Tennis Racquets
Discussion
Right all you Pistonheads tennis afficionados, I am loooking to get a new racquet and need some recommendations as I have been out of the racquet market for over a decade!
I currently use orginal Pro Staffs 6.0 95 weighing in at a hefty 350 grammes, this was fine when I was playing a lot and 15 years younger but I am thinking I now need a little bit more power and a slightly lighter racquet, any suggestions?!
I currently use orginal Pro Staffs 6.0 95 weighing in at a hefty 350 grammes, this was fine when I was playing a lot and 15 years younger but I am thinking I now need a little bit more power and a slightly lighter racquet, any suggestions?!
. (You probably won't get much good under £120.)I think the Babolat range is certainly worth a look. A local sports shop brought a number of rackets to a demo night at my local club last year and on the back of that I bought a Babolat Pure Storm; they cost around £110, weigh 295g and have a neutral balance. However, if you've got a pro-shop at your club - or a local stockist that will offer demo rackets - my advice would be to try a few and see which you like; a bit like cars, what feels great to one person can feel awful to someone else!
Also, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
Also, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
JNW1 said:
I think the Babolat range is certainly worth a look. A local sports shop brought a number of rackets to a demo night at my local club last year and on the back of that I bought a Babolat Pure Storm; they cost around £110, weigh 295g and have a neutral balance. However, if you've got a pro-shop at your club - or a local stockist that will offer demo rackets - my advice would be to try a few and see which you like; a bit like cars, what feels great to one person can feel awful to someone else!
Also, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
where I live is pretty out of the way and lacking in sports facilities, the local club is well known and old but very small and the coach there is sponsored by Wilson so the only demos I can get are Wilson, I love Wilson racquets but would like to try something else for comparison, so will look at that Babolat for sure, thanksAlso, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
very good point about strings, often forgotten, bit like putting rubbish tyres on a car
many thanks for good advice
chippy17 said:
JNW1 said:
I think the Babolat range is certainly worth a look. A local sports shop brought a number of rackets to a demo night at my local club last year and on the back of that I bought a Babolat Pure Storm; they cost around £110, weigh 295g and have a neutral balance. However, if you've got a pro-shop at your club - or a local stockist that will offer demo rackets - my advice would be to try a few and see which you like; a bit like cars, what feels great to one person can feel awful to someone else!
Also, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
where I live is pretty out of the way and lacking in sports facilities, the local club is well known and old but very small and the coach there is sponsored by Wilson so the only demos I can get are Wilson, I love Wilson racquets but would like to try something else for comparison, so will look at that Babolat for sure, thanksAlso, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
very good point about strings, often forgotten, bit like putting rubbish tyres on a car
many thanks for good advice
These have been restrung in Champions choice (Champions choice is Alu Power (1.25mm) crosses and Natural gut (1.30mm) mains) which makes a big difference to the basic strings the rackets come with.
Sidicks
Edited by sidicks on Thursday 9th July 11:11
sidicks said:
chippy17 said:
JNW1 said:
I think the Babolat range is certainly worth a look. A local sports shop brought a number of rackets to a demo night at my local club last year and on the back of that I bought a Babolat Pure Storm; they cost around £110, weigh 295g and have a neutral balance. However, if you've got a pro-shop at your club - or a local stockist that will offer demo rackets - my advice would be to try a few and see which you like; a bit like cars, what feels great to one person can feel awful to someone else!
Also, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
where I live is pretty out of the way and lacking in sports facilities, the local club is well known and old but very small and the coach there is sponsored by Wilson so the only demos I can get are Wilson, I love Wilson racquets but would like to try something else for comparison, so will look at that Babolat for sure, thanksAlso, probably stating the obvious but the strings make a HUGE difference to the feel and performance of a racket (I read somewhere that up to 50% of a racket's performance is attributable to the strings not the frame). Babolat's origins are obviously as a string manufacturer and as a result they appear to put good quality strings in their frames (Excel premium were the originals in mine). However, many other manufacturers seem to put in the cheapest they can get away with which may explain why my Babolat felt so much better than the others in the back to back trial I had!
Good luck with it all!
very good point about strings, often forgotten, bit like putting rubbish tyres on a car
many thanks for good advice
These have been restrung in Champions choice (Champions choice is Alu Power (1.25mm) crosses and Natural gut (1.30mm) mains) which makes a big difference to the basic strings the rackets come with.
Sidicks
Edited by sidicks on Thursday 9th July 11:11
http://www.tennisnuts.com/shopscr9128.html
eta or this:
http://www.tennisnuts.com/shopscr5483.html
bit heavy for me perhaps...
Edited by chippy17 on Friday 10th July 09:17
Gassing Station | Sports | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff