Three beautiful Head Radical Tours (so called Candycanes). One of my favourite racquets of all time. Anno 1998.

Okay, so your racquet is not playing the way you want it to and this is what you do about it. Let’s say it has too much power, too little power, it feels unstable on off-center hits, it’s too light, it’s difficult to manoeuvre and so you start looking for a new racquet. Actually, you can try a lot of things to change the racquet characteristics before you decide to change it. What’s important for customizing a racquet to your preferred specs is that it’s not too heavy, because it’s hard to remove weight from a racquet (you could change to a thinner grip, but that won’t make it that much lighter), otherwise you can try a lot of things before you give up on your tennis racquet.

Here’s a list on things you can to customize your tennis racquet:

• Change string tension. Today low string tensions are all the rage when it comes to polyester strings. Lower string tensions are better for your arm and gives you more power. There are professional tennis players that string their racquets as low as 14 kg (Volandri) so here you can try a lot of things.
• Change strings. Some say strings are 70% of the racquet. No matter the percentages, strings can really change how your racquet plays. A stiff string strung at 60 lbs (or 30 kg) can murder your arm and get any racquet to play like a board, while a gut or multifilament string can soften a stiff racquet and make it play differently. Lots of softer polyester strings are now hitting the market to allow for spin and control while still being more comfortable on the arm.
• Add lead tape. Adding lead tape to your racquet is great for customizing weight and balance. Lead underneath the grip makes it more head light and easier to swing, lead on the throat of the frame makes it heavier but maintains the balance, lead in the head and gives you more power/stability depending on the placement.
• Adding silicone or tack (just added white tack to my frames and this increased stability, feel and made the more head light in a nice way) in the handle for increase comfort and head light feel. Most pro tennis racquets come from the factory weighing around 300 grams in a so called hairpin, then they put silicone in the handle, lead underneath the grommets and bring the weight up to more of a pro player weight. This is how they can match the racquets around balance and weight.
• If you racquet handle is not the right size there are ways on some racquets you can fix that too. Head and a few other brands have a pallets system where you can change the size of the grip. This sounds difficult, but is rather straightforward. If your racquet doesn’t have a pallet system it’s hard to make the racquet smaller but you can make it bigger by buying a so called shrink sleeve. It’s generally always quite easy to build up a racquet grip. You can buy a thicker base grip, add two undergrips etc, so better to choose a smaller grip than one that is close to being too big.

Here are some good videos on customizing your racquets. Enjoy!

Matching your racquets
Finding the balance of your racquet
Adding silicone to your racquet handle
Stringing your tennis racquet
How a tennis racquet is made

Selling or trading a pair of classics in great condition. Head Radical Tour MP, also called “The Candycane”. Made in Austria of the famous PT57-mould, heralded by many as the ultimate control racquet. I have now moved on to other racquets so I’m selling the two I have to some lucky buyer who wants to know how it feels to hit a sublime, no-bounce drop-shot.

Will sell them for cheap!

E-mail or comment for more info or pics. tennisnerdnetATgmail.com is the address.

My new weapon of choice is the Prince Textreme Tour 95. I can’t believe I’ve changed racquets yet again, but something about this stick talked to me with its really nice “classic” specs, yet friendly swing-weight and open string pattern. It’s rare you find a modern racquet with a stiffness rating (strung) of 60 RA so this was just too much of a good fit for my game to pass up on. Not that I don’t miss the Wilson Blades in some respect, they had more power and forgiveness, but I just can’t move away from the 95 inch headsize.

Now I’ve strung up the Prince Textreme Tours 95 with Diadem Solstice Pro and Solinco Hyper-G for a playtest. It might well be that the Tour 95s work better with a hybrid setup with natural gut, but time will tell.

For now, kudos to Prince for creating a racquet that in the beautiful middle ground of a classic and a modern stick. Soon we might see a time where 95 inch racquets are a thing of the past so let’s cherish them while they last.

Only hit for an hour with the Diadem so far, but really happy with the string on the first go. Soft, yet sprin-friendly.

Will keep you posted on how it plays after a few more hours.

You can buy the Prince Textreme Tour 95 at Tennis Express (affiliate link) and donate a few cents to this humble tennis blog.

It seems like several players are moving from Prince to Babolat. Well, at least David Ferrer, Federico Delbonis and Albert Montanes who are all using Babolat at the start of the 2016 season. I spotted Montanes today in Morocco where he was swinging a Babolat Pure Drive instead of his trusted Prince. Is it really a Pure Drive under the paint job? Possibly, or maybe a Pure Control? Why are they changing? I assume to get more pace since the Babolat are much stiffer than the Prince racquets they’ve been playing with previously.

It’s interesting because the racquets are pretty much polar opposites and the racquet changes are coming quite late in their careers (talking mainly about Ferrer and Montanes here, but Delbonis has also been with Prince for quite a while). The game is definitely moving towards faster racquets and more spin-oriented (shaped) strings, but it’s still surprising that players are switching since a racquet change is quite a big thing for a professional tennis player. Did Federer start a movement when he moved from the control-oriented Pro Staff 90 to the powerful RF97A?

There are obviously players that switch racquets more frequently. Fernando Verdasco seems to switch as often as some people change underwear and that goes for both racquet and strings. It’s obviously important to get an edge in such a competitive professional sport as tennis, but a change is also something that can throw you off your game and should be evaluated and thought-through carefully.

