why pros' racquets and setups are such secrets?

[TENNIS_99]

Read ART ART's great contribution of Fed's racquets setup, my long unanswered question surfaces again :why pros' racquets and setups are such secrets? I will be just happy to know something like : this pro's using a "customerized" say Balolat PD racquet with Hurricane at 58 lb. That's good enough for me(a little while ). If they want to keep their "customization" as a secret for the fierce competition, that's fine. But for people spend so much time guessing if Fed is using n61, why?

 

[GugaGuga]

In a word...$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Top pros are usually required by the terms of their endorsement contracts to state that they use the equipment (i.e. paintjob) being promoted at the moment. To say the real specs of their racquets would be to publicly admit that they are not using what they say they are using. It would also "give away" that the highly-marketed, "technological innovations" being promoted by their various labels are very much less important than the PHYSICS of static weight, swing weight, flex etc.

Please also note that paying someone to claim they are using a product that they are in fact NOT using violates Federal (and often State) false-advertising laws. However, these laws have gone unenforced for a long time in the tennis world (golf is another sport where these violations are ignored). It is interesting to note that a consumer protection group did make some headway in a lawsuit against Nike, because Nike was selling a golf ball that it claimed was being used by Tiger Woods even though he wasn't using it. The lawsuit ultimately forced Nike to admit to the practice and further lead to their selling the real ball that he actually used. I doubt that Nike considered this lawsuit anything more than a minor embarrassment and a nuisance.

Ultimately, this practice hurts the sport of tennis a great deal, and it represents just another area of our modern lives where the interests of individuals are not protected by the very laws and law-enforcement mechanisms that are designed for their protection. Rather, "corporations" are allowed to blatantly violate the law in order to pursue the highest possible profit.

One of my personal heros in Mark Phillipousis. After a dispute with Head, Inc., he began spraypainting all of his racquet frames black, rather than give them free advertising. For a while, he also went without any kind of a clothing contract, and he was covering the logos on all of his clothes, bags etc.

It would benefit the sport a great deal, if the ATP would publicize the specifications of each tour players' racquet, and string tensions etc.

Fortunately, there are places like this forum. With a little research and some common sense, one can get a much more accurate idea of the racquets the pros are using and employ the knowledge towards his own game.

BTW, thanks to all of you well-informed posters who have posted the specs and tensions from the various tournaments you work at. It has helped me immeasurably.


GG

 

[lucky leprechaun]

I love tennis but its embarassing how the tennis community takes the worst fooling from corporate advertising than any other sport, and we're supposed to be the smartest.

 

[OrangeOne]

To say the real specs of their racquets would be to publicly admit that they are not using what they say they are using. It would also "give away" that the highly-marketed, "technological innovations" being promoted by their various labels are very much less important than the PHYSICS of static weight, swing weight, flex etc.

Feel. That's what's important with a racquet, imho. Waaaay too many people focus on the "specs", when the "specs" are only such a limited way to describe a racquet. Sure, if you know the specs of your racquet - odds are you'll play ok with one of similar specs, in that you probably won't be completely embarassed holding it. But in reality - it's so much more about how a racquet hits a ball than it is about static weight or swing weight, again, imho.

I doubt that Nike considered this lawsuit anything more than a minor embarrassment and a nuisance.

Agreed - and hell - they launched a new product as a result!

Ultimately, this practice hurts the sport of tennis a great deal

How?

It would benefit the sport a great deal, if the ATP would publicize the specifications of each tour players' racquet, and string tensions etc.

Again - I don't see how. It would change the decisions of a few racquet geeks (and I don't say geek in a negative way , I'm a geek in many things, just not in regard to my racquet!), but that's all it'd do. Remember that most sports are shaped 'triangularly', in the the broad base is made up of many social & casual players who drive the $$ in the sport, the more 'serious' people, in most sports, are not representative of the larger $$ component.

Are 99% of players in the world happy with the racquet they play with? For sure! And if everyone actually demo'd / play-tested multiple racquets before they bought one, then there'd be almost no problem.

To answer the original poster's question, i'd say "cycle-times" are the issue. The companies do indeed want the general public to believe that the pros change more often than they do, so that joe-average public can change too. Additionally, racquets are a 'fashion element' too, and fashions change. To joe-average-tennis player, a Pro Staff just doesn't look "modern or advanced", and their car looks new & shiny & sleek, so why shouldn't their racquet?

