Tennis racket advice please

[Hoofy]

Hm. I think I've got into things way too deep. My intention was to play once a fortnight unlike the OPer.

[Hoofy]

Bought this in the end.

http://www.sportsdirect.com/dunlop-rage-c98-tennis...

Was £40 and reduced to £15 so well within my price range. Graphite titanium construction which could mean anything but sounds impressive.

Shame it's blue. All the adult sized rackets were in acceptable colours. I wanted something stupid like, well, shocking pink.

[Justices]

A good film, sanding paper, three cans of Tamiya paint (primer, paint and clear coat) and some imagination will get you where you need to go.

[Hoofy]

What surprised me was how light the item was. I'm used to swinging heavier things around. It's far lighter than all my swords and marginally lighter than my escrima sticks.

[Justices]

Just, mind your arm. It might seem like very little weight, but when you are swinging it makes quite some difference.


Link

[Hoofy]

Thanks for the link - interesting and unsurprising. I've done similar with my weapons.

Anyway, had a play with it this evening. It feels perfect as it is. Am gonna join a local tennis group.

Watch me on TV in two weeks.

Actually, just practising serves is quite addictive. Feels a bit like target practice, trying to get the ball where you mean it to go. At the start, about 1 in 10 shots landed in the square. By the end of the hour, I was getting maybe 50-60% of the serves correct.

Edited by Hoofy on Wednesday 5th June 21:07

[Swanboy]

chippy17 said:

the sad thing is in this country that you cannot demo racquets as it is a very personal thing, in US it is normal, it goes as far sometimes as Wilson, for example, sending out prototypes to recreational players to see what they think of their new designs...there was a place in Cambridge area but I forget the name

I have always demo'd rackets before i bought them. I used to frequent an Intersport here in Preston, he actually advised me to go buy my rackets off the internet once i had found one i liked. Having said that, he did me a great deal on my last set of rackets, think i paid £165 for 3 rackets that were over £150 each a year previously (i'm not a fashion victim, i will happily use 'last years' designs when they cost a fraction of the price).

[Justices]

Swanboy said:

I have always demo'd rackets before i bought them. I used to frequent an Intersport here in Preston, he actually advised me to go buy my rackets off the internet once i had found one i liked. Having said that, he did me a great deal on my last set of rackets, think i paid £165 for 3 rackets that were over £150 each a year previously (i'm not a fashion victim, i will happily use 'last years' designs when they cost a fraction of the price).

In most cases it's merely a paint job. In others the difference is so minimal it is barely noticeable. They can't sell the same frames for more than a few years so they paint them up and pretend the pros have switched to the latest and greatest. Which I can assure you they most certainly have not

[Hoofy]

Well, with the help of the link above, I'm going to pop into Halfords and see what offers they have on stainless exhausts and 18" alloys.

The Fast and the Furious 7 will be played out on the tennis court. I live my life a quarter of a rally at a time.

[chippy17]

Justices said:

Just, mind your arm. It might seem like very little weight, but when you are swinging it makes quite some difference.


Link

yes at even balance the swing weight will be quite high, bet it is quite stiff as well, but if you are only playing occasionally for £15 you can't really go wrong...

[chippy17]

Justices said:

Swanboy said:

I have always demo'd rackets before i bought them. I used to frequent an Intersport here in Preston, he actually advised me to go buy my rackets off the internet once i had found one i liked. Having said that, he did me a great deal on my last set of rackets, think i paid £165 for 3 rackets that were over £150 each a year previously (i'm not a fashion victim, i will happily use 'last years' designs when they cost a fraction of the price).

In most cases it's merely a paint job. In others the difference is so minimal it is barely noticeable. They can't sell the same frames for more than a few years so they paint them up and pretend the pros have switched to the latest and greatest. Which I can assure you they most certainly have not

exactly Federer been playing with the same racquet since approx. 2002, the basic mould and construction of the racquets I use goes back to the eighties, iirc there is a class action going on in the US against Wilson due to paint jobs etc

[Hoofy]

chippy17 said:

yes at even balance the swing weight will be quite high, bet it is quite stiff as well, but if you are only playing occasionally for £15 you can't really go wrong...

When you say stiff, how stiff is mine and how... er.. flacid or even more stiff could it be depending on what I bought?

