Tuning a racket ;)
So, currently I'm playing with a Babolat AeroPro Drive GT and I'm somehow satisfied about it. I have another Head Youtek Pro Prestige (Wawrinka racket of choice) that I just got it but somehow it fits better my game the Babolat. Actually I was going for that Head racket because of better balance (6 points HL) and smaller head (98 vs 100 for Babolat) and in the end for me the Head YPP is a very good racket, quite close to the Cortex AeroPro of Babolat but with better control and less power... What I enjoyed a lot in the HYPP is the whip feeling and the very good head speed for top spin especially plus the control at the net even the pattern is similar but the smaller head makes the strings density better... Ok, after this introduction I just wanted to say that I want to add few grams in the handle of my APDGT (around 8-10 grams) for more handle balance than now. Why I want that? Because I'm thinking that this will make the racket more maneuverable and I can get more head speed plus the plow through on service. All these are assumptions and I'm really curious if one of you already did that with the same racket or different model and what was the result ;) for me currently the 4 points HL of APDGT are not enough and I want to make the racket at least balanced as the Cortex model (5 points HL) even more...
Any ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Meags on
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best thing to do first (if you haven't already) is to add a leather grip and overgrip, this will automatically raise your HL balance a couple of points and is often all you will need to do. If after that you would like to add a few more then add a few gramms under the buttcap, inside the 2 cavities. I would also recommend addind a couple of gramms @12 in the hoop, this will polarise the racket (weight at both ends) and will bring the tip round faster, creating more head speed and therefore more topspin. The APD is light anyway so you should be able to handle the extra weight. This will feel likje a completely new racket as the swingweight will increase too.
Start with the leather and og and go from there in small increments with the weight to see what suits you. Also choice in string is just as big a factor. Im playing with Solinco strings at the moment and they have the most amazing bite and spin, if your arm can handle their stiff nature, just means you can wallop it and it rarely goes out!
The Head PP is actually a 95" headsize as HEAD measure from the outside of their rackets. Also wawrinka plays with a pro stock pt57A, same mold as the older pt630 Guga/Muster used to play with and also same mold as thr RAdical TwinTube rackets very similar to what Djokovic plays with all of the 90's. In fact most of the HEAD players play with these rackets which are made in Austria. The newer Youtek is a slightly inferior model.
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Permalink Reply by akajohn on
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The trick with leather grip is already done... usually when I'm buying a racket I change the grip with Babolat Leather grip and I add an over-grip (I'm playing with number 3 handle)... so, my ex-Cortex had the same treatment and my current GT the same... right now I'm going to tune it more than this type of lite changes...
and this is the Head I was talking about: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Head_YOUTEK_Prestige_Pro/descpageRC...
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Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on -
Ive got leather. the best leather Grip for the Price is the Klippermate Leather Grip. you will need a Double sided Tape and its made from real cow/cat hide. 5 bucks plus shipping and handling. Its real durable and Feel like the Old Leathers from the 80s.
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Permalink Reply by Tennisfun on
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With more racket weight it will be less maneuverable but definitely will improve general plow through.
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so it will not be easier to generate head speed (for top spin I mean) in that respect... Is this the conclusion? Anyhow, maybe next days I will visit Babolat official shop and have a discussion with the guys there ;)
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Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on
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look for how to weight up my k factor racquets . I was looking for help for customizing my racquets. ive got good advise from the opolites here.
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Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on
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The extra weight will make you stronger. just dont go over 14oz unless you are a big man. Also stay around 6 or 7 head light points for the racquet head speed with the extra weight.
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Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on
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My Kfactor Tours/Federer's Racquet. are 7 points head light and weights less than 12 oz. Ive got the weight around 13oz and changed the balance to 6 points head light. Heaiver head harder hit, Need more forearm strength to handle it. It took a while but my arm beefed up my playing was back to normal in about a month of teaching and playing everyday. Forearm pulled a couple of times too that first month. I placed the weight in the four corners like a yonex, and some in the handle for the 6 points balance on one of the racquets that was slightly lighter than the other.
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Actually I was checking your discussion about this point and I found out the tool to calculate the swingweight. So, if I'm going to add 10 grams in the handle I will move the balance more 1.5 points to handle and the swingweight will go with just 1 gram. So, the racket will go around 332 grams (that is acceptable) and swingweight will go around 333-334 grams. That's quite Ok as far as currently the swingweight is 331 grams. Anyhow the conclusion is that the the head speed will not increase dramatically as far as swingweight is growing. So, maybe I will not change anything and just train more :)
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Permalink Reply by CoachV - William Vazquez on
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Train more with the heavier racquet. the head speed will increase when swich to a light version. so an Idea would be to have 4 racquets one racquet 1.5 to 2 oz heavier than the other ones at the same balance to increase strength and speed. Use the lighter ones to kick arse.
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