BabblingPsychopath
Rookie
OK, first off, I'm no great tennis player. I'm 50, been playing a few years. But I do love the game and sometimes play 4-5 times per week.
I have just one racquet that I regularly use - one of those "recreational" racquets from a sporting goods store. Nothing great, but better than my previous department store racquet. I've used this racquet for 2 years, it's starting to look kinda worn, so I though maybe I should look into getting a new racquet, and maybe a decent one this time. So far, so good.
I should also mention that I cannot find any specs for my current racquet, being a cheapo model and out of production. I know head size (110). I don't know stiffness, balance, power, weight etc. I do know that it is *very* light, via a comparative "heft" test.
So, I decide to take advantage of the demo program at TW. I read everything I can find about selecting a racquet. I got 4 demo racquets this week, and have been out with those, my racquet, and my son's bag of racquets. I looked up all the specs of the ones I could identify. Most were light, and most were oversized head, but I have a mix of flexible vs stiff, head heavy vs head light, etc.
I played one day just rallying with my son, swapping racquets. Today I played some singles matches with friends. For most strokes, I could identify racquets I liked better than other. But ... I cannot serve with any of them.
My serve is much better than the rest of my game. I don't know why because nobody taught me. But I serve harder than others at my level, with substantial spin, and decent placement. I've never made a video of myself but I know I rely on substantial elbow snap. With ALL of the demos, and others I tried, my normal serve motion gives me serious elbow pain (which I never have). If I took out the snap, I found perhaps I still had some pop on the serve, but none of the spin I can usually apply.
So it made me wonder what characteristic of my current racquet this is due to, and all I can guess is that it must be ultra-ultra-lightweight. Though the three lightest racquets I used (that I knew the weight of) were less than 10 ounces - quite light.
I'm at a loss. Should I:
a) just forget it, continue using this racquet until it breaks then worry about it
b) find a racquet which otherwise works, and rebuild my serve
c) go see what my local pro thinks
d) demo a bunch more racquets
??
I have just one racquet that I regularly use - one of those "recreational" racquets from a sporting goods store. Nothing great, but better than my previous department store racquet. I've used this racquet for 2 years, it's starting to look kinda worn, so I though maybe I should look into getting a new racquet, and maybe a decent one this time. So far, so good.
I should also mention that I cannot find any specs for my current racquet, being a cheapo model and out of production. I know head size (110). I don't know stiffness, balance, power, weight etc. I do know that it is *very* light, via a comparative "heft" test.
So, I decide to take advantage of the demo program at TW. I read everything I can find about selecting a racquet. I got 4 demo racquets this week, and have been out with those, my racquet, and my son's bag of racquets. I looked up all the specs of the ones I could identify. Most were light, and most were oversized head, but I have a mix of flexible vs stiff, head heavy vs head light, etc.
I played one day just rallying with my son, swapping racquets. Today I played some singles matches with friends. For most strokes, I could identify racquets I liked better than other. But ... I cannot serve with any of them.
My serve is much better than the rest of my game. I don't know why because nobody taught me. But I serve harder than others at my level, with substantial spin, and decent placement. I've never made a video of myself but I know I rely on substantial elbow snap. With ALL of the demos, and others I tried, my normal serve motion gives me serious elbow pain (which I never have). If I took out the snap, I found perhaps I still had some pop on the serve, but none of the spin I can usually apply.
So it made me wonder what characteristic of my current racquet this is due to, and all I can guess is that it must be ultra-ultra-lightweight. Though the three lightest racquets I used (that I knew the weight of) were less than 10 ounces - quite light.
I'm at a loss. Should I:
a) just forget it, continue using this racquet until it breaks then worry about it
b) find a racquet which otherwise works, and rebuild my serve
c) go see what my local pro thinks
d) demo a bunch more racquets
??
