QUOTE="rlau, post: 10966011, member: 38912"]This is what Paul posted today on Facebook: "We have been asked by a couple of customers if there is any truth that we are making some changes to the TC series. We are happy to confirm there are no planned changes to the construction of any custom frames in our range. During production, we produce a range of SW from low to high.
To meet customer demands, we are now producing a higher percentage of frames with the lower SW. This is achieved by fine tuning our moulding process and not by any alteration of the construction or materials used. All variances of our frames will still be available as previously."
I for one welcome Paul's approach of producing a higher percentage of lower SW frames. This should address the customer demands for
custom-built rackets specs by including a wider SW spectrum to choose from; however I am still unsure whether this will improve the final results for the delivered racket.
My example: I play Angell frames for shoulder and elbow comfort first and foremost. I am very sensible to SW due to having had shoulder surgery and an iffy elbow from throwing footballs and spiking beach volleyballs for a decade each. Now I am in my late forties and my love for tennis has re-developed over the last 10 years when I took up the sport again to share a hobby with my wife. I am now a solid 4.0 and play on my club team in the 35+ division. Secondly just like most here I love the plush "old school" feel of the Angell frames. I know what "buttery" means as I still have my Head OS Radical TwinTube "Zebra" sitting in the closet from way back when...
So I ordered a TC97 18x20 based on a few recommendations from here and after talking to Paul (which was an absolute pleasure as many of you have echoed). Let him know that my desired final specs would be around 345gr / 325SW / 8pth HL. The balance and the static weight were spot-on; however SW was 335 - 10 pts over what I wanted. I loved playing with the TC97 18x20 but my elbow could not take it, especially on the serve. I have a nice throwing motion but the static weight and SW combo "pull" on my elbow too much.
OK - back to the drawing board. Talked to Paul again just a week ago. He said that even a TC97 16x19 would get the SW down to only about 330. He suggested I try a TC95 16x19 RA 70, as those come with a lower SW due to the lay-up in that RA. Ok we agreed on final strung specs of max. 340 gr / 7 pts HL / SW 324-326.
As all the Angells have a polarized set-up the only other option would be to go with a lighter static weight and move the balance up accordingly and then "learn" to hit with
Received the racket yesterday and strung it up with a Prince Syngut 16 (only thing that I had laying around). Slapped on a vibration dampener and measured the SW on the iPad app: Static Weight: 337 gr / Balance: 8 pts HL / SW 316 (!)
So I am off ten points of SW again - this time in the other direction. I could add lead as always but that's the one thing I kind of wanted to avoid. The Angell rackts just look sooooo nice that slapping lead on the inside of the frame seems almost a sacrilege.
I will take a hit with the TC95 16x19 RA 70 this week-end and report back to Paul. However, not stringing the racket to do a QA check on the final SW before delivery seems a bit problematic for the few of us that are SW sensitive. You never quite get what you wanted...
My 2 cents.[/QUOTE]
Interesting post, my 310g tc 97 16x19 came in at 325 swingweight, bought it last summer... friend liked mine so much he ordered same specs recently and noticeably plays lighter than mine. TC 95 315g RA 16x19, feels heavier and haven't strung it yet lol!
