What is the most arm friendly frame out right now?

Booger

Hall of Fame
My buddy is down to playing 1x/week due to his arm. He's a serious ball basher and I want to recommend a frame for him. 98 or 100.

Clash?
Pro kennex... honestly can't tell which one is softest?
Volkl something or other?
 

3loudboys

G.O.A.T.
Have a huge soft spot for the Kinetic frames from PK. They helped me recover from Golfers Elbow picked from using the graphene Rad Pro first gen.
 

t_pac

Semi-Pro
Ported Phantom
Angell K7 line
Pro Kennex - I use the Q+ Tour Pros, awesome frames if you like heavier, 18x20 setups. Thin beam, low RA and kinetic tech. Not the tightest 18x20 so still decent spin, great blend of control, power and comfort. They also have the 16x19 slightly lighter version
 

JonathanRF

New User
It is very much horses for courses when it comes to arm friendliness, what works for one player, causes tennis elbow in another.

That being said, I agree with people recommending ProKennex, they have big piles of anecdotal evidence all over the world of helping people fix arm problems. And they are not 'soft' rackets, many of them are some of the stiffest around, but their system appears to work. So flex does not always equal comfort.

Just remember the string you use and the tensions it is strung at make a big difference too.
 
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Frankc

Professional
Dissipate the shock - basic physics and technique. More shock = more chance of damage that finally inflames and puts you on the bench.

Avoid contemporary light, stiff carbon air shell frames - use an earlier well designed frame with more weight to dissipate shock and where the engineers had enough material to design real flex in that frame. Weight allows more material for flex design and mass does dissipate shock. Avoid contemporary stiff strings - especially with stiff light frames.
Avoid the trap of throwing these light set ups at the ball with just forearm and arm movement. See it all the time at our large local rec areas - they watch the pros and think that tennis is a power game with little core muscles and alot of arm speed only. See it all the time...
At our large rec areas the number of players with arm braces or who are just out of action is unprecedented.
Arm discomfort is not "normal' for great tennis...
 

esm

Legend
My buddy is down to playing 1x/week due to his arm. He's a serious ball basher and I want to recommend a frame for him. 98 or 100.

Clash?
Pro kennex... honestly can't tell which one is softest?
Volkl something or other?
IMO - more importantly… what string/tension setup is/will he be using?
 

3loudboys

G.O.A.T.
Black Ace Pro or Ki Q+ Tour pro (gesundheit!)?
It was the older Ki Q+5X Pro line - extended version that got cut down to 27.25" - the stock length was a little to much SW fro me. It surprised me how quickly it got my elbow back on track - 3 months or therebouts.
 

n8dawg6

Legend
ive got a couple ultra tour 97s that i reached for this spring when my rotator cuff was barking. strung with FB synthetic gut, its amazing how much more comfortable they are (and difficult to use).
 

Lorenn

Hall of Fame
My buddy is down to playing 1x/week due to his arm. He's a serious ball basher and I want to recommend a frame for him. 98 or 100.

Clash?
Pro kennex... honestly can't tell which one is softest?
Volkl something or other?

I agree with the ported Prince and Pro kennex.

What is his current setup? Age range? Wonder if they grip is on the firm side. Suggest Rehab/conditioning of the area. Tyler Twists work reasonably well(normal and reverse) Icing might be required as well. Need to keep the swelling down. Lacrosse ball or spiked ball to massage the area might help increase blood flow as tendons are slow to heal.

Anyways I agree I would suggest maybe even going OS with the Prince Phantom, maybe 107g. It might make him shorten his swing, relax a bit more.
 

Yamin

Hall of Fame
If he hits hard or serves above 110 I wouldn't recommend the clash as a most arm friendly option.

PK and Prince as others mentioned.
 
Adjusting my stroke to hit flatter (think Gilles Simon) with the prestige mp + thin multi has been a savior for my arm. Also the benefit of interchangeable pallets on Head frames is way undersold imo. Great stick.
 

Lorenn

Hall of Fame
Mid 30's. I think he's playing with last gen VCORE 95. Various "soft" poly at low 40's tension.

My guess would be grip tension/conditioning. Larger racquet less tension/arming the ball would help. He might need to play slightly less competitively for awhile. Yet still try to have fun.

Racquets recommended in this thread, Maybe Head Velocity or Techifibre Triax. All while trying to stretch and condition the area. Massage for increased blood flow.

