Racquet weight effect on topspin serve

[tennisdad65]

Everyone knows that, for the same swing speed, a heavier racquet gives a faster flat serve. Agree?

1) For a Flat serve: Does the law of momentum indicate that 10% increase in racquet weight leads to ~10% faster serve if the same swing speed is maintained? m1 x v1 = m2 x v2... or does the effect of the servers body weight and momentum somehow factors in?

2) For a topspin serve where we just brush up on the ball what is the effect?
a) Is the serve still going to be 10% faster? I guess not, since only an oblique component of the racquets weight is used on the serve?
b) If the serve is faster due to the increased weight, does this mean its chances of going long increase if the serve launch angle is the same?
c) Does the spin rpm increase, decrease, or remain the same, if the racquet weight increases? (assume same amount of brush and racquet speed)

lets assume that the racquet stiffness & size is fixed & string type, pattern, and tension are fixed.

 

[snvplayer]

you are making this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay tooooooooooo complicated.

but to answer your question, i think you answered in your own question.

If you are swinging the rackets with different mass with the same speed, heavier racket will give you more speed. Spin on the ball is directly proportional to how fast the racket brushes on it. So the rpm of your topspin serve maybe the same, but with heavier racket, it will probably go faster.

 

[toughshot]

The heavier racket may produce more "kick" because the extra weight will help the strings bite the ball a tad more. Also the ball will feel heavier. (probably due to increased pace)

I don't think it increases the chances of it sailing long, the extra spin/pop should be proportional to keep the ball in. (Assuming same angle of attack/launch)

 

[tennisdad65]

you are making this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay tooooooooooo complicated.

I know I tend to over analyze things

thanks for both your replies. Both make sense.

 

[Il Mostro]

I wouldn't worry about over analyzing things. Some of us are just wired that way and have to understand *why*, not just be shown how to do it. I usually think about this stuff until it hurts