What makes a racquet easier or harder to swing...

forthegame

Hall of Fame
Hi guys and gals. Wee question as above.

I usually play with a Textreme Tour 100P and picked up an old Liquidmetal Instinct MP for a change.
Despite being somewhat comparable (though lighter in weight, lower in swingweight) the Instinct MP was soooo hard to swing compared to the Prince. As in actually, tiring to play with and felt cumbersome to move around.

I was confused. I am aware that the Textreme is noted to be easier to swing by most people but why?

Is it the balance of the Instinct? The very old syngut strings in it?

Any insight would be lovely to hear.

Danke.
 

Purestriker

Legend
Hi guys and gals. Wee question as above.

I usually play with a Textreme Tour 100P and picked up an old Liquidmetal Instinct MP for a change.
Despite being somewhat comparable (though lighter in weight, lower in swingweight) the Instinct MP was soooo hard to swing compared to the Prince. As in actually, tiring to play with and felt cumbersome to move around.

I was confused. I am aware that the Textreme is noted to be easier to swing by most people but why?

Is it the balance of the Instinct? The very old syngut strings in it?

Any insight would be lovely to hear.

Danke.
You can use the TWU racket comparison tool to look at the differences.

 

socallefty

G.O.A.T.
Think about any object you want to swing - weight, balance, shape, size, density all matter in terms of how easy it is to swing. With a racquet, the weight/balance and corresponding swingweight, headsize, length, beam width, beam shape (Aero for instance) all have an impact.
 

maxplough

Rookie
In theory, all those factors mentioned above, plus twist weight and string frontal area/coefficient of drag; in practice, I have a hard time believing that anything beyond weight and weight distribution matters.

Aero effects might be seen when comparing a Tour 90 with a Bubba, but for a 98 vs a 100 of the same racquet line, I don't buy it. And that's just a frontal area difference. As regards Cd, any cycling time trialist would have a fit if his bike tubes were shaped like those on any of the 'aero' racquets.
 
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