The Prince to Babolat change for clay court specialists could also revolve around corporate agreements and sponsorship contracts of course. Babolat has “aggressively” tried to get more and more sponsored players for years now and my feeling is that they’re the number one brand among professionals these days.

This is how Laurence Shanet answered the question about popular tennis brands on Quora:

It’s always difficult to get very accurate sales comparisons, especially across multiple world markets, etc.  There are also multiple market segments to be tracked.  For example, even though most tennis players only think of the “performance” racquet segment (the advertised models generally sold at pro shops and whose facsimiles are usually wielded by the pros), there are also many racquets sold in the mass channel (including everything from KMart to large lower end sporting goods stores to supermarkets). The mass channel models are completely separate makeups and much less expensive than the typical performance frame, and data is kept separately.  But because of the sheer numbers sold, they’re also relevant to a company’s bottom line.  Also, different companies have different levels of presence in different parts of the world.  For example, Yonex isn’t among the top 4 or 5 brands in the US or Europe, but is one of the top 3 in many Asian markets.  Similarly, Head is much stronger in Europe than the US.

But for the sake of discussion, I’ll refer to the performance category here and focus my answer on the U.S. market, which is the largest in tennis, and is thought to drive many of the others.

In the U.S., the top three brands are currently:

1. Babolat
2. Wilson
3. Head

Those three companies sell considerably more frames than the next tier of competitors, which includes Prince, Dunlop, and Yonex, among others. Babolat is certainly the #1 brand over the last 5+ years, with Wilson not too far behind, and Head a somewhat distant third (though Head’s presence in Europe is stronger than in the US).

In 2015, the most popular frames, based on sales in the specialty channel (which includes pro shops, tennis specialty stores, etc.) are:

1.  Babolat Aero Pro Drive 2013 (MP)

2.  Babolat Pure Drive 2015 (MP)

3.  Wilson Pro Staff 97 (MP)

4.  Babolat Pure Drive GT (2012)

5.  Wilson Pro Staff RF 97 Auto (MP)

6. Head Graphene Speed Pro

Prince used to be one of the top three brands a decade or two ago, but has slowly lost market share.  The reasons for this are probably a combination of their product offerings, their marketing efforts, and the fact that they’ve had a slew of ownership and management changes over the intervening years.  They’ve had a hard time maintaining a plan and a focus on their business, and have changed course many times as the company changed hands.

It’s worth noting that Prince is currently making a concerted effort at regaining their relevance.  They were taken over by an investment company in Omaha a couple of years ago, and have been trying since to revive the brand.  Efforts have included installing a brand pop-up store in midtown Manhattan for the first week of the US Open, displaying their latest frames (and a number of favorite throwbacks based on very successful past models), which contain a number of offerings for serious players. However, none of the efforts have seemed to gain them much ground.

Anyway, it would be interesting to hear from the players, if it the choice is other than financial, why they switch over to Babolat. Babolat is known for their powerful racquets (in large part due to their stiffness) and is extremely popular among amateurs who want easy access to power and large sweetspots, but the other side of the coin is that many amateurs are developing tender elbows and wrists due to the racquet stiffness (it can also be poor technique, but stiffness in either racquet or strings never helps). These issues do not plague the professionals as much due to frequent stringing and great technique and conditioning, but should be a reason to always test racquets for a few sessions before you buy them.

We can’t yet know why Ferrer, Montanes and Delbonis all moved from arm-friendly and flexible Prince racquets to more powerful and stiff Babolats, but it will be interesting to see if the change will have any effect on their games during the 2016 season.

Hi fellow tennis lovers. I have lots of racquets that I’m not using. Let me know if you’re interested in one or two. I’m flexible around pricing so give me your offers. Would be interested in trading for Solinco Hyper-G strings. Thanks / J

Item Description: Wilson kBlade 98
Grip Size: 4 3/8
Quantity: 2
Head Size: 98 sq. inches
Condition (x out of 10): one is 5/10 so cheap, one is 8/10.
*Specific Time Used (must give specific time, must be over 30 minutes): 40 hours each
*General Description (including any cosmetic blemishes): Paint chips, one is not
Price: 50 euro, 2 for 80 since one of them is in poor shape but fully playable.
Shipping: 1: 15 euro 2: 20 euro
Seller’s Contact Info: tennisnerdnetATgmail.com

Item Description: Wilson nSix-One Tour 90
Grip Size: 4 3/8
Quantity: 1
Head Size: 90 sq. inches
Condition (x out of 10): 8/10
*Specific Time Used (must give specific time, must be over 30 minutes): 20 hours
*General Description (including any cosmetic blemishes): Some scratches and a few chips, but nothing major.
Price: 60 euro
Shipping: 1: 15 euro
Seller’s Contact Info: tennisnerdnetATgmail.com

Item Description: Wilson K-Factor Six One Tour 90
Grip Size: 4 3/8
Quantity: 2
Head Size: 90 sq. inches
Condition (x out of 10): 7/10
*Specific Time Used (must give specific time, must be over 30 minutes): 40 hours each.
*General Description (including any cosmetic blemishes): Paint chips and blemishes. No cracks or structural problems.
Price: 1: 50 euro 2: 80 euro
Shipping: 1: 15 euro 2: 20 euro
Seller’s Contact Info: tennisnerdnetATgmail.com