 

[slice bh compliment]

...One of my personal heros in Mark Phillipousis. After a dispute with Head, Inc., he began spraypainting all of his racquet frames black, rather than give them free advertising. ...

I respect that.

 

[slice bh compliment]

...One of my personal heros in Mark Phillipousis. After a dispute with Head, Inc., he began spraypainting all of his racquet frames black, rather than give them free advertising. For a while, he also went without any kind of a clothing contract, and he was covering the logos on all of his clothes, bags etc. ...

But this just smacks of EFFORT.
I dug it when he came up with his own clothing line and logo. That green and gold flower or something. Looked like a stylized BP logo?
Why cover a logo on an existing tennis bag when you give the bag away. I'd just come out with some cool badass bag without a logo. Hemp or something. Or a generic duffel from an outdoor store.

 

[Steve Huff]

Guga... how would "it benefit the sport a great deal"? Personally, I don't think racket sales would increase or decrease significantly if pro model specs were published or not. Plus, some pro's may be making continuous tweaks to their rackets to correct what that pro sees as a weakness. If everyone knew, everyone (including other players) would know that the pro perceives a weakness somewhere (whether he really did or not). Race car drivers don't tell the public what they do to their cars to make them perform better. It may be the same mentality. Don't get me wrong. I'd like to know more about some players' rackets too. But, I don't think it's something that important to tennis, and certainly not something we're bound to see in the near future.

 

[GugaGuga]

Guga... how would "it benefit the sport a great deal"? Personally, I don't think racket sales would increase or decrease significantly if pro model specs were published or not. Plus, some pro's may be making continuous tweaks to their rackets to correct what that pro sees as a weakness. If everyone knew, everyone (including other players) would know that the pro perceives a weakness somewhere (whether he really did or not). Race car drivers don't tell the public what they do to their cars to make them perform better. It may be the same mentality. Don't get me wrong. I'd like to know more about some players' rackets too. But, I don't think it's something that important to tennis, and certainly not something we're bound to see in the near future.

This may be a point on which we respectfully disagree. Nevertheless, I will try to briefly explain how this practice hurts the sport.

When amatuers see that their favorite pro (or a pro upon which they are modeling some aspect of their game) is using a certain racquet, and they buy the "version" being sold at the stores, they will often meet with poor results. The retail versions are always lighter, thus contributing to the higher incidence of tennis elbow and other arm injuries. This leads to a frustrated player who often leaves the sport for another one. This is bad for the game.

So too with developing amatuers. They may make good competitive amatuers, but their development as a player is hindered because they are using equipment that is too light. They will never hit a heavy ball using a featherweight racquet. To see the real specs of the pros would allow them to make more informed decisions in selecting racquet weight and balance etc. A more informed athlete is ultimately a better athelete, IMHO.

I also don't believe that anything done in the corporate world is ever by accident or coincidence. I've worked in the corporate world for too long to know better. Of course racquet sales are improved by the constant "changes in technology". "New and Improved" always sells better than "old" when it comes to recreation. If racquet manufacturers admit that most of the top tennis players in the men's tour are using racquets that are very little changed from the racquets they were using 10 or even 20 years ago, then the manufacturer would be in a bind to sell the "same old same old player's racquet" at a price the (now informed) market would bear--namely, a lot lower price than the near $200 "price point" that they know they can get for the racquet if they make it "new". Player's racquet price points would be under $100, because that is a sufficient price point for manufacturers to profit and still produce a quality product--it's really just a graphite/fiberglass hoop people--they aren't rocket science to produce. However obviously, that manufacterer makes a lot more profit when he can sell the product for $200 by making it appear new.

There is a reason why this type of practice is illegal--it's called fraud--and, as I stated, tennis is not the only place where it happens. Imagine if someone sells the same old bottle of asprin for $25 rather than $0.97 at the drugstore and claims that it has some special molecule or other in it that makes it better (when no such molecule is actually in it). Would you say that this practice is okay, because ultimately the customer is still getting a pain reliever of adequate efficacy? They could even claim that the "placebo effect" makes this practice justifiable! Obviously, that's nonsense. And it, too, is illegal.

I think more people would enjoy playing the game with equipment that is effective and safe. Fewer injuries would result, and competition would improve.

Just my $0.02,
GG