Might be worthwhile to check general health for potential issue like high cholesterol or signs of higher than normal inflammation.
 

jdx2112

Hall of Fame
ProKennex
Prince Phantom line
Head Gravity line
Wilson Clash
Wilson Blade V8
Yonex VCore Pro 97

I’ve had arm issues in the past and generally if I’m playing with a racquet sub 64 RA I’m good. Highest RA I’ve played with comfortably was the Head Exteme Tour. The list above is pretty much as arm friendly as it gets, minus string set ups.
 

jdx2112

Hall of Fame
I would also add Diadem Elevate FS…Diadem inserts foam into their frames and that helps a lot…may even enable the use of a stiffer racquet.
 

gold325

Hall of Fame
The prince ported phantom is the king of comfort.

You can frame the ball and hardly feel it. My vote goes for that one. If it doesn't have enough power - string a little lower than normal and play with string options. Heavy spin.
 
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Tranqville

Professional
The new (2021) Yonex VCORE PRO line is extremely arm-friendly. D is one of the most low-frequency racquets in the market. For the majority of players, 97 (310) is most recommended.
 

rrepp

Rookie
If he's a "ball basher" he would do great with a Prince Phantom 100P with a multifilament like NGR2 tensioned at the middle of the racquet's stated recommended tension. It's very very arm friendly, low RA, great feel. And he should have the power required to use the racquet. A gut/poly hybrid might work too, but start with the NGR2.
 
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BPlain

Semi-Pro
Mid 30's. I think he's playing with last gen VCORE 95. Various "soft" poly at low 40's tension.

Early 40s here and have had tennis & golfers elbow issues since my college playing days. Strong endorse for PK. I’ve played both Q+Tour 300 and 315 and now 2019 Q+5 Pro with no issues whatsoever and that’s playing a full bed of poly (Black Knight 1.23) at 52 lbs.

FWIW, I came from Yonex playing their lower RA frames - DR98 and Ezone 98+ at 27.25 - and still feeling it in my elbow. PK kinetic effect is the real deal.
 

Demented

Semi-Pro
Phantoms are definitely the best but they're so low powered that you have to hit pretty hard to get depth. The extra effort you have to put in can cause shoulder issues. My wrist/forearm stuff went away completely and moved on upwards.
 

crabby

Rookie
I have some serious problems with TE, as long as I string NG or multi hybrids with cream as crosses, I‘m able to play 3-4 times a week. But I tried some new poly 7 weeks ago, instantly got pain and couldn‘t play for 2 weeks. Bought a PK Ki Q+5 pro and the pain went away. I‘m able to use some stiffer polys now…
I just picked up a wilson ultra tour for about 40€ new, curious wht it‘ll do to my elbow need to shave down the grip first, will do in the next few days…
 

WYK

Hall of Fame
I use TB in the mains and VCT in the crosses on my Textreme 03 Tour 100, and I would call it plush.
 

1HBHfanatic

Legend
-the new wilson blade v8s are very quiet at impact
-lots of dampening happening at handle
-might be worth a look!?
-as long as the swing weight and the overall weight is something they can handle
 
I was at the point where I couldn't hit forehands or serves and the two cortisone shots were not helping. I give PK Ki Q+ Tour 325 all the credit for fixing my GE. My frame is from 2 iterations ago (2017, pre-racecar cosmetic) - it's bit more headlight than the current green ones. Also haven't touched poly in 2 years - Natural gut mains x syn gut crosses.
 

Niko H.

New User
Pro Kennex racquets are the answer. Even models that indicate slightly higher stiffness rating are softer than any other brand with same stiffness. Due of course to kinetic beads inside the racquet chambers.
 

taylor15

Hall of Fame
My buddy is down to playing 1x/week due to his arm. He's a serious ball basher and I want to recommend a frame for him. 98 or 100.

Clash?
Pro kennex... honestly can't tell which one is softest?
Volkl something or other?
Wilson Ultra Pro 16x19. Part of the reason I am using this is I can use a multi/poly or syngut/poly and keep it super soft, get some power back and still have precision. I struggled with a wrist injury for half the summer and when I made this switch it finally started to heal.
 

mhkeuns

Hall of Fame
I would recommend the PK Black Ace Pro. It is arm-friendly and is a great racket for the bashers if he won’t mind real soft responses. It has to be strung with a full bed of poly at lower tension around 45lbs to really shine, ime.
 
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