Item Description: Tecnifibre Speedflex 315 ATP
Grip Size: 4 3/8
Quantity: 2
Head Size: 100 sq. inches
Condition (x out of 10): 9/10
*Specific Time Used (must give specific time, must be over 30 minutes): 10 hours each.
*General Description (including any cosmetic blemishes): Good as new.
Price: 1: 60 euro 2: 115 euro
Shipping: 1: 15 euro 2: 20 euro
Seller’s Contact Info: tennisnerdnetATgmail.com

Item Description: Head Prestige Classic 600 (designed in Austria)
Grip Size: 4 1/2
Quantity: 1
Head Size: 89.5 inches
Condition (x out of 10): 8/10
*Specific Time Used (must give specific time, must be over 30 minutes): 10 hours.
*General Description (including any cosmetic blemishes): A chip at 12 o clock. Plays like a dream if you like the classics.
Price: 70 euro
Shipping: 1: 15 euro
Seller’s Contact Info: tennisnerdnetATgmail.com

Item Description: Head Radical Tour MP “Candycane”
Grip Size: 4 3/8 or 4 1/2 (pallets so I can change)
Quantity: 3
Head Size: 98 sq. inches
Condition (x out of 10): 9/10
*Specific Time Used (must give specific time, must be over 30 minutes): 20 hours for 2, 5 hours for 1.
*General Description (including any cosmetic blemishes): Racquets are without paint chips, but has bumper rash. One is close to brand new. Two are matched at 351 grams and 31.4 cm balance strung. The third one is only 1-2 grams different.
Strings:
1: Völkl Cyclone
2: Babolat VS + Babolat Hurricane Tour
3: Yonex Poly Tour Pro
Price: 55 euro each, 2 for 100 and 3 for 150.
Shipping: 1: 15 euro 2: 20 euro 3: 25 euro.
Seller’s Contact Info: tennisnerdnetATgmail.com

Tennis product companies create new products in cycles and we can expect new batches of gear coming out ahead of each Grand Slam, especially when it comes to apparel but also paint jobs on current racquet models and sometimes entirely new racquet lines. This post deals with what’s been happening of late in the ever-expanding tennis gear category. I will create a post per brand to cover the most recent updates to their line of tennis gear and apparel. First off is Wilson.

Wilson

Wilson has a new line of racquets out with FST – Fast Speed Technology. A pretty silly name in my mind, but it’s supposed to do just what it says, adapt the racquets for a faster swing speed. The flagship model is the FST Burn 95 which is endorsed by Kei Nishikori and costs a whopping $249 in stores. The Burn 95 has received good reviews however and is supposed to play a lot softer than it’s arm-exploding 71 RA. My guess is that it could be similar to the Wilson Six-One 95 Classic which had a measured RA of 72, but never felt as stiff as that during play.

Another feature of the FST series is the extended handles, called the X2 Ergo handle, which is tailor made for two-handed backhands. The Wilson Labs are supposed to have created an ergonomic handle shape for the top hand of the modern two-handed backhand. It’s an interesting approach and I’m curious to know whether it actually feels better for that shot.

If anyone has tried this line of racquets, please comment below to tell me what you think about them.

Besides the FST series, Wilson has also released a light and flexible tennis shoe called KAOS. The design might be an acquired taste with it’s rubber criss-cross pattern, but the reviews are pretty good.

Dimitrov and Pro Staff 97S

In September last year Wilson re-signed Grigor Dimitrov as one of their brand ambassadors and gave him is own signature model – the Pro Staff 97S. It looks really sharp!

Specs should be interesting for people looking for a mix between classical and modern.

Strung Specifications

I’m curious about this racquet, because I really liked the Wilson Blade 98 (2015) 18×20 but would have preferred a more open string pattern.

Since the balance is quite even, I would make sure to add weight in the handle to get it more headlight and bump the weight up to my preferred 345 grams.

Despite how nice the racquet is, Dimitrov hasn’t had a great start to the season. The Bulgarian once hailed as baby Federer (a dangerous nickname if you consider Gasquets career underwhelming compared to his talent), is still struggling on tour after numerous coach and racquet changes and yesterday he lost in straight sets against Simon in the first round of Monte Carlo Masters.

Dimitrov is now ranked 26 in the world, with his career peak coming at #8 in 2014. Let’s see if he can find the way back inside the top ten. Despite his obvious talent, my feeling is it won’t be easy.

Found an excellent list of tennis racquets used by ATP pros at tennisthis but I would just like to add that a quite large percentage is not using the actual model found in the store, but a paint job of it with an older or different model underneath. Some of them use highly customized versions of the retail models, but very few use the actual retail versions without modifications. Lots of people know this, but the majority of people following or playing tennis does not.

Why is it like this? Well, tennis companies need to sell racquets and ATP professionals are the perfect ambassadors. However, using a racquet is a highly personal thing and a lot of tweaking goes into the process. And, if you started using a particular model as a junior and found lots of success with it, why change? So the racquet companies then paint the racquet to look like their new models, sporting their new technologies. Some of which seem to work and others which don’t.

So I will here post the excellent list from TennisThis and call it: “Tennis Racquets endorsed by the ATP pros”

Do you want to know if a particular pro is playing with said racquet? Write a comment and I will see if I can find out.

