any tennis players?

[brown sugar]

question for you avid tennis players out there. i'm in the process of moving from a sporadic player to playing at least 2-3 times a week, and i'm trying to upgrade my racquet as well.

keeping in mind that i'm defintely still a beginner, does anyone have any advice about racquets? right now i'm looking at the wilson hyper hammer 6.3 and the head TI S6. any other suggestions?

thanks!

 

[ajax]

I would be very careful with the Hammer racquets. For some reason, the industry tries to push these super-light, head heavy racquets on people because I guess they're easy to play with and you get good results right off the bat.

The problem is that you really need some heft in a racquet for a proper swing. Look at what the pros play and you will see that they play with heavier racquets. They sometimes even add weight. Another important reason is that a light racquet can really mess up your arm. You can read all about it at racquetresearch.com.

I can't help you with a specific brand because I haven't been keeping up with current models. Check out the messageboards at tennis-warehouse.com to see what people are saying.

 

[kicksumass]

whatever you do, don't buy the Wilson Pro staff or its upgraded version. Sampras used to use that and Federer uses it now. I was a huge sampras fan and wanted to be just like him so I bought that racket. Although a great racket if you are a pro, not too good for beginners as the sweet spot is very small.

Not too sure about the latest brands, just look into stuff like that before buying. Just coz a pro uses it, doesn't mean its the best one for you.

 

[TTUStudent]

I have always been a fan of Head rackets.

 

[Simon Templar]

Are you buying or selling?

 

[brown sugar]

looking to buy. the head TiS6 is an option, but i think it might be too light for me.

any opinions on the head intelligence series? thanks for all the help!

 

[ajax]

Here's the thing about the Pro Staff and other pro-style racquets - you need good technique to play with them.

The following stuff you will probably know already, but pro-style racquets have less power than other types of racquets. That's because pros and intermediate to advanced players can generate their own power. The lighter racquets tend to help people generate power, not because of their lightness but because of other factors that go hand-in-hand with those racquets like HUGE sweet spots, stiff material, head heavy balance.

But just because they have more power doesn't mean that you will have more power, because if someone with really good technique plays with those racquets the ball will be flying all over the place. Ever wonder how senior citizens who can barely push open a heavy door can play tennis? Space aged racquets. But if Pete Sampras were to play with one of those racquets, the ball would be flying to China.

I would invest in a mid-tier expert racquet because, while you don't want anything that's too hard to play, you don't want anything that will reward bad technique. That's the road to severe tennis elbow. Look into a more forgiving pro-style like the one Roddick plays - the Babolat Pure Drive I believe.

 

[kicksumass]

In reply to:

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[nysooner]

Go out and rent the models you are interested in playing with and see which one works out for you. I'd recommend playing multiple times with a racquet before buying. Its a very personal decision so I would go with what you are comfortable with.

 

[bevosayshi]

See if you can find a Wilson T-2000 and start with that. If you can play with that, you can play with anything.

 

[nysooner]

Ah the T2000. Playing with that racquet will definitely change your strategy. You won't be overpowering people with that racquet. The positive is you won't be breaking it either.

 

[nysooner]

Where do people play tennis in Austin?

 

[bevosayshi]

There were a couple of apartment complexes off of Far West that we used to play at. Intramural courts are also another option.

 

[KMcCoy33]

I have an i.Radical and a Ti.Radical and like them both. I've been looking to sell my Ti. Radical since I only used it for a month and buy the new liquid metal Radical. These are all really nice. From all the research and stuff that I did before buying mine, I decided to buy the Head racquets and haven't been dissapointed.

 

[Swiffert]

go with something in a "stetch" model or whatever they call it that means the racket is ~1in longer.

 

[brown sugar]

i've narrowed it down to a Head TiS6, and the Wilson Hammer H2. both are around the same price, both are equally powerful, and roughly the same stats too.

I'm going to take both out and play through them a bit.

thanks for all the advice!