travlerajm: Trying to customize my Estusa Power Beam Braided to "Ideal Balance Line"

DoubleHanded&LovinIt

DoubleHanded&LovinIt

Professional
I have been a critic of the theories proposed by travlerajm. Well, I'm going to go ahead and test his theory in real life by customizing my Estusa Power Beam Braided. Here's what I have done:

1.) To the grip, I have added 8 strips of Gamma lead tape measuring 4 1/8" long and 1/2" wide. Why 4 1/8"? When I take my forehand grip (very conservative semi-western) and backhand grip (Eastern one-handed backhand) my hand extends 5 3/16" up from the grip end of the frame. The buttcap ends 1 1/6" up from the grip end of the frame. Subtracting these two values yields 4 1/8"). Gamme lead tape is 1/2" wide and each inch weighs .5 grams. Therefore, I have added 16.5 grams to the grip (33" of lead tape on grip).
2.) To the head, I have added lead at 12, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 o'clock--so there is lead all around the inside of the head. Only 4 inches of the head are left uncovered. In the head there is 35 inches of lead which means I added 17.5 grams to the head of the frame.
3.) In total, 34 g have been added to the racquet. Without grip, overgrip, and strings, the balance point is at 12.25 inches--therefore the racquet is 10 points headlight.
4.) After stringing and the addition of a base grip and overgrip, the racquet will weigh between 380-385 g (with strings and replacement grip, the racquet weighs 346 g and is 10 points headlight) and have a balance between 7-9 points headlight--I'm guessing it will be 8 points headlight.

So it seems that my racquet should fall a couple of points headlight short of your "Ideal Balance Line", travlerajm--just as you suggested for non-ATP Tour players. I'm following the Sampras setup in terms of weight but going a couple of points more headlight with the balance. I'll let you know what the final numbers are after I string this racquet with Babolat XCel Premium 17 at 57 lbs and after I add a Wilson Cushion Pro replacement grip and a Yonex Super Grap overgrip.

I'll tell you all how this setup plays.
 
You seemed to have paid a lot of attention to detail. You, sir, have a lot of time on your hands or are a racquet/tennis fanatic :) Welcome to the club :) Keep us posted because I have a puma pcs super which was in many ways the predecessor to the estusas.
 
Tennis is definitely my greatest passion. I was inspired to put into practice what travlerajm has been theorizing. I admit I've been a critic of his, so perhaps I will get a better understanding of what he's saying now that I'm putting theory into practice.

I've basically got Sampras's setup, but a couple points more headlight--just as travlerajm says is appropriate for non-ATP Tour players trying to reap some of the benefits unearthed by his discovery of the "Ideal Balance Line". I went with the Sampras setup, albeit a couple of more points headlight, because I play serve-and-volley as well and he was maybe the best exponent ever of serve-and-volley tennis.

vkartikv--I should thank you, by the way. I added an Estusa Power Beam Braided to my collection (bringing my total to 2) after purchasing from George Yew. I purchased from him because of your great reference. So thanks!
 
DoubleHanded&LovinIt, I see that you are really enjoying the PBB. I feel almost cheated playing my PBB in stock form. Please let me know how that set up works out for you. I may have to try some of your mods.
 
17 grams on the head is a danm lot...
Swingweight must at least be like 360, i hope you got big strong arms or you may just have some sw adjustment pain for a few days...
If not, you are doing us all a service, and we saulte you.
 
if you're bumping for travlerajm, he said he's not coming around here anymore, hope all goes well with your PBB though
 
Hey, I played tennis with travlrajm today, for about 90 minutes. He's definitely a very good tennis player, and I got to see and hit with some of his customized sticks. He's managed to get a very classic feel into new model racquets. I'm not sure how these racquets played with originally, but they sure feel a lot more like my 20+ year old racquets than my newer ones.

Maybe that's the real trick of what he's trying to accomplish with the weighting. If that classic feel is something you're after, doing as he does might work very well. Personally, my needs are almost exactly the opposite of what he's trying to do, so even though I would probably prefer to have my racquets feel as he has made his, there are too many drawbacks in doing that.
 
So guys,

I hit today with the Estusa. Picking up the racquet and holding it, I wasn't blown away by the weight.

Warming up groundies was not bad either--at first. However, soon I found myself late on many more balls, spraying balls long, and not being able to spin the ball well at all.

Volleys and overheads were good when I was at the net and my pro was just hitting volleys back to me during the drill. The racquet did all the work. I could stay very, very compact and the ball would just go. The volley and overhead were the only strokes that were helped by this setup. However, on points during serve-and-volley, the racquet was too much to manuver into good position.

The serve was okay, initally. Flat serves were especially good at first. But soon I grew tired of the weight. Slice serves were also good. Kick serves were absolutely terrible. The setup was way too heavy to allow me to get any kick on my serve.