Adrian Mannarino – Babolat AeroPro Drive (2013)
Albert Ramos Vinolas – Babolat Pure Drive Plus
Alejandro Falla – Babolat Pure Storm Tour GT
Alex Bogomolov Jr. (retired) – Prince EXO3 100 Tour (18×20)
Alexander Peya – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Alexander Zverev – Head Graphene XT Speed MP A
Alexandr Dolgopolov – Wilson Pro Staff 95S
Aljaz Bedene – Tecnifibre TFight 315 Ltd. TP ATP (18×20)
Andreas Beck – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Andreas Seppi – ProKennex Q Tour (2013)
Andy Murray – Head YouTek Graphene Radical Pro
Andy Roddick (retired) – Babolat Pure Drive Roddick Plus
Benjamin Becker – Babolat Pure Strike 100
Bernard Tomic – Head YouTek Graphene Radical Midplus
Benoit Paire – Babolat AeroPro Drive (2013)
Bjorn Fratangelo – Babolat Pure Aero
Bob & Mike Bryan – Prince Tour 95
Borna Coric – Yonex VCORE Tour F 97
Brian Baker (retired?)- Babolat AeroPro Drive (2013)
Bruno Soares – Wilson Six.One 95 BLX (18×20)
David Ferrer – Babolat Pure Drive
David Nalbandian (retired) – Yonex RDiS 100 Midplus
Denis Istomin – Tecnifibre TFight 325 VO2 Max
Denis Kudla – Technifibre TFight 325 VO2 Max
Dimitry Tursunov – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Donald Young – Tecnifibre TFight 315 Dynacore
Dudi Sela – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Edouard Roger Vasselin – Babolat Pure Drive Plus
Ernests Gulbis – Wilson Burn 100
Fabio Fognini – Babolat Pure Drive Plus
Federico Delbonis – Babolat Pure Aero
Feliciano Lopez – Wilson Juice 100 BLX
Fernando Gonzales (retired) – Babolat Pure Storm GT
Fernando Verdasco – Head Graphene XT Speed Pro
Filippo Volandri – Head YouTek IG Prestige MidPlus
Florian Mayer – Head Graphene Prestige MidPlus
Frank Dancevic – Wilson ProStaff RF 97
Gael Monfils – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Giles Simon – Head Graphene XT Prestige Midplus
Grigor Dimitrov – Wilson Pro Staff 97S
Guido Pella – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – Head YouTek IG Prestige Pro
Horia Tecau – WIlson Six.One 95 BLX (16×18)
Igor Sijsling – Wilson Six.One 95 BLX (16×18)
Ivan Dodig – Head Graphene Radical Midplus
Ivan Ljubicic (retired) – Head YouTek IG Extreme Pro
Ivo Karlovic – Head YouTek IG Radical Pro
Jack Sock – Babolat Pure Aero
Janko Tipsarevic – Tecnifibre TFight 325 TP ATP
Jarkko Nieminen – Wilson Six.One 95 BLX (16×18)
Jeremy Chardy – Head YouTek Graphene Radical MidPlus
Jerzy Janowicz – Babolat Pure Aero
Jesse Levine – Babolat Pure Drive
Jiri Vesely – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Joao Sousa – Wilson Juice 100 BLX
John Isner – Prince Warrior 100
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Babolat Pure Aero
Julian Reister – Wilson Juice 100 BLX
Juan Ignacio Chela (retired) – 2011 Babolat Pure Storm GT
Juan Martin Del Potro (injured) – Wilson K Factor KSix-One 95 (16×18)
Juan Monaco – Yonex VCORE Si 98
Julien Benneteau – Babolat Pure Drive Plus (2012)
Jurgen Melzer – Dunlop Biomimetic 300 Tour
Kei Nishikori – Wilson Burn 100
Kenny De Schepper – Babolat AeroPro Drive (2013)
Kevin Anderson – Srixon Revo X 2.0 Tour
Leonardo Mayer – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Lleyton Hewitt – Yonex VCORE Tour 97
Lucas Pouille – Prince Textreme Tour 100P
Lukas Rosol – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Lukas Lacko – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Matthew Ebden – Head Graphene Instinct MP
Marcel Granollers – Wilson Burn 100 Team
Marcelo Melo – Babolat AeroPro Drive GT
Marcin Matkowski – Babolat Pure Drvie
Marco Baghdatis – Head YOUTEK Graphene Speed Pro
Mardy Fish (retired) – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Mariusz Fyrstenberg – Babolat Pure Storm GT
Marin Cilic – Head Graphene Prestige Rev Pro
Marinko Matosevic – Head YouTek Graphene Radical MidPlus
Martin Klizan – Head YouTek IG Prestige Midplus
Max Mirnyi – Wilson SixOne Team BLX
Michal Przysiezny – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Michael Llodra (retired) – Wilson BLX Juice Pro
Michael Russell (retired) – Babolat Pure Drive
Mikhail Kukushkin – Head Graphene Speed MP
Mikhail Youzhny – Head YouTek IG Extreme Pro
Milos Raonic – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Nick Kyrgios – Yonex EZONE DR 98
Nicolas Almagro – Volkl Power Bridge 10 98
Nicolas Mahut – Wilson Steam 99
Nikolay Davydenko – Babolat AeroPro Drive
Novak Djokovic – Head Graphene XT Speed Pro
Pablo Carreno Busta – Wilson Blade 98 (18×20)
Pablo Cuevas – Head Graphene Prestige Midplus
Paul Henri Mathieu – Wilson Steam 99
Peter Gojowczyk – Head Graphene Prestige Midplus
Philipp Kohlschreiber – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Radek Stpanek – Head YouTek Graphene Speed MP
Rafael Nadal – Babolat Pure Aero PLAY
Ricardas Beraniks – Yonex Tour G
Richard Gasquet – Head Graphene XT Extreme Pro
Roberto Bautista Agut – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Robert Lindstedt – Wilson Six.One 95 BLX (16×18)
Robin Soderling (retired) – Head YouTek IG Prestige Midplus
Roger Federer – Wilson ProStaff RF 97 Autograph
Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo – Babolat Pure Drive Plus
Ryan Harrison – Babolat AeroPro Drive
Sam Groth – Babolat Pure Aero
Sam Querry – Babolat Pure Aero
Santiago Giraldo – Babolat Pure Strike Tour (18×20)
Sergiy Stakhovsky – Head Graphene Speed XT MP A
Somdev Devvarman – Babolat Pure Drive
Stanislas Wawrinka – Yonex VCORE Tour G 330
Steve Darcis – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Stevie Johnson – Babolat Pure Aero
Tatsuma Ito – Wilson Burn 100 Team
Taylor Fritz – Head Graphene Radical Midplus
Teymuraz Gabashvili – Head YouTek Graphene Speed Pro
Thanasi Kokkinakis – Babolat Aero Pro Drive Plus
Thomaz Bellucci – Wilson Pro Staff 97
Tim Smyczek – Dunlop Biomimetic F3.0 Tour
Tobias Kamke – Head YouTek IG Prestige MidPlus
Tomas Berdych –Head Graphene XT Instinct MP
Tommy Haas – Head Graphene Prestige Midplus
Tommy Robredo – Dunlop Biomimetic M 6.0
Vasek Pospisil – Wilson Burn 100
Victor Estrella Burgos – Babolat Pure Drive Plus
Viktor Troicki – Babolat Pure Aero
Yen-Hsun Lu – Head YouTek IG Extreme Pro 2.0

