thx I played with kevlar back in the day. 65lbs+ on the main :-0 lol and like Gamma TNT cross. I prefer my rackets with like no power. 50's will just fly on me and be frustrating.

I went to the proshop and like golf I need to have a certain confidence in looking down at the racket. The 88 actually made me think I was 15 again, felt real nice and made me want to play. But I'll take all suggestions while I demo a few. So many string choices, my friends like the babolat hurricane pro. We all used to break syn gut in a set or less so I think it needs to be something real durable.

I checked my parents garage, no St vincents or 85's. I did find the originial Prince with the cross bar on the throat. And the original Head Prestige (goran racket). What's similar to that old school prestige? I like the heft of it because they had a full head guard all around the racket so it was very stable/heavy. Ahhh old times, care free days. God I'm oldish.

I'm playing KBlade 98 with Lux strung at 58. You like the KBlade 98 or KBlade Pro for my level? So I should lower the tension to 52 or 53? BA

dangerfish you live in the OC right? BA 52 or 53 seems little loose to me. Would have 8 rackets strung up for the match a few at different tensions so in case you need to have a little more control or pop can goto the right racket.

I would go lower personally, at least when your not in Vegas. Interesting to hear you talk about tennis, never heard anyone insert math into the equation. I hope when you play or practice you are able to quiet that part of yourself.

Correct.

I am amazed at the lack of research and study by many of the top pro tennis players against other top players. If I was Roddick I would have a team like Haralobous (sp?) NBA analysts breaking down Roger's serving tendencies and my own game to gain an edge.

Most tennis players travel with a coach, but the coach is a glorified errand boy, the player doesn't want to hear the facts, just someone to book the practice courts, mix the cytomax, and take the verbal abuse during a match.

99% I know who you are, and we battled once in dubs in a rain delayed challenger after one of those US Open qtrs.

this. all interviews were like "are you going to watch XYZ match" and most are like "Meh, maybe."

fed at least said he knows both guys' games very well so "depends on dinner plans" LOL.

and fed doesn't have all that much to worry about either way so whatev. but others? shocked they dont have their coaches watching tapes/replays etc. constantly. i mean coaches should def be aware of what's strong/weak in general AND given a specific set of circumstances at the tourney in question. it doesn't even take a great deal of logic/intelligence to see this.

just silly imo. really really silly and SUCH a good point (brought up earlier in the thread re: getting to see PA play and his game)

You don't know all the details though. Some are undoubtedly doing just that. At the top level, no need for Roger to do it on Rafa or Djokovic. There are no secrets there. They have played each other 20 times or whatever.

The facts and what a player thinks or feels what happened are usually two very different things. We have selective memories, especially tennis players.

For instance a lot of players have favorite serves that they go to on big points, against right handed opponents on 30all points how often does Roger serve out wide? Knowing things like that and other fine details would give you a better shot.

I hated kevlar, only used it once and that was enough.

I think the old school prestige may have been the most popular racquet on tour and was still being used a lot till 5 years ago. Goran, Marat, Gustavo, Phillipousis, Muster, Grosjean and many more. Now they make a Head Youtek Prestige. I have no idea how similar it is though. Anyways, I never liked it or any of the Radicals.

The old school Prince Graphite was one of my all time favorites. Its the racquet my dad used and I used before high school.

I liked the Pro Staff 6.0 but at 95. Never used the St. Vincent. I built it up to probably over 14 oz and strung it at 75.

Were you as big of a beast on the court as you are at the tables? Let me guess, serve and volley and chip and charge every point? The super tight stringing was really popular but has come full circle, I think you would be amazed at what you can do with the ball these days assuming you haven't played much with any of the new strings.

Two questions for PKR/Danger/other ex-pro's:

-I remember a 4-6 years ago when I really used to follow tennis there were still tons of guys that used painted racquets (had spent their entire careers using one racquet and wouldn't switch to whatever their sponsor was promoting so they'd just paint them to look like whatever the newest wilson/prince/etc. was), which was often hilariously obvious. I'm assuming this is now super rare/nonexistent?

