who came on court with one racquet.. his name was Jeff Borowiak.
I know Jeff, I hit with him and he frequented our store quit a bit so I had to ask him about Johns comment.

Jeff's comment was, that he had other racquets in the hotel room but it was a big match and he didn't think he could hit well with broken strings.

BTW he also mentioned that, he would ride his bicycle to the match every day.

 

[Lance L]

Cracks me up that R. Lacoste from the above photo showed up to the match with several of those hats to change throughout the match. I guess it isn't a Isner thing so much as it is a Lacoste thing.

Just took a closer look at this. Looks like the other guy didn't feel like using a grip that day. Maybe he wore a leather glove, which would work on all the racquets?

 

[392Hemi]

Boycott Head, Graphene is not sustainable!

 

[moon shot]

Just took a closer look at this. Looks like the other guy didn't feel like using a grip that day. Maybe he wore a leather glove, which would work on all the racquets?

It seems Tilden really wanted to feel the bevel, looks like at least for a time he played with without any grip. I don't know if that makes him a proto-bro just doing what seems simplest, or a hipster for trying to be authentic and painfully anti-norm while wearing a deep V.

Here is one of his frames at auction.
http://catalog.scpauctions.com/lot-28803.aspx

 

[lwto]

Jeff Borowiak on the left
with 4 #1 Colgate players at my former pro shop

 

[smalahove]

They'd be greatly inspired by these guys:

And then some comic relief:

 

[smirker]

Lol. Gotta love the berk that is Boris. He's better at rugby though.

He's now our Foreign Secretary you know!!!

 

[TupeloDanger]

90's graphite is kind of played out. And wood just feels like you're trying too hard. I'm really into aluminum these days.

 

[Chotobaka]

Lol. Gotta love the berk that is Boris. He's better at rugby though.

He's now our Foreign Secretary you know!!!

10 year olds do not stand a chance against him.

 

[Mongolmike]

Cracks me up that R. Lacoste from the above photo showed up to the match with several of those hats to change throughout the match. I guess it isn't a Isner thing so much as it is a Lacoste thing.

Is it me, or does it look like Lacoste's suit is ill-fit? Or just over-sized for arm flexibility.

 

[moon shot]

Is it me, or does it look like Lacoste's suit is ill-fit? Or just over-sized for arm flexibility.

It appears that hey played in the hats he's holding, but not the jacket, and often a sweater. When you are playing in material that doesn't stretch the room to move is more important. The jacket probably fit better over a sweater.

Fred Perry liked his shirt a bit more snug, but he had nadal beat in the baggy shorts department:

 

[Fed Kennedy]

I used to be a pretty hard core Borowiak, ps 85 in a grocery bag, smokin rollies, gold chains, threadbare Lavers, no socks, playing in a Stetson, nips of Zacapa on the changeovers.
What you do is you move to the country, get a couple dogs. Borrow a tractor, regrade the yard, build your own grass court. It's a process, it's not just throwing paint at a wall.

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

An Austrian Prestige is cool but a Czech-made one has a more bohemian feel. I like that.

I was using the Pure Drive when it was a Pro Kennex.

You can't beat the feel of a St Vincent, it's like it was made by nubile island virgins.

I believe Fair Trade pricing should extend to gut strings too. It's a natural commodity just like coffee isn't it?

I was using overgrips when Sampras won the '90 US Open using peach-coloured VS Gripsy OG's

Dunlop lost their way when they stopped using Max- in front of every racket name

Lendl had some cool Adidas collections. The Dali-esque 'Eye' range was great but his last range 88-89 before he switched to Mizuno was the best - very Mondrian.

Any others? Do you know a racket hipster? Are you one? Add more racket hipster talk here.

ohhh crap... every single one of those was familiar


how about... "i dislike high modulus graphite, standard modulus helps me feel more connected to the earth's harmonics"


and yes dunlop lost their way when the word max got the axe

 

[TupeloDanger]

how about... "i dislike high modulus graphite, standard modulus helps me feel more connected to the earth's harmonics"

That's hippie, not hipster.

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

90's graphite is kind of played out. And wood just feels like you're trying too hard. I'm really into aluminum these days.

sweet

 

[macattack]

Well, my arms and chest are covered in tattoos, I used to play in an indie rock band, lived in the East Village when I went to NYU and interned at The Onion about 12 years ago when I was starting my career. So maybe I qualify as a racquet hipster.

I will say that the nerding out on racquet specs, what the pros use and "better days" when the PS85 was king (which a lot of people do on here), are right in line with a hipster geeking out over modding his guitar/amp/pedals the same way some 60s psych-pop icon or 70s garage freak would.

So maybe we're all hipsters here...Think on that!

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

spiral red and white nylon strings

and the hipsters where i live are a bit hippie boho

 

[CopolyX]

All and All am just a Tennis Ball on the Wall....

 

[djNEiGht]

I'm guessing they would be making their own "artisinal" gut strings.

-Handcrafted leather grips made of local grass fed cow assembled in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

but what about the vegan movement? how does the natural feel get duplicated?

 

[junior74]

The hipster is dead.

 

[vsbabolat]

An Austrian Prestige is cool but a Czech-made one has a more bohemian feel. I like that.

I was using the Pure Drive when it was a Pro Kennex.

You can't beat the feel of a St Vincent, it's like it was made by nubile island virgins.

I believe Fair Trade pricing should extend to gut strings too. It's a natural commodity just like coffee isn't it?