Returns were likewise terrible unless the serve was hit right to my contact zone. The racquet was too hard to manuver.

So this setup did not work for me at all. It made me way too tired, way too fast. My strokes were all less effective.

I'm sure travlerajm would suggest I move down on weight but adjust the balance in accordance to the "ideal balance line" but still a couple of points shy--since I am not an ATP pro.

Personally, I much preferred the old, stock setup of my racquet and will return to that the next time out. I'm in good shape, but this is way too hard of a setup to spin and move around and hit with. If you're stationary, you can rip flat bombs without a problem--but that's not my game and that's not the game of tennis (especially not the modern game).
 
Bolt,
I don't think so. Like my signature says, I love the Estusa Power Beam Braided, but the setup was so much for me that I would really rather play with something else. I can't imagine a frame that feels, swings, or performs as well for me as the Estusa Power Beam Braided stock (well, maybe the new Babolat Pure Drive Standard w/ Cortex).
 
The measured before the test was 10 points head light. My pro and I checked the setup after the lesson today and it was 7 points head light and 382 g. Thanks for asking, Bolt. I should have added that to my review.
 
So this setup did not work for me at all. It made me way too tired, way too fast. My strokes were all less effective.

So, this is what constitutes an experiment, I see now.
 
Bartelby--Hahahaha, where did I use the word "experiment"? So, based on your last two posts, I see now that what you do is go around and make sarcastic comments. Thanks for your "contributions"!
 
DoubleHanded&LovinIt said:
Bartelby--Hahahaha, where did I use the word "experiment"? So, based on your last two posts, I see now that what you do is go around and make sarcastic comments. Thanks for your "contributions"!
Click to expand...

you seriously need to hit the gym...
whats your weight/height?
 
That is one heavy stick. More suitable, perhaps, for a bigger guy or someone who is quite strong.

Have you considered cutting back a bit on the weight? I'm guessing you raised the mass of the racquet by about 30-40 grams!

I've just added a Spenco grip to one of my ROKs and with an overgrip it's up to 362 grams. Not particularly heavy, but probably close to 10-11 points head light. My other ROK is about 354 grams and 8 points head light. (with overwrap) I've noticed volleys are very firm and deep with the heavy version. Serves seem about the same. Ground strokes seem about the same. Overall, I'd say there isn't a lot of difference. I must say, though, that I can adjust to just about anything except for a light, stiff OS. I'm not so sure my racquet makes much difference in my game, but I'm hoping. :)

I don't get arm tired hitting, even with my 15 oz woodie because I've got a ball machine. A few hours each week on the ball machine does wonders for one's muscular (arms) endurance, IMHO. The few oz of difference seems unlikely to cause much strain to the arms of the average male, IMHO. I may be wrong about this, because it's never happened to me, but I am a bit flummoxed every time I hear this from adult males.

Anyway, I wonder if you used the racquet for a week if you'd find it more to your liking? Just a thought.

-Robert
 
Last time I checked, ATP pros are all in shape and strong and not one of them is using a racquet that is 382 g and 7 pts head light. The swingweight is probably close to 360-370! It's just too much weight for the shoulder to handle over a long period and too much weight to get good spin on the ball (with the incredibly notable, isolated exception of Pete Sampras).
 
DoubleHanded&LovinIt said:
Last time I checked, ATP pros are all in shape and strong and not one of them is using a racquet that is 382 g and 7 pts head light. The swingweight is probably close to 360-370! It's just too much weight for the shoulder to handle over a long period and too much weight to get good spin on the ball (with the incredibly notable, isolated exception of Pete Sampras).
Click to expand...

The limitation is the ability to swing the racquet fast enough to get the optimum pace. Thus, very heavy racquets aren't used by most S & V players today, to the best of my knowledge. I doubt any of them would complain about sore shoulders, but would be more worried about performance. You know, in the 1960's, most of us used racquets that were in 13.5-16 oz range? I never recall one of my college team mates saying his racquet was too heavy. Of course, we weren't as obsessed with equipment because there was so little of it. :) I have my woodie from those days and it's about 14.2 oz without lead. I was 6'0", 185 lbs in those days, so I was not particularly big or strong, and I played S &V.

Interesting stuff.

Good luck with that.

-Robert
 
One of the problems with such written communiques is that intent is not always so easily discernible. I doubt we would have any trouble discussing this topic face to face. We would disagree about some issues and agree on most others, but we would probably avoid being disagreeable.

-Robert
 
I'm going to go ahead and test his theory in real life

I thought testing a theory constituted an experiment, but perhaps Humpty Dumpty was right: 'words mean what I say they mean'.
 
Bartelby--I didn't realize there was a certain, exact methodology when it came to "testing" racquets. Could you go ahead and tell me what that methodology is?
 
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