I recently posted about Dominic Thiem getting a signature model made by Babolat and now Head posted above picture on their Instagram account with the caption: “Sascha and our design head can sure be proud of this new beauty. Looks like they are (clap icon). More news coming soon”

There has been numerous questions on tennis forums on what model Zverev plays with. Is it the legendary PT113B that Djokovic has been using so successfully (yeah, he’s not playing the Head Speed series, but a racquet from the Ti./iRadical mould) or is it actually the model he endorses – the Head IG Speed MP?

It’s very hard to know for sure unless you’re working for head or in his team, but the question know is if he’s getting a new paint job to his old racquet or if he’s actually testing a new signature model for him.

Tennis racquet companies has been lying for years of what racquet the pros actually play, but since a court ruling some time ago they need to be more careful and instead say that they “endorse” a certain model. Like Head does in the below example for Djokovic:

Notice the word “recommend”. Djokovic’s real racquet is far from the Speed Pro.

Here are the specs according to racquet nerds on Tennis Warehouse forums:
Strung Weight: 359g (plenty of lead)
Strung balance: 32.8cm
SW: 370
Flex: 60RA strung
Grip: 4 3/8, custom with side bevels extended making it more rectangular. Uses two overgrips over Head Calfskin. First overgrip wrapped with no overlapping, top overgrip normal.

Lead: placement all around the hoop, under the grommets then continues inside the hoop as shown on pictures.

Pic from TT forum poster “NikeUp”.

Very few amateur players could comfortably play with a racquet that has a swing weight of 370 which means that no one would buy it despite it being the same model as their hero plays with. Wilson took a slightly different take with Federer’s RF97A where they dared to sell a model that weighs as much as it does (340 gr unstrung), still, people bought it.

Then there are of course pro players who play with slightly lighter racquets. The younger guys are simply used to the newer models and although they are surely adding lead tape and silicone, the racquets are lighter than what Federer and Djokovic plays. It’s the way the game has evolved, you need to swing faster to get more spin and to be able to swing fast you need less mass, but with less mass the ball is not as powerful so you need to add more stiffness to the frame. This results in light and stiff frames which can be fine for juniors in top shape who hit the ball in the middle of the racquet, but not good for amateurs with poor footwork who shank the ball frequently (Hello, tennis elbow!).

Does Zverev play with the retail IG Speed MP? I don’t know. But when I do, I will post something here.

Up-and-coming player Borna Coric has recently changed his racquet from the Yonex Vcore Tour F (not sure if that was the racquet he actually used or a paint job) to a Yonex DR 98. The Yonex Ezone DR 98 is one of the racquets I’m still curious about trying, partly due to the generous reviews it has been getting.

Looking at some other pics, Coric at least has lead in at 3 and 9 and I would guess – some silicone in the handle.

Retails specs of the Yonex Ezone DR 98

So I’ve been playing with this racquet for a few months and I have to say it’s a pure joy to hit with. I thought it would make sense to write a little review about this modern yet classical players’ frame.

The TexTreme line has been well reviewed across the board. Is it something in the material? What is TexTreme really? I’ve borrowed this explanation from the TeXtreme website:

WHAT IS TEXTREME^®

TeXtreme^® is a composite material technology and is mainly produced using carbon fiber yarns that we first spread into tapes and that we then weave in various ways to give it different benefits.

TeXtreme^® carbon fiber reinforcements is used in a large number of sports and competitions such as: Formula 1, Americas Cup, NASCAR, IndyCar, Le Mans, Bicycles, Ice Hockey, Surfing, Motorcycle, Rowing Shells, Golf, Tennis, Skis, and Snowboards. Alongside the Sporting Goods industry TeXtreme^® is also used in a wide variety of Aerospace and Industrial applications.

