The Cult of PT57
- Thread starter vsbabolat
- Start date
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Hey guys, what's the closest retail grommet in weight to the full cap, black, TK293 ones currently on my PT57As?
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
That is it.
You can still find the TK238 around but they are not cheap. Definitely better quality than the TK293
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Ah ok thanks for the response, didn't realize that TK293 was available for sale. I take it TK238 are the OG PT630 grommets? Are they the same weight as the 293s?
I definitely wasn't impressed with the quality of the 293s, they are already falling apart and it's been barely a month since I got the racquets.
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
The original CAP system grommets for the Pro Tour 630 is TK57
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Sooo this happened today...
Any idea what’s in the handle? Looks like toothpaste and has blue flecks in it.
Any idea what’s in the handle? Looks like toothpaste and has blue flecks in it.
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PT630Wannabe
Professional
Old dried out Blu-Tac poster putty it would seem.
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Hmm is this normal for a pro stock frame? I thought they were mostly filled with silicon.
PT630Wannabe
Professional
I could be wrong and it’s actually toothpaste.
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
It looks like it could be, honestly.
My YouTek PJ PT57A which is 100% legit (has Miami open stringing sticker) is filled with silicone. It has a slightly more solid feel and ball pocketing is more prevalent compared to my matches pair of Touch PJs. Why would Head fill the racquet with this material and not silicone? Also, the buttcap falling off does concern me a bit, am I crazy for worrying that there is something not quite right with these racquets? On the other hand, there is a black player sticker on the inside of the throat and I can see a bit of red sticker on the hairpin...
rafa_prestige89
Professional
Nothing wrong with them, buttcaps do fall off, and maybe they were from a pro that didn’t like silicone in the handle and filled it with another material, like blue tac...
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
The trap door butt-caps need to siliconed to the PT57 pallets or that happens. The OG Austrian black butt-caps don’t do that.Sooo this happened today...
Any idea what’s in the handle? Looks like toothpaste and has blue flecks in it.
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
So you're saying that if I stapled a new buttcap into the hairpin it would eventually fall off?
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
@vsbabolat
If you could please take a look at these better quality pics that show the pallet and inside of the old buttcap that would be a big help.
Do the pallets need replaced as well? Looks like the buttcap was indeed glued/siliconed to a part of pallet and it broke off. The staples do not look like the penetrated the hairpin as you can see from the pic. My guess is that the buttcap was merely being held to the racquet by silicone/glue and somebody didn’t check to see if they stapled it in correctly.
Buttcap that broke off and the replacement are both code TK219, I guess they are the kind that need to be attached with silicone as well.
Thanks
If you could please take a look at these better quality pics that show the pallet and inside of the old buttcap that would be a big help.
Do the pallets need replaced as well? Looks like the buttcap was indeed glued/siliconed to a part of pallet and it broke off. The staples do not look like the penetrated the hairpin as you can see from the pic. My guess is that the buttcap was merely being held to the racquet by silicone/glue and somebody didn’t check to see if they stapled it in correctly.
Buttcap that broke off and the replacement are both code TK219, I guess they are the kind that need to be attached with silicone as well.
Thanks
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vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Ah, I didn’t realize the pallet was broken. Yes, you need to replace the pallets.
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Thanks for the quick reply. To my understanding the buttcap needs to be stapled as well as siliconed to the pallet correct? Do you think it would work to use gorilla glue instead of silicone? I’d imagine that would have more than enough hold if the staples go through the hairpin.
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vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Normally staples work just fine. Don’t use gorilla glue because if you ever want to remove the butt-cap for what ever reason you can’t.
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
I’ve never seen a green radical before. Looks like a Lite Tour 630Hi guys.
Does it relate to PT57A frame? Or it is something else.
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
So I got to talk with the seller and apparently he removed the silicon from the frames in favor of blue tac. The feel was always a bit different compared to my silicon filled YT Prestige PJ so now I know why haha.
In regards to the buttcap, I posted an Imgur link with a few pics of the pallet and damaged buttcap. It looks like the staples did not penetrate the hairpin nor the pallet. Instead, some sort of adhesive was holding it all together. The lower handle portion of the pallet that is typically covered by the buttcap is what seems to have cracked and completely fallen off, probably because of the poor installation.
The seller did initially send a photo of the bare hairpins with the ID stickers on them before I made the purchase. I’m pretty sure he incorrectly installed it all back on aftwerwards. It was a shame too, since the pallets were TK57 in L2 size, which is supposedly pretty rare.
kungfu5tin
New User
If you have a ohbh or don't care about where the top of the pallet ends you can just take off the existing pallets, trim the broken ends, and reinstall with staples. The top of the pallet will be about an inch short of where it used to end but it'll be covered with the replacement grip.
Gee
Hall of Fame
FourOutOfFive
Rookie
Been hitting with my new PT57A3 MG Radical for the last few days and compared to PT57A2 I feel a bit less flex in the upper hoop. Besides that, feel and ball pocketing on contact is identical and personally it’s a pretty seamless transition between sticks.
Also had a guy who wanted to sell me a PT57A4 with a 68ra. Anybody hit with one of these? If Head ever rereleased the Pro Tour it would probably be this layup lol.
Also had a guy who wanted to sell me a PT57A4 with a 68ra. Anybody hit with one of these? If Head ever rereleased the Pro Tour it would probably be this layup lol.