-Do you guys love Brad Gilbert as much as I do? I read Winning Ugly when I was like 15, helped my game immensely, strategy wise. Think he's a terrific commentator as well, and seems like a great guy to grab a beer with.

love this thread. incredibly entertaining.

Posting for offtopic reason: I live in vegas and am looking to get back into tennis and find a good coach that i can take regular lessons with to try and improve my game as much as I can. Please PM or post if you have any good recommendations for coaches or places. Ty.

Tennis rackets of the same model when they are made are not even the same, I got a shipment of 6 new rackets from HEAD at Kalamazoo one year, and thankfully the guy who customized my sticks for me was there. He weighed each racket and no racket weighed the same as any other. He would get them to my desired weight and balance and felt I had a little edge over the guys who just string them up and go to work.

Not that I havent played for a few years, tempted to try out some fun string techniques, like the spaghetti, is it even possible with today's frames?

Brad Gilbert does know a lot about the game but he annoys me and from what I can tell pretty much anyone else that has to hang around him for any length of time. Personally I like listening to Courier, Gimelstob, Fisher and basically all the younger players that they have on the tennis channel.

thx for the tips guys. hah I think I know who dangerfish is, I think he rocked the toughest section as a freshman. I haven't seen him on TV in awhile but man was I impressed with his baseline game the last time I saw it. Hope your arm is good, do you still play on the tour?

I'm pretty sure Gimelstob loves poker.

Nadal lost to Ferrer last night.

During the PCA, I hit a few times with a Jamaican guy who was a teaching pro at Atlantis. He said that in July, Ferrer came down to Atlantis to prepare himself for playing in intense heat (US Open) and he would pound balls 4+ hours a day, with super high intensity. Seems crazy, but maybe Ferrer is driving hard right now.

Is this shirtless pick of Nadal real? I believe it is, based on other pictures of him. Second one down....

http://newsportsstar.blogspot.com/20...-pictures.html

So with standard lead tape --- how would one experiment with altering, say, the Wilson KBlade 98? I have experimented with two strips on each of the sides and two strips on top. I found that I hit a heavier ball, but on balance played worse than with no weight, and I vaguely felt that my shoulder was more prone to stress/injury.

Brandon

Definitely need to be careful about injuries when experimenting with new string, rackets, and weight. Lux I found to be really hard on my wrists and shoulders, so just be cautious while experimenting.

One thing that is just scary is watching you tube clips of Becker, Sampras, Edberg and how slow they were hitting the groundies. Today's game is on another planet.

cant train tennis really effectively especially not over 20. just play 2 times a week for a couple of weeks before the match and you will have done 98% of what you could have. training more will likely rather lead to some sort of injury or tennis elbow.

Could not disagree more. How fragile do you really think BA is? Not to mention if he thinks he has little chance to beat PA in his current condition what choice does he have if he wants to win? And the over 20 comment is just out of left field.

wat

well playing dozens of hours of tennis a week is dangerous if you re not in a very good shape and not used to it. even injuries among top players are quite common especially among older players. getting in shape certainly helpful but overtraining can be a serious problem.
the over 20 comment is made because technical improvements are very rarely to be seen by players over 20.

I don't agree with this part at all..the learning curve might be tougher but I've got a bunch of clients who have made significant technical improvement with me such as going from hitting forehands with extremely bent elbows and a jerky motion to having long smooth shots, and I've got nothing on the kind of coach/partner BA could hire if he wanted to spend the $$

That is a good offer by the real downtown tres davis. I'd offer the same thing but doubtful BA will be in aussie/NZ/asia before this summer. lol about the gilbert comments, come on now.

How is your poker game Tres, you really run hot late in mtts?

wat? Becker and Sampras can hang with anybody, any generation on the ground. Edberg had the worst looking forehand but he covered the court imo better than anybody in that time period. Chang covered in a defensive way, Edberg covered it better and never looked in trouble. Tons hit harder serves and forehands but you'd be hard pressed to find a better serve/forehand combo in the history of tennis.

And generally I don't like lead tape at the 12 oclock. Makes the racket way to powerful.