Racquets/Strings

[ashkor87]

Can anyone recommend a racket for my wife? She is a pretty good player, 4.0 class..but hasn't played regularly for 10 years
Wants something light, not too stiff..used to play with the Wilson Sting and liked it...

[Deuce]

The Sting - at least the original - was from the '80s, which was the best decade for racquets as far as I'm concerned.

My recommendation would be to find a good used racquet - maybe something like the Donnay Pro 1. That has a similar feel to racquets from the '80s or '90s.

I can't recommend any current racquets, because I've only tried a few. And I've only tried a few because I gave up on finding a current racquet I like more than 10 years ago when I found them all too stiff and too light.

[ponchi101]

Try the Clash series. I would say it is a modern version of the Sting. Light, very easy on the arm, can play well both at the net and from the baseline.
When I tried it, the sole problem was that it was strung with terrible strings. Make sure you get really good strings, and it might be worth looking at them.
The Heads Graphenes are very much in vogue. Light but have some power.
For a 4.0, just think how fast her swing is. If she can swing the racquet fast enough, Yonex makes some excellent control racquets.

[ti-amie]

Stefanos added gut to his racquet. I saw the Tweet yesterday but can't find it now. What would that do to his shots?

[skatingfan]

Stefanos added gut to his racquet. I saw the Tweet yesterday but can't find it now. What would that do to his shots?

More power - less spin.

[Deuce]

Better feel.
Gut is quite elasticky.
Polyester, on the other hand, is not very elasticky.

All strings stretch when stringing a racquet. Except for Kevlar strings. Kevlar has zero elasticity. It's known for destroying elbows.
(I once actually destroyed a ball using Kevlar strings. Because there's no elasticity, and the surface was rough, it cut right through the felt of a ball.)

[ponchi101]

Stefanos added gut to his racquet. I saw the Tweet yesterday but can't find it now. What would that do to his shots?

More power - less spin.

He added them on the crosses, not the mains, so the spin load basically remains the same but you get better feel. I am not sure if it will help with power.
I have never played with a hybrid. Never saw the point in it (says the weekend hacker, of course).

[ti-amie]

Here is the picture I was looking for.

[ashkor87]

Thanks a lot, folks, for those very thoughtful bits of advice..have ordered the Clash 100 L..let us see how it goes

[ponchi101]

Thanks a lot, folks, for those very thoughtful bits of advice..have ordered the Clash 100 L..let us see how it goes

Let us know how your wife likes it, and if you don't mind writing down your impressions, please do.
Also: make sure you put good strings on that racquet. The one I tried was really suffering from a poor stringing job.

[ashkor87]

The Clash arrived yesterday, we eagerly unwrapped it and she tried it out this morning.. it is very good, light and powerful, great feel.. she really loved the music of the strings (racket is a stringed insyrument too!).. only down side is it was bit wobbly in her hands, she is not used to a large head.
I tried it too and found it superb in all dimensions, extremely easy to use, great feel and power..

thanks, again, @ponchi101 especially, for your advice!

[ponchi101]

The Clash arrived yesterday, we eagerly unwrapped it and she tried it out this morning.. it is very good, light and powerful, great feel.. she really loved the music of the strings (racket is a stringed insyrument too!).. only down side is it was bit wobbly in her hands, she is not used to a large head.
I tried it too and found it superb in all dimensions, extremely easy to use, great feel and power..

thanks, again, @ponchi101 especially, for your advice!

Glad that it was a good choice. One question: what size grip did you get? I tried it as a 4 3/8 (I have small hands) and the grip was comfortable. If she feels it is a bit wobbly, try a tacky overwrap and it might help too.

[ashkor87]

We get only 4 3/8 here..she is fine with that...small person with small hands so she will be fine...thanks

[ponchi101]

Lost amidst all the tournament, I wonder if people have noticed that Kasatkina is playing with an ARTENGO racquet. ARTENGO is a brand from DECATHLON, a French retailer of sporting goods; this is similar as if somebody would be playing with a racquet from SAM SPORTING GOODS, or, even worse, WALMART.
Monfils is their signature sponsoree, but in view that Kasatkina is playing well, it kind of blows a hole through the entire "you need the new Wilsonex TRX 550 with liquid kevlar and perimeter balanced gyroscopically stabilized power surge technology", for $250 without strings. Probably Artengo manufactures their racquets in the same Chinese factory where all the others do.

[Deuce]

Yes... I saw that Kasatkina had switched to Artengo a few months ago, and was rather surprised.
I've never tried any of their frames, but I've seen them in the store. I have a friend who's looking to buy a new racquet, as his are rather old... He told me he was quite surprised to see the price of brand name racquets today - close to $300 Canadian. I told him to take a look at the Artengo racquets. Maybe the store can even be convinced to lend some out as demos.
And, yes, I, too, figure Artengo racquets likely come out of the same factories as the brand name racquets do.

I'm looking at possibly buying the same racquet bag that Kasatkina is using, as it's at least $50 cheaper than comparable bags from brand name manufacturers.

One negative that I see with the pro endorsements (which will likely increase in number) is that it will probably raise the prices of the Artengo racquets and bags in the not so distant future...