[chippy17]

Hoofy said:

chippy17 said:

yes at even balance the swing weight will be quite high, bet it is quite stiff as well, but if you are only playing occasionally for £15 you can't really go wrong...

When you say stiff, how stiff is mine and how... er.. flacid or even more stiff could it be depending on what I bought?

matron!

had a look and it does not say, stiffness measured out of 100, for example 65+ would be considered stiff and anything under 60 would be considered flexible, due to age and wear and tear I moved from a stiff racquet (approx. 64) to a flexy racquet (57)

[Hoofy]

Oh, I see!

[Hoofy]

Quick update. I think tennis has become my new obsession.

[chippy17]

Hoofy said:

Quick update. I think tennis has become my new obsession.

good to hear, how is the racquet?

[Hoofy]

chippy17 said:

good to hear, how is the racquet?

Seems fine. Not sure what to look out for.

[Driller]

chippy17 said:

Driller said:

Great thread!

Sorry about the hijack but I just played today for the first time in 20 years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Used to play regularly when I was much younger.

6'3" medium build, looking for a compromise between power and control. Did find that I started to get some elbow pain during the match today (5sets).

Looking at this Babolat one as used by Nadal apparently (so of course it makes you play as well as him )

http://www.milletsports.co.uk/racket-sports/tennis...

Very grateful for any advice from the experts!

what are you playing with now?

Hey Chippy, missed your reply! I dug out an old Slazenger racquet I bought and used once or twice in the 90s-A Challenge 90 wide body composite apparently.

I borrowed that Babolat from the shop and tried it-absolutely hopeless, the ball was all over the place but with the Slazenger it's much easier to control. So I put a new grip on it and it will do fine, save some money too!

Hoofy's right, this tennis lark is good fun and bloody good exercise too, found a few old muscles I haven't felt for a few years!

[chippy17]

Hoofy said:

chippy17 said:

good to hear, how is the racquet?

Seems fine. Not sure what to look out for.

Silly question from me really, it is very subjective, and if you are a beginner it is an irrelevant question. The more you play the more you will feel the ball on the racquet and get an idea of where you want to hit it and how you want to hit it, then the feel aspect becomes more relevant. Then you can get really geeky with string patterns, stiffness and strings themselves. I would recommend getting it restrung (£15-£20) and see if you can tell it has new strings...

For example pros basically do not change their racquets from junior level to retirement. Once they are retired they may change to a more forgiving racquet, eg Sampras went from the legendary Pro Staff 85 to a Babolat for more power and forgiveness, Courier went from the PS85 to a Donnay etc

[chippy17]

Driller said:

chippy17 said:

Driller said:

Great thread!

Sorry about the hijack but I just played today for the first time in 20 years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Used to play regularly when I was much younger.

6'3" medium build, looking for a compromise between power and control. Did find that I started to get some elbow pain during the match today (5sets).

Looking at this Babolat one as used by Nadal apparently (so of course it makes you play as well as him )

http://www.milletsports.co.uk/racket-sports/tennis...

Very grateful for any advice from the experts!

what are you playing with now?

Hey Chippy, missed your reply! I dug out an old Slazenger racquet I bought and used once or twice in the 90s-A Challenge 90 wide body composite apparently.

I borrowed that Babolat from the shop and tried it-absolutely hopeless, the ball was all over the place but with the Slazenger it's much easier to control. So I put a new grip on it and it will do fine, save some money too!

Hoofy's right, this tennis lark is good fun and bloody good exercise too, found a few old muscles I haven't felt for a few years!

no worries driller, not familiar with that racquet but sounds control orientated and heavy which is no bad thing judging by your height etc and frankly racquet technology has barely changed, the reason for the Babolat experience is it is more powerful esp compared to the Slazenger therefore you were spraying the ball. tennis elbow can be caused by many different things; technique, balance of racquet, even holding the handle too firmly...if it continues try a different racquet for a while and see what happens

glad you and Hoofy have caught the bug (again) there is something very base about just hitting a ball with a racquet it is very appealing and at present am obsessed with watching and playing, I fell out of love with the sport in my mid twenties to early thirties having playing so much as a junior (I was quite good back then) but after about 5 years of not picking up a racquet I had a very rusty hit with a friend about 4 years ago and have not stopped since, only age related injuries now are preventing me from playing almost every day, well that and my wife!