Does it work? I don’t know but the racquet is remarkably stable yet arm-friendly. Talking about arm-friendliness – I think Prince has always focused on quite flexible and elbow-friendly racquets and although the teXtreme line has higher RA ratings, the racquets still seem comfortable and that’s definitely the case with the Prince teXtreme Tour 95.

The specs are inviting to players who are serious about their tennis:

What they have changed from the previous Tour 95 series (besides the addition of the teXtreme material), is the string pattern, from a tight 18×20 to a more open and spin-friendly 16×19. I think this really benefits the racquet and opens up the sweet spot. I played with the previous Tour 95 a bit and I definitely believe this edition is more stable and less prone to twisting on off-center shots. I especially notice it on my one-handed backhand.

Mentioning the sweet spot, I think a lot of amateur players are concerned about mid-size racquets. Will they mishit the ball more?

There are a few pro’s and cons with 95 inches:

+ Easier to swing and get through the air
+ Better control
– Smaller sweet spot
– Less powerful

I prefer the 95 inch since I’m not bothered by a small sweet spot or a lack of power – but if you are, I would suggest you look at the Prince teXtreme 100P instead which is used on tour by French player Lucas Pouille.

More advanced players might ask: Is the 335 grams strung enough to face heavy balls? I think partly, yes, but I really feel the racquet benefits from a little lead at 3 and 9 and some blue/white tack in the handle. Just to add around 8-12 grams and get it closer to 345-350 grams. This is of course a personal preference. The racquet is very good also un-customized, but I just feel like that little extra weight gives me more power and stability.

Having played with the stick now for a few months, I can only say it’s a great stick. Good-sized sweet spot, super arm-friendly (although it plays a bit stiffer than 59 in RA), great feel and still spin-friendly with its open string pattern. I’ve been switching racquets a LOT these last few years, but I really feel like I’ve found a winner with this Prince teXtreme Tour 95. As a sidenote, since I have four of these – the quality control is much better than Wilson where I feel sometimes balance and weight are way too far apart.

Great job with the teXtreme series, Prince.

PS. I string my Prince teXtreme Tour 95 with either Diadem Solstice Pro or Solinco Hyper-G. Solinco is my favourite currently but both are great strings! DS.

Juan Martin Del Potro is back on clay and won his first match against the erratic but often spectacular Dustin Brown. For racquet fans however, the biggest news is probably that he’s finally been “given” a paint job to endorse by Wilson. For a long time Del Potro used a Hyper Pro Staff 6.1 95 with a K-factor Six-One 95 paint job (yeah, slightly crazy) despite that the model was out of stock, which I’m sure felt very strange for Wilson to agree to. Now it seems he’s agreed to sport at least another paint job with something that looks like a Burn FST 95 but has PWS (Perimeter Weighting System) so it is very likely still his trusted Hyper Pro Staff 6.1 95 mold. But who knows? Only Wilson and Del Potro I guess and Wilson just tweeted this:

For all tennis nerds and racquetaholics, it’s obvious that a Burn FST 95 doesn’t have PWS technology. So there’s something else under the paint. The racquet manufacturers are persistent that pro players are using new models, despite a large group of people knowing for sure that it’s not true. They want to sell frames of course, but then it would be more fair to release the actual Del Potro racquet to the audience. However, I’m not sure it would benefit amateurs to swing a heavy mid-size racquet in their weekly matches so that’s where the conundrum lies.

Since Babolat was sued for not being honest about their racquet endorsements, maybe the industry needs to simply be transparent around who plays what. Maybe the tweet above should have read: “Del Potro has made the switch to the cool Burn FST 95 paint”?

What are your thoughts about racquet endorsements and pro player racquets vs what you can buy in the shop?

It’s not really a new racquet, but Jack Sock has posted pics on his Instagram account of a new paint job (it’s not his actual racquet in the picture – he uses the Aero Storm, not the Pure Aero). It’s a Stars and Stripes paint job, similar to those of Jim Courier and the Wilson Pro Staff in the 90s. I assume he will use it for the Olympic Games (that’s where it makes most sense), but it’s not yet confirmed. The American Stars and Stripes will be a part of a bigger launch according to Babolat representatives. Which means that you will be able to buy a Pure Drive or Pure Aero in this new patriotic paint job.

To me all these Stars and Stripes paint jobs look extremely tacky. What do you think?

The Babolat Stars and Stripes series is also part of the Jack Sock for President campaign which tags on to the current Presidential nomination race.

A pro stock tennis racquet is basically the blank paper version (called a hairpin) of a retail tennis racquet. It can be based on the mold of an older racquet or a brand new one. Then pro racquet technicians (for example P1, RPNY, the official pro room of a major tennis brand) customize the racquet by modding the handle, applying silicone inside the handle and lead tape underneath the grommets to achieve the players’ desired weight and balance. All racquets are then matched to that preferred spec. The racquet does not contain any secret or magical ingredients. The pro’s advantage over amateurs has nothing to do with gear and everything to do with talent, technique and fitness = hours and hours on the practice court.

