Reducing swingweight of Blade v8 16x19

[soulfree914]

I know that there are plenty of old threads talking about how to reduce swingweight and Blade v8 threads that talk about how to add healthy swingweight (as the average SW for the 16x19 version is pretty low) but I had an experience where my custom Blade v8 16x19 was way over spec and came out to be 342 SW strung. I could hit a heavy ball with it and it felt super stable at net, but it was just too demanding and tip heavy for a long match.

In the first attempt to reduce the swingweight, I shaved off part of the head guard / grommet but it only reduced the SW by 2 points.

In a more drastic measure (and after ordering a replacement grommet in case the experiment goes bad), I cut off the head guard with scissors to where it only has the middle row left for the strings to go through. (See pictures below)

The static weight was reduced by 4 grams and the swingweight went down roughly 10 additional points, and when I strung it up with 1.15mm Poly Tour Pro (Blue), the swingweight was measured to be 327.

I am not sure what the balance point was, but I added a little bit of tungsten inside the buttcap to make it a bit more headlight and now it feels perfect to me.

I can see why people are seeking for the high 320, low 330 swingweight on these Blades. I personally think v8 with that range of swingweight is one of the best racquets in recent years. Perfect balance between being plush and firm, great feel all around the stringbed, and it’s versatile for an all-around game with the slightly less head heavy balance in stock form (assuming you get a racquet on spec).

Just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone else had a similar experience. I wish they sold a lighter version of the head guard / grommet but I’m guessing that is too much of a niche market.

https://imgur.com/a/KRZqMBr

 

[TennisHound]

I know that there are plenty of old threads talking about how to reduce swingweight and Blade v8 threads that talk about how to add healthy swingweight, but I had the opposite experience where my custom Blade v8 came out to be 342 SW with fairly thin strings and a light dampener. I could hit a heavy ball with it and it felt super stable at net, but it was just too demanding and tip heavy for a long match.

In an attempt to reduce the swingweight, I shaved off part of the head guard / grommet but it only reduced the SW by 2 points.

In a more drastic measure (and after ordering a replacement grommet in case the experiment goes bad), I cut off the head guard with scissors to where it only has the middle row left for the strings to go through.

The static weight was reduced by 4 grams and the swingweight went down roughly 10 additional points, and when I strung it up with a 1.15mm Poly Tour Pro (Blue), the swingweight was measured to be 328-329.

I am not sure what the balance was, but I added a little bit of tungsten inside the buttcap to make it more headlight and now it feels perfect to me.

I can see why people are seeking for the high 320, low 330 swingweight on these Blades. I personally think v8 with that range of swingweight is one of the best racquets in recent years. Perfect balance between being plush and firm, great feel all around the stringbed, and it’s versatile for an all-around game with the slightly less head heavy balance in stock form (assuming you have a racquet on spec).

Just wanted to share my experience and see if anyone else had a similar experience. I wish they sold a lighter version of the head guard but I’m guessing that is too much of a niche market.

Wow, so SW around 338-339 before? That sounds pretty far off to begin with. Wilson QC usually errors on the heavy side. Very rare for Wilson to have anything on the lighter side

 

[soulfree914]

Wow, so SW around 338-339 before? That sounds pretty far off to begin with. Wilson QC usually errors on the heavy side. Very rare for Wilson to have anything on the lighter side

It was actually 342 with 1.20mm strings and a Sampras o-ring dampener. Without the dampener, it was about 340 but if I go up in gauge to 1.25mm, the swingweight would go back up to 342+. Anyway, being mostly a club doubles player, it was too much SW for me. I like the 325-330 range the most with a head light balance.

 

[lidoazndiabloboi]

It was actually 342 with 1.20mm strings and a Sampras o-ring dampener. Without the dampener, it was about 340 but if I go up in gauge to 1.25mm, the swingweight would go back up to 342+. Anyway, being mostly a club doubles player, it was too much SW for me. I like the 325-330 range the most with a head light balance.

Crazy, thats a unstrung SW of 314 give or take a little. One of the custom v8 Blades i've dealt with, had a SW of 294. Are you sure the machine you measured SW on was calibrated correctly?

 

[soulfree914]

Crazy, thats a unstrung SW of 314 give or take a little. One of the custom v8 Blades i've dealt with, had a SW of 294. Are you sure the machine you measured SW on was calibrated correctly?

Yes, I measured it on several occasions along with other racquets. All of my Pro Staffs are in the 320-325 range while this Blade jumps straight to 340+. The unstrung SW measures around 312.

 

[PistolPete23]

Do you know what the original balance was?

 

[soulfree914]

Do you know what the original balance was?

Unfortunately, I do not know. Somehow it didn’t feel as head heavy as my old Blade v7’s (16x19) which were closer to average spec. The static weight on the v8 was heavier though (~310g).

 

[BladeBrother1990]

Are you still playing with this racket and happy with it? Does the racket still feel solid with -15g SW? Have you tried non-custom Blade v8s? I have 2 Blade 98 v8s that are 334 and 335 SW. I was thinking about the custom racket service from Wilson but I am afraid of experiencing stories like yours.