Racquets/Strings

Talk about your racquets, your strings, shoes and yes, your balls.
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#31

Post by ti-amie »











This is why people like Andy Murray.

I tried to get the sequence of tweets right
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#32

Post by ponchi101 »

Personal ideas.
Wozniacki went from her Babolat to a Yonex midway through her career. They were the bad years of her career, as the Yonex is famous for control (which Caro had in abundance) but not power (which she lacked). The Yonex made her a lighter hitter.
Tsonga went the opposite way. He went from an early Wilson frame (his Aussie slam final) to the Babolat. A player with abundant power went for even more, but he lost control.
Roger, Rafa, Nole and Andy have been with basically the same frame for ages (Nole went from Wilson to Head). Changing a racquet radically, for these guys, is a big gamble. Rafa could not switch to the Babolat's experimentals they were making for him. Roger took two years to tweak that frame of his, which is a marginal change from the "regular" Pro Staff he always used.
But when you see that even Murray is tinkering with his racquet, you can see how crucial that is. I would love to hear those guys discuss what they really have for a racquet (Nole, for example, has his racquet with considerable lead tape in the Head).
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#33

Post by Deuce »

I have heard from more than one good authority that Murray has used the Head PT57A for pretty much his full career. It's a very well known frame/layup among pros, and has been so for many years.
The PT57A is a Head Pro Tour 630. Head claim that Thomas Muster helped to design it - back in the 1990s.
It's a great frame - I have a couple (in the Pro Tour 280 version - the only difference between the 280 and the 630 being the grommet strip; 630 was with the CAP grommets for the European market, the 280 was with regular grommets for the North American market).
Of course, Murray, like the majority of pros, customizes the grip, adds weight, changes the balance, etc. - like silicone in the handle, etc.

I know that that generation of players (Murray, Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, etc.), as well as the previous generations, would, as a rule, stay with the same racquet model throughout - often the one they used as upcoming juniors. Only the cosmetics would change, based on what the given racquet company had in the stores at any given time (because it's a dishonest business). This makes sense, as once you find something that is comfortable, feels good, and works, you don't want to change.
There are a few exceptions - like Federer moving to a larger head frame (which very likely plays similarly to his old Wilson Pro Staff 6.0), and Djokovic moving from Wilson to Head, which has a different head shape - although Head very likely tried to replicate the feel of his Wilson frames.
Some players have made the mistake of changing racquet companies, and, despite the new company trying to replicate the previous company's frame, it wasn't similar enough.

I, myself, have preferred the 'Head feel' for most of my 40 years of playing - starting with the beautiful Arthur Ashe Competition frames. The Head frames that I've played with consistently over the past 15 years or so (Pro Tour 280, Prestige Classic 600, iPrestige Mid - they are all in my bag, and I alternate them, as they play only slightly different from one another) are an evolution of those Arthur Ashe Competitions.

See here...
Andy Murray's Racquet

I don't know what the generations of players that have come after the Nadal/Federer generation has done/is doing in terms of racquets. I tend to think they are probably more prone to changing more often because they were brought up in a time where everything changes so quickly, and where whatever you buy is obsolete a week after purchase. That, plus the marketing has been more aggressive and slick over the past 20 years or so... and racquet cosmetic designs have tended to be more flashy...
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#34

Post by ponchi101 »

Naomi will start using a new racquet starting at Cincy. Not a real new racquet, but new cosmetics, designed by a Japanese modern artist called Takashi Murakami. Surprisingly, it will not be sold, which I gather is so the stampede to buy it will not trample young fans. Just to few models auctioned, with proceeds going to charity.
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#35

Post by ponchi101 »

Shoes.
Because, you know, Roger will stop being a force in the sport once he retires.
Don't think so. ON SPORTS issued their IPO today. It went well.
They retail for about $140-$150, so I gather I will never know how good they are (I can find Adidas for around $70, so really, it would be a waste of footwear on an old foggy like me)
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#36

Post by ashkor87 »

I loved the 6.1 too...nowadays I play with the Wilson proStaff 97...tried the heaver version RF he plays with, my wrist couldn't handle it...getting old, I suppose..does anyone know which is the closest in feel to the venerable evergreen 6.1?
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#37

Post by Eckat »

I love the Fischer Vacuum Pro 90 (blue, gold pink) with its 16x20 string pattern. racket seems to hold forever. play with it since over 10 years now. also wilson pro staff midsize st. vincent and prince graphite original 4 stripe are very nice to play. string breaks all 15 minutes on the prince because of its 14x18 string pattern and my 1.20 string thickness prefer.
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#38