It makes a lot of sense really, a racquet is a very personal thing and there’s no one size fits all solution. If you played with a certain model through your teenage years with success, you wouldn’t suddenly want to change a winning concept. Changing racquets can be a long and painful process and it took me years of going back and forth between racquets before I finally settled on one. And only after adding weight in handle and on the frame and finding a great string for it, I’m feeling completely at peace in my gear (the Prince TexTreme Tour 95 – click the link for my review). Which actually is very important because then the racquet is not a source of uncertainty or something I can blame if I’m playing badly. It’s all in my feet, mind and heart – not the stick I’m waving. Your racquet should truly feel like an extension of your arm so you can focus on the other stuff.

So if you have a racquet you really like or play with but want to squeeze more out of – try to change strings or customize it before you start hunting a completely new frame. And don’t listen to any hype about pro stock tennis racquets. It’s all about the player and the personal connection to the racquet and what he or she can get out of it.

Now that the French Open is a upon us a lot of tennis fans will wonder – what racquet is 9-time champion Rafael Nadal swinging? But like I ‘ve written about a few times before, what you see on TV is not really what they actually play with. The pro players are most often using pro stock racquets in various
paint jobs.

That’s why most people believe that Rafael Nadal is playing with an Babolat Pure Aero, which is the latest version of the Babolat Aero Pro Drive series, but what he’s actually playing with is the Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original (1st edition). As you can see if you read the small print in the image below – Babolat says that the player might actually use a different model or racquet altogether.

So why is his racquet painted like the Pure Aero or the Pure Aero Play? Well, because Babolat want to sell more racquets and selling a more than ten year old model is not really feasible to them. So instead they do what most racquet companies do these days, keep producing the Aero Pro Drive Original for Rafa, but paint it like the latest model.

Rafa did try to play with the Pure Aero model (or at least the similar FSI string pattern) for a few tournaments while he was struggling, but he didn’t get the results he was looking for and didn’t completely trust his shots with the added power that the Pure Aero is offering. So he went back to the Aero Pro Drive Original.

What are his current specs you may wonder?

If you ask the tennis gear lovers at forums like TTW, you’ll get detailed answers like this (from poster “Romain”, but it’s hard to know for sure.

Rafael Nadal racquet specs:

– Babolat aeropro drive 2005 (4 1/4) painted in Pure Aero Play
-14g lead: 9g at 12 and 5g in handle
– Babolat Syntec Pro Black + Babolat Vs Original White
– Babolat Custom Damp
– Balance Unstrung: around 325 mm
– Balance Strung: around 335 mm
– String: Babolat RPM blast 1.35
– Racquet weight Unstrung: Around 318.5g (300 + 14 + 4.5 for the OG)
– Racquet weight Strung : Around 337-340g ( 318.5 + 3.5g for the Damp + String (dont know the exact weight of RPM 1.35)

How do you feel about this? Do you feel cheated because the racquet companies aren’t up front with what they’re top players are playing with? Or is this just marketing and we should let it go? Let me know in the comments.

A lot of people are probably wondering what the hard-hitting Spaniard Nicolas Almagro is playing with. It’s not a Wilson, Head or Babolat so what can it be? Almagro has actually recently changed his racquet from a Dunlop 500 Tour to a Volkl Powerbridge 10 MP with a 16×19 string pattern under paint job of a Volkl Super G 10 Mid. Volkl are known for high-quality arm-friendly tennis racquets but owns a relatively small portion of the market compared to other racquet giants. I’ve previously played with the the Volkl Powerbridge 10 mid and must say it’s a very impressive racquet if you’re looking for control and feel.

Volkl Organix Super G 10 Mid 320g Tennis Racquet

It’s described by many as the holy grail in tennis, not because of its own magical properties, but because it’s swung by the wizard himself, Roger Federer.

For many years Roger Federer played with the Wilson Pro Staff in some form, a 90-inch racquet with a small but efficient sweet spot. Then after his slumping and injury-packed 2013, he decided it was time to make the move to bigger pastures and worked together with Wilson on a new, more powerful racquet, with a bigger beam and a larger racquet head. It became the Wilson Pro Staff Roger Federer Autograph 97 (racquet names ARE getting longer!), abbreviated to the RF97A.

Federer allegedly worked very closely with Wilson to create his specs and to offer them to the public, instead of using a paint job like Djokovic’s racquet and Murray’s PT630 (PT57A pro stock code) with a 16×19 string pattern for example. We still have the conspiracy theorists on the tennis forums claiming that what Federer plays with is completely different, but I really believe Federer plays with at least a very close version of the same stick that is being sold to the public. What could potentially be different is the stiffness rating as amateur retail racquets are often stiffer (pros can generate much more power with their swings), but it’s hard to be sure. According to Federer himself he was excited by the idea that offering the public the ability to use the same racquet as he is.

Wilson even wrote the string specs (Wilson’s Champion’s Choice) on the frame, although they didn’t add whether there is any lead tape, string savers or power pads. My guess is that he still uses string savers and power pads and I know that racquet customization company P1 customizes his handle.

The Wilson Pro Staff Federer Autograph is a racquet that requires a lot from the user, but when they bring the goods, the racquet can be a wonderful hit. Like with everything you need to be honest with yourself if your game benefits from the weight. I’m used to heavy racquets and found it close to magical at times, but after a few sessions I got some wrist pain that I think is either due to the wrong choice of string or the stiffness of the frame and that’s why I moved away from it the end. I do however suggest that accomplished players give it a serious spin, it’s definitely a racquet that can help your game if you’re eager to put the work and movement into it.

Wilson Pro Staff Roger Federer Autograph 97 racquet specs
Head Size: 97 sq. in. / 625.81 sq. cm.
Length: 27in / 68.58cm
Strung Weight: 12.6oz / 357.2g
Balance: 12.38in / 31.45cm / 9 pts HL
Swingweight: 335
Stiffness: 68
Beam Width: 21.5mm / 21.5mm / 21.5mm /
Composition: Braided Kevlar & Graphite / Basalt Fibers
Power Level: Low
Stroke Style: Full
Swing Speed: Fast
Racquet Colors:Red/ Black
Grip Type: Wilson Premium Leather
String Pattern: 16 Mains / 19 Crosses
Mains skip: 7T,9T,7H,9H
One Piece
No Shared Holes
String Tension: 50-60 pounds

Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph Tennis Racquet
from: Do It Tennis.com

Stan Wawrinka has always had the game to hit big, but in recent years he’s also shown he can get it together in big tournaments and that’s why he as won two grand slams: 2014 Australian Open and the French Open in 2015. A player showing the kind of heavy hitting on both wings, will have a lot of people wonder – what racquet does he play with?

Stan Wawrinka advertises and endorses the Yonex VCORE Duel G 97 (330g) but plays with the Yonex Vcore 95D under a paint job. Below are his real specs according to the Tennis Warehouse forums:

[Photos courtesy of ProStringing]

Stan Wawrinka’s real racquet specs:

Racquet: Yonex vcore 95D
Paint Job: yonex vcore tour G (330)
Headsize: 95 Sq Inches
Weight: strung: 372 grams (with overgrip)
Balance: 32.1 OR 32.3
Swingweight: 359-360
Stiffness: 63-64
Lead placement: 3 & 9 O’clock
Leads length: 5 inch
Grip: 4 3/8
Replacement grip: Yonex leather
Strings: Babolat RPM Blast 16g
String Pattern: 16×20
Tension: 27 KG(61 pounds) /25 kg (57 pounds)

Andy Murray has advertised the Head Radical series for many years, sort of as the successor of André Agassi. Little do most people know that he actually plays with a 20-year-old racquet in a different string pattern, namely the legendary Head Pro Tour 630 made popular among other by Thomas Muster. I did play with the Head Pro Tour 630 myself for a while, but wanted a 16×19 string pattern and finding a racquet of Murray’s mold is close to impossible and very expensive.

The Head Pro Tour 630 (280 is the name of the US release of this racquet) has been hailed as one of the best racquets ever made by racquet experts/fans and is still played by quite a few players on the ATP world tour. Such as Murray, Simon, Cuevas, Haas and quite a few more. In pro stock tennis racquet lingo it’s called a PT57A.

Is the PT 630 or PT57A really as good as they say? Well, if you’re looking for an arm-friendly and great feeling racquet with an emphasis of control over power and spin – look no further. Most of the modern racquet technologies cannot really stand up to this beautiful blend of Twaron and graphite. It’s old school but still up to scratch (and in many cases beyond) with all the marketing hype of today’s current sticks.

Will it change your game immeasurably to the better? Nah, no racquet will do that. But it might save your elbow and wrist from a super stiff thick-beamed Babolat or Wilson racquet and that’s worth a lot, right?

So if you have the chance to play test a Head Pro Tour 630 or Head PT57A – do it, it might not make your game any better (only practice does that), but it sure is a nice ride.

Dear Racquet Companies,

People involved in tennis know about paint jobs. We know that the models used by Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and many other pro players are not available to the public. I feel that it’s a bit unfair to the racquet purchasing population to keep hiding the fact that new models are released and portrayed as being used by the top players when they’re in fact not. My suggestion is therefore to do like Wilson did for Federer (and Dimitrov but not for all their pro’s) release a signature model that is difficult to handle for most amateurs (the Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph) but also one or two lighter variations that are easier for the average tennis player to use.

Why can’t we buy an Andy Murray signature edition (a PT57A with 16×19 string pattern)? And why is Novak Djokovic’s racquet different from what you can buy in the store? Shouldn’t it be up to the consumer to figure out whether they can use the Djokovic’s actual specs or not? In most cases it might not be the best for their game, but let them make the decision. A lot of people playing tennis do not care so much about the results, but more about the beauty and enjoyment of the game and being able to mimic the style and gear of their favorite players.

Charge whatever you feel is necessary for a signature edition racquet and let the consumer decide. You can make cheaper/easier material versions of the same racquet as well, but don’t be shy to offer a 360 gram racquet to the masses as long as you offer a 315 gram version of the same model.

In short, stop twisting the truth about the racquets that pro players use and you won’t lose (much, if any) revenue and, more importantly, sleep about fooling people to buy something it’s not.

Regards,

Jonas

Wilson tennis posted this on their Instagram and Twitter account.  It’s all black everything! What I guess it means is that Wilson will soon release a new paint job of Roger Federer’s signature racquet the RF97A and will maybe call it something like the Roger Federer Autograph “Deluxe” or “Limited edition”. I think it’s close to impossible that Federer himself has changed racquets after the positive transition. In the best of tennis gear worlds, his tweaking with his current stick will now be released to the general public, but my guess is that they’ve added another “technology” that will likely make the racquet stiffer and more powerful. OR, they’ve reduced some of the weight from it to open it up to an even bigger demographic of players. Will be interesting to see what’s next from Wilson. Watch this space!