I was using overgrips when Sampras won the '90 US Open using peach-coloured VS Gripsy OG's

Dunlop lost their way when they stopped using Max- in front of every racket name

Lendl had some cool Adidas collections. The Dali-esque 'Eye' range was great but his last range 88-89 before he switched to Mizuno was the best - very Mondrian.

Any others? Do you know a racket hipster? Are you one? Add more racket hipster talk here.

Hey brother the color name for the gripsy that Pete used was called Salmon Gripsy. It had the best feel.

 

[Shroud]

I think they would say things like : "I am starting my racket cleanse this week!" or "I switched to wood because its sustainable"

 

[Noveson]

Why would you feel the need to postulate when we have a million of them on these boards? I won't name names, but if I didn't know better I would assume a PS85 SV is a racquet that creates gods. Oh and you're a peasant if your racquet isn't polarized.

 

[macattack]

Why would you feel the need to postulate when we have a million of them on these boards?

Yes. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but most of us are just as detail obsessed nerds about racquets or what racquet/strings/shoes/hats pros use as hipsters are about their locally sourced artisanal pizza or rare/first press Smiths singles. I mean there is a whole four page thread about Dimitrov's racquet head size.

I'm not letting myself off the hook on this either. I'm just as bad as anyone!

 

[sbaniak]

Well, my arms and chest are covered in tattoos, I used to play in an indie rock band, lived in the East Village when I went to NYU and interned at The Onion about 12 years ago when I was starting my career. So maybe I qualify as a racquet hipster.

I will say that the nerding out on racquet specs, what the pros use and "better days" when the PS85 was king (which a lot of people do on here), are right in line with a hipster geeking out over modding his guitar/amp/pedals the same way some 60s psych-pop icon or 70s garage freak would.

So maybe we're all hipsters here...Think on that!

Yikes. except for the NYU & Onion part you pretty much nailed me with this too. I worked at a couple vintage guitar shops in NYC and built my own bass Rat circuit looong before the Juggernaut came out. The minutiae of rackets and strings speaks to me in a very similar way to the way collectable guitars did.... and still do. Gear nerds unite.

 

[Power Player]

Yikes. except for the NYU & Onion part you pretty much nailed me with this too. I worked at a couple vintage guitar shops in NYC and built my own bass Rat circuit looong before the Juggernaut came out. The minutiae of rackets and strings speaks to me in a very similar way to the way collectable guitars did.... and still do. Gear nerds unite.

I was never a huge gear nerd, but toured a lot and one guitarist i knew was a hoarder. He was that guy who's pedal board looked like a tetris puzzle. I actually just wanted the same exact response every night and didn't like change at all. Just seeing him buy all this stuff reinforced that for me..lol. But at the same time, I have slowly been upgrading my gear. It was overdue. I too used the Rat on bass. Of course, now there are a million boutique options that don't suck lows, have bias knobs..etc. I kind of like it a lot, but I also miss the simplicity of just grabbing an axe and going to work. I never even cared about my amp that much. I just took whatever company wanted to give me one.I'd always get my tone. Probably sounds sacrilegious, but it worked well for me.

Tennis was the same way. I didn't know much about frames for half of my playing life as a junior. I just knew I needed to calm down and stop smashing them. Now there are so many. I definitely dove deep into that. Customizing, demoing..etc. Now I may try a new frame out every 6-10 months. It's slowed down for me big time. I've been using the same string for years. But I do know what it is like to get really into something for a bit. I think it does help you learn a lot as long as you don't stay in the cycle forever.

 

[Backhanded Compliment]

I stopped using topspin and now hit completely flat... it is fairer and cruelty free so my brah hits it back with such joy to me

PS Ive seen them on court... often with aluminum or wooden racquets... invariably one is wearing pajama bottoms and or an animal eared or trucker hat. They apologize for hitting winners.

 

[sbaniak]

I was never a huge gear nerd, but toured a lot and one guitarist i knew was a hoarder. He was that guy who's pedal board looked like a tetris puzzle. I actually just wanted the same exact response every night and didn't like change at all. Just seeing him buy all this stuff reinforced that for me..lol. But at the same time, I have slowly been upgrading my gear. It was overdue. I too used the Rat on bass. Of course, now there are a million boutique options that don't suck lows, have bias knobs..etc. I kind of like it a lot, but I also miss the simplicity of just grabbing an axe and going to work. I never even cared about my amp that much. I just took whatever company wanted to give me one.I'd always get my tone. Probably sounds sacrilegious, but it worked well for me.

Tennis was the same way. I didn't know much about frames for half of my playing life as a junior. I just knew I needed to calm down and stop smashing them. Now there are so many. I definitely dove deep into that. Customizing, demoing..etc. Now I may try a new frame out every 6-10 months. It's slowed down for me big time. I've been using the same string for years. But I do know what it is like to get really into something for a bit. I think it does help you learn a lot as long as you don't stay in the cycle forever.

Yeah my bass rat was born of exactly that... trying to feed a little unaffected clean back into the signal to preserve the low-end. It was my job to get pretty gear-crazy, or at least to know waaay to much about it all as a vintage buyer. Personally, I kept my setup very simple and didn't hoard too much compared to most guys I knew. As time passed I settled more and more into what I knew I liked. I agree with you, whenever you start a new "thing" it's fun to fully immerse and get really obsessive about it... but also really helps inform your tastes / preferences quickly.

 

[joohan]

one is wearing pajama bottoms

Oh yes, he won French Open last year if my memory serves me right.

 

[jm1980]

Sort of related. Artisanal firewood:

 

[djNEiGht]

Oh yes, he won French Open last year if my memory serves me right.

zing!