travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
I revisited my cutdown Diablo this week and gave it a makeover. Extended from the cutdown 26.5" out to 26-5/8". It already had 25g of silicone filling the tube from 9-11 and 1-3. I added an additional couple of layers of lead under the bumper at 12 to extend the sweet spot higher and give it more pop.
I wrapped an ounce of lead around the top of the handle under the grip at about 7.3". Then took it to the racquetball court and tuned it carefully against the wall until I was satisfied with the forehand and 2hb.
Then I took it for a hit on the courts, and it felt like home. Groundies were nice with good depth control and pretty good naturally spin potential. But what really got my attention was the feeling on the serves, and even more so the volleys.
I felt that "I am Sampras" feeling that I haven't felt in a while. Where I step up to the line to serve, knowing that I can just hammer down a heavy serve with good placement. And when I got near the net was where I felt more in command of the ball than than I've ever felt before. No matter what type of ball was coming toward me -- soft, hard, heavy top, flat -- I could pop it back crisply with precision. The racquet was probably more solid than any racquet I've ever used (not surprisingly, since I've added almost a full ounce to the upper half of the hoop on an already dense frame). Everything about the racquet felt perfect today.
Felt so good that I think this will be my primary racquet now. Bye bye open-pattern OS.
I wrapped an ounce of lead around the top of the handle under the grip at about 7.3". Then took it to the racquetball court and tuned it carefully against the wall until I was satisfied with the forehand and 2hb.
Then I took it for a hit on the courts, and it felt like home. Groundies were nice with good depth control and pretty good naturally spin potential. But what really got my attention was the feeling on the serves, and even more so the volleys.
I felt that "I am Sampras" feeling that I haven't felt in a while. Where I step up to the line to serve, knowing that I can just hammer down a heavy serve with good placement. And when I got near the net was where I felt more in command of the ball than than I've ever felt before. No matter what type of ball was coming toward me -- soft, hard, heavy top, flat -- I could pop it back crisply with precision. The racquet was probably more solid than any racquet I've ever used (not surprisingly, since I've added almost a full ounce to the upper half of the hoop on an already dense frame). Everything about the racquet felt perfect today.
Felt so good that I think this will be my primary racquet now. Bye bye open-pattern OS.
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