Racquet instability with lead tape

[OnyxZ28]

I put around 12 grams of lead tape on a PT280 at 3 & 9. The conventional wisdom is that this would improve stability and enlarge the sweetspot. It had the complete opposite effect for me; I could not sustain a baseline rally because the racquet would twist in my hands every other shot, and the sweetspot seemed to be dead, and the racquet lost its buttery feel. My question is, if I shift the lead tape into an 'X' configuration a la LM or i.X, what effect would it have on the playability of the racquet?

 

[OnyxZ28]

Anyone?

 

[NoBadMojo]

dont think people fully understand your question..you may wish to rephrase. perhaps the grip twists in your hand because your grip is either too small or too large and the extra headweight is exposing this prob on mis-hits? just a guess. or maybe your timing is off w. the additional weight and you are mis-hitting more because of that. maybe you mean you would try weighting the frame at 4 positions rather than 2? if that is the case, i would say it wouldnt matter much.....but easy enough to try no?

 

[OnyxZ28]

The grip is about right, a 4 1/2 with a leather grip and over grip, so it's about 4 9/16. The sweetspot just feels like it's not there anymore, and the racquet twists badly. Perhaps it is the timing. Thanks NBM.

 

[phat]

Why don't you try to put 6 grams at 3 & 9, and 6 grams on the throat. The weight distrubtion will not alter as much this way, and you won't feel as if you are swinging a new racquet.

 

[Steve Huff]

Onyx, is it possible the sweetspot enlarged to the point that it's no longer a sweet "spot". I tried proportional stringing once, and I got a similar sensation--no sweetspot. It's possible that you have a large sweetspot, but since it all feels more the same, you don't get that sensation of hitting a more defined sweetspot. There's never been any evidence that adding weight to the periphery would decrease it.

 

[OnyxZ28]

That could be it -- I have the babolat lead tape which is a lot denser than normal lead tape; 1 inch = 3 grams. Come to think of it, I actually had about 20 grams on there. Whoops! That would explain it. Thanks guys.

 

[mary fierce]

Inertia means that a body at rest tends to stay at rest, but also that one in motion tends to stay in motion. With a firm grip, the racquet should be less inclined to be knocked around. But say your grip is a little lax and an off-center hit initiates twisting -- the racquet is now set in motion and a heavier racquet will twist further (i.e. the twisting is more difficult to stop) than one without the added weight. Heavier cars need more powerful brakes and more distance to stop than lighter ones.

 

[PrestigeClassic]

I always thought it as the light part (handle) is going to be knocked around more. Just like a hammer going in the hair, except now your hand is attached. And even with cars, you'll find a light rear end will contribute to oversteer, etc. Since the other end is connected some distance away, that end will be more lively. Anyway, that's my caveman's explanation.

 

[ferrari_827]

Um....20 grams in the hoop ? Hello, anyone up there.

 

[OnyxZ28]

What? I don't see anything wrong with that.

Anyway, I relocated the lead to 10, 2, 7 and 4 o' clock positions. My reason is kind of suspect; I figured head used this configuration in their intelligence X and LM racquets, as opposed to Wilson's PWS @ 3 and 9, which made the PT280 play like a piece of poop. I guess it worked, because the instability problem disappeared. After about 2 horus of hitting with it though, my arm was about to fall off; the racquet became exceedingly harsh, losing the buttery feel it is renouned for. I've got another that I fitted with CAPS; maybe adding weight in a more distributed manner helps better in this case.