Post by ponchi101 »

If you have a prince graphite original it is time to frame it and put it on the wall. That is a classic :thumbsup:
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#39

Post by Eckat »

I have three four stripes left, in very good condition
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#40

Post by Deuce »

Eckat wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:49 am I love the Fischer Vacuum Pro 90 (blue, gold pink) with its 16x20 string pattern. racket seems to hold forever. play with it since over 10 years now. also wilson pro staff midsize st. vincent and prince graphite original 4 stripe are very nice to play. string breaks all 15 minutes on the prince because of its 14x18 string pattern and my 1.20 string thickness prefer.
That Vac Pro 90 was a wonderful frame. I had 2 and loved them. They were so unique - no other racquet felt like it. With the elongated head, it literally felt like an extension of your arm. And it was so comfortably flexible...
Of course, I stupidly sold the 2 I had about 20 years ago. I really regret getting rid of them.

The Pro Staff 6.0 85 was a nice frame - I had a few. Nice feel, but I always had difficulty serving with them. I went from that to Pro Your 280s (630) and Prestige Classic 600s (Mid), and then grabbed a few iPrestige Mids, which feels like a smaller version of the 280/630.
That 280/630 make up, by the way, is what A LOT of Head pros have used over the years underneath various paint jobs - as the 'PT57A' pro stock name...

Magic Made in Austria - the PT57A

I never liked the Prince Original Graphite in any incarnation. It was too stiff for me.

I don't think classic racquets should be put on any walls - they just waste away on walls... they should be used and shared with younger players as much as possible - to show them how good racquets used to be (and how generic and unfeeling racquets are now). Whenever I've let younger players play with the old frames I still have, they are amazed with the feel, compared to today's frames.

(Sorry I can't help you with the white Mag Pro 90s - but here's one photo I found. They were definitely NOT hand painted - they were painted professionally, very likely by Prince. Underneath the white was the bare magnesium metal, not grey paint. And it had black piping in the same place as the white piping on the grey Mags, I believe.
If you have any more questions about the white Mag Pro 90s, don't hesitate to ask, and I'll tell you what I am able to remember about them.)
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#41

Post by Eckat »

hi again. yes I collect These rackets of t different Producers like wilson pro staff midsize St. Vincent, head Prestige Pro 600 wine red, head pro tour 630, puma boris becker World Champion racket, 2 very rare dunlop revelation pro tour series 90 rackets Mark philippoussis played I have, and a few more. 5 prince magnesium pro series 90 in my own and I shipped them to a paonting Company to get them white. the Hard Thing to paint are the grommets from Black to white and to See the design in the racket only having picture. there was lines colored in the racket dont know what color. on the top of the racket was the 90 number added what I See. rackets in very nice shape. want to play with them as long as they last.
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#42

Post by Deuce »

You're very lucky if your Mag Pro 90s are in good playing shape. Magnesium is a soft metal - which is what gives these racquets their amazing feel - but that also means that the racquets are fragile, and bend out of their original shape.

A couple of years ago, I noticed that Lizette Cabrera's coach had an old Dunlop Muscle Weave racquet (from about the year 2000) poking out his bag, and I asked him about it. He handed it to me and told me that it was Philippoussis's racquet, as he is a friend of Mark's. I said to him "They don't make racquets this good anymore." He said "You're absolutely right - today's racquets can't compare to the old ones." He was coaching a WTA player, and so could be using any current racquet he wanted - but he chose to use a 20 year old racquet. That says something.
I had a couple of Muscle Weave 90 racquets for a few years - very similar feel to the iPrestige Mids.

I never tried the Becker Pumas.
Another old classic frame I've never hit with is the Rossignol F200 Carbon. From everything I've heard about it being really soft and flexible, I'd probably love it. I have a friend who collects racquets who has at least one F200 Carbon, and one of these days, I'll hit with it - but I'll probably have to string it up myself.

The Arthur Ashe Competition racquets are other old classics. I adored those frames - fibreglass sandwiched between metal...
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#43

Post by Eckat »

do you have received my personal message with my email adress?
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#44

Post by Eckat »

philipoussis 2.jpg
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Last edited by Eckat on Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Racquets/Strings

#45

Post by Eckat »

this is the philippoussis racket I mean. second rarest racket to get after the white prince magnesium you cant get.
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