NeedforPRESTIGE
Rookie
how is your impression? regarding feel especially? Thanks
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
I think the new Blade v7 18x20 is the closet feel
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
That’s a tough one. I think both are great alternatives to paying outrageous prices for the Pro Tour 630/280/PT57A2
FearlessAnimal
Rookie
Maybe somebody can say who's now using PT57a in top25 or top50? Anyone beside Murray?
How popular it was in the best time? Half of top25? When it was?
@vsbabolat can you help?
How popular it was in the best time? Half of top25? When it was?
@vsbabolat can you help?
rafa_prestige89
Professional
Gilles Simon
Songs For A Dead Pilot
Semi-Pro
Most of HEAD players use old RADICAL frames at the moment as far as I remember. It's so funny none of them use new Radicals (ATP).
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Gilles Simon. I don't know what these guys rankings are but Lorenzi, Sergiy Stakhovsky, and I'm brain fog at the moment. There are a few others that I can't think of. It was hugely popular before HEAD started channeling the player to TGT293.2
Tommy Haas still uses it.
FearlessAnimal
Rookie
Robin Haase uses it also but he's now ~150th.
Maybe you can remember how popular it was in its golden era? Was there time when it was most popular raq. in top25?
I'm trying to convience friend that pt57a was a first choice for top players and now I feel I need some help from other cultists
Well, I'm not going to look into past players' racquet arsenals, but I have a strong suspicion the PT630/57A was never the most popular racquet among ATP top players, defined as, let's say, the top 25, since its inception. And that is despite it being used by greats of the game such as Muster, Kuerten, and Murray. I mean, let's face it, these three players are probably the only ones with absolute superstar status and the achievements necessary to bring about such glory for a racquet.
Just look at the amount of GS tournaments won with this racquet, and from the top of my hat, I fail to recollect any other players who swung this stick with that degree of success. (There are probably some, so please correct me, TT statisticians!).
In all seriousness, I'm beginning to believe our resident Head afficionado and expert, @vsbabolat himself, is responsible for a good chunk of the popularity of this stick and the myths surrounding it! And that's a great achievement in its own right, mind you
In terms of absolute success on the mens' tour, look at Wilson (PS85, 90) and Babolat (PD, APD) and see which racquets should logically be awarded "best" racquets ever on the basis of them being used by the players winning the vast majority of GS tournaments since the early 90ies (Sampras, Federer, Nadal; see how I left out Djokovic because he didn't/doesn't use a racquet that was technically available for retail?).
Just look at the amount of GS tournaments won with this racquet, and from the top of my hat, I fail to recollect any other players who swung this stick with that degree of success. (There are probably some, so please correct me, TT statisticians!).
In all seriousness, I'm beginning to believe our resident Head afficionado and expert, @vsbabolat himself, is responsible for a good chunk of the popularity of this stick and the myths surrounding it! And that's a great achievement in its own right, mind you
In terms of absolute success on the mens' tour, look at Wilson (PS85, 90) and Babolat (PD, APD) and see which racquets should logically be awarded "best" racquets ever on the basis of them being used by the players winning the vast majority of GS tournaments since the early 90ies (Sampras, Federer, Nadal; see how I left out Djokovic because he didn't/doesn't use a racquet that was technically available for retail?).
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vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Haase switched to the Radical 307 after the French Open. I’m not doing the research. However there was a time when HEAD was the most popular racquet in the top 100 on the atp tour and those guys were mostly using the PT10’s and PT57A’s. I’m not doing a break downRobin Haase uses it also but he's now ~150th.
Maybe you can remember how popular it was in its golden era? Was there time when it was most popular raq. in top25?
I'm trying to convience friend that pt57a was a first choice for top players and now I feel I need some help from other cultists
One argument you may have going for the PT57A: Almost all racquet manufacturers have a copy they hand out to their pro players. That's especially noteworthy because it means they cloned/adapted a mold developed by a competitor. But there you have it: Wilson, Dunlop (in their heydays), Tecnifibre, Babolat, they all have (had) PT57A copies available for their pros.
Songs For A Dead Pilot
Semi-Pro
Really? I am quite shocked, this racket is far from being flexy. Also lack of straight beam doesn't help.
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Really! Check out Getty images
Songs For A Dead Pilot
Semi-Pro
Oh God, he thinks switching to bigger frame will help him like could be of some help to Federer.
But there's no proof the racket was of any help. Federer also changed the way he plays, moves, etc.
However this is 18x20 as far as I still can see strings on computer monitor.
I talked with somebody on this forum about 307 that Graphene Touch Radical MP feels better than 307 pro stock, so bought new for half price. Checked it for 5 minutes, but I really hated the feel and feedback.
FearlessAnimal
Rookie
Babolat? Which model?
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Pure Storm LTD
Songs For A Dead Pilot
Semi-Pro
Maybe not related strictly to PT57 – but Wilson Blade v7 isn't that far from Pure Storm 98 and Pure Control 98! I have played with these sticks circa 2012-2013 – they were easy to use, decent feel and powerfull.
HeadClassic
Rookie
Hi all! I got my hands on a Vamp Tour today in great condition. I thought you'd all like some pics [emoji4] She weighs in at 10.3 oz strung with a head heavy balance.
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
HeadClassic
Rookie
Yes, CAP grommets will fit. Radical Trisys 260 is the US version of the Radical Tour 630. I believe it plays slightly stiffer than a Pro Tour 630. And others correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it has a 21mm beam compared to a 20mm on a PT630.
