Injured Again
Hall of Fame
I now have just under five hours on the 17 gauge Head Experimental. This morning's match was fine - I was playing against an age group peer who is more of a control player - and the round string's spin insensitivity helped me to play a harder hitting, more flat game against his various spins. Near the end of the match, I was missing many first serves long and caught the tape on a few balls that felt like they came off the racquet perfectly. I chalked it up to just being physically tired. I did win the match comfortably relying on the Head Experimental's inherent high power level and control to overpower my opponent.
This evening, I had a 90 minute intense singles practice with my son and I was alternating between having problems getting the ball over the net, and getting the ball to drop in the court. We were hitting the ball hard and I just didn't have that sense of control and confidence. Thinking it was just that I was tired from the morning's match, I pulled out my other racquet strung with Silver 7 Tour and everything clicked into place. The launch angle helped get me the net clearance I expected, and the extra spin brought the ball down into the court.
I went back to the Head Experimental and the change was significant. The launch angle difference between the two strings has increased, and the spin capability of the Head Experimental seems to have dropped off. I asked my son to drop his pace so I could swing more aggressively and that did help. I was able to get better shape to my shots, with better net clearance. Once he went back to his normal pace, the issues of low launch angle and lack of spin resurfaced.
Tension loss seems to be continuing a bit more. The Head Experimental pings at a significantly lower frequency than the Silver 7 Tour, though they had the same ping frequency right after the Head Experimental was strung.
The mains have notched after the five hours of play. When I pull a cross string out of position with the Head Experimental and release the string, it slides by itself back into place with an audible click. This is something I'm not sure I've seen happen with any other poly string once the mains had started notching. I did the same with Silver 7 Tour and the cross string remains out of position - I have to push it back into place. When I pull a main out of place on the Head Experimental, it still slides back into place, as does the Silver 7 Tour but just not as quickly.
So it seems the surface slickness of the Head Experimental string is still intact, but there has been pretty significant tension loss. I'm not sure if that tension loss is causing the lower launch angle and lack of grip on the ball, but power levels still are high and seem unchanged.
I'm playing another practice match in the morning and will continue to use the Head Experimental if it is still playable.
This evening, I had a 90 minute intense singles practice with my son and I was alternating between having problems getting the ball over the net, and getting the ball to drop in the court. We were hitting the ball hard and I just didn't have that sense of control and confidence. Thinking it was just that I was tired from the morning's match, I pulled out my other racquet strung with Silver 7 Tour and everything clicked into place. The launch angle helped get me the net clearance I expected, and the extra spin brought the ball down into the court.
I went back to the Head Experimental and the change was significant. The launch angle difference between the two strings has increased, and the spin capability of the Head Experimental seems to have dropped off. I asked my son to drop his pace so I could swing more aggressively and that did help. I was able to get better shape to my shots, with better net clearance. Once he went back to his normal pace, the issues of low launch angle and lack of spin resurfaced.
Tension loss seems to be continuing a bit more. The Head Experimental pings at a significantly lower frequency than the Silver 7 Tour, though they had the same ping frequency right after the Head Experimental was strung.
The mains have notched after the five hours of play. When I pull a cross string out of position with the Head Experimental and release the string, it slides by itself back into place with an audible click. This is something I'm not sure I've seen happen with any other poly string once the mains had started notching. I did the same with Silver 7 Tour and the cross string remains out of position - I have to push it back into place. When I pull a main out of place on the Head Experimental, it still slides back into place, as does the Silver 7 Tour but just not as quickly.
So it seems the surface slickness of the Head Experimental string is still intact, but there has been pretty significant tension loss. I'm not sure if that tension loss is causing the lower launch angle and lack of grip on the ball, but power levels still are high and seem unchanged.
I'm playing another practice match in the morning and will continue to use the Head Experimental if it is still playable.