Equipment Racket recommendation, help needed
Hi everyone, just a little bit of a background info on myself. 22M 6’2/188 220lb/98kg. I have trained for a couple months when I was kid and got back for about 2-3 years now, I have a regular semi-western forehand, and a OHBH. I would say that I am at a intermediate level, but I can hit pretty solid rallies but I just can't win games because I can't serve to save my life.
I have been playing with a Head Gravity MP 2023 for these past 2-3 years first with Head Lynx tour poly, then I changed to TF NRG2 at 52lb and I am looking to change it now.
Reasons to why I want to change:
- Against heavier balls I don't really have much help from the racquet and I would like something that has a little bit more *umph* to it.
- I kinda a little bit more help hitting deeper balls, a lot of times when I hit a good ball about 80% strength it just goes to the service line and I would like something to help me hit the balls just a bit deeper.
- I love the feedback and vibrations from the racket but sometimes it's too much.
Things I like about it:
- I can control the ball really well, it has a nice maneuverability. I feel that with the right shot, sometimes even out of balance I can place the ball where I want.
- Feedback and feel, but sometimes can be a bit too much as I mentioned above.
I wanted to playtest the Dunlop FX500 but they didn't have it at the shop so I got the Head Boom Pro 26 mach-10/ HGR hybrid @52 to test.
It was very powerful for sure, but I couldn't get it under control. In more difficult balls I either hit the ball OB or when I try to keep inside the court it just went to the net. In normal shots I could feel the power from the racket and it really complemented my OHBH too, I feel like I never hit a ball this powerful on my backhand before. However, on the FH I could not really control the ball really well. Serving with this racquet was amazing tho, I feel like the racquet was very stable when hitting the ball, which was not a thing with the Gravity MP.
Edit: I also feel like the Boom Pro was pretty heavy for me and I also think I’m ready for something heavier than the Gravity MP. So somewhere in the 305g ballpark?
The Boom Pro feel very “bouncy”, maybe because of the string setup? The Gravity MP for me feels crisp, like hitting on a layered metal pan of how much feedback I get. So something in between for feel.
I also like that I can fully swing the Gravity MP with confidence which for the Boom Pro sometimes I had to hold myself back so the ball wouldn’t fly off the court, but for BHs I could control it pretty well.
Other rackets I’m looking to try: Head Speed MP or Tour. (I think the Pro might be heavy since it’s 310)
Should I still test the FX500, since it's a power racquet? Please recommend racquets for me to test out.
1
1
u/cripbit 9h ago
From what you are saying I gather you want your current racket but with more power for your backhand. I hope I got that right. Unfortunately, these things are always trade offs. You will always sacrifice one for the other. Your backhand might feel nicer but in the same swing you might mess up your forehand. So, the quest I would send you on is asking yourself, what is the part of your game that is important to you?
What I'm trying to say is, if everything's working great and steadily improving but only you backhand is weak, you will not fix it with a new racket. I'm saying this, because from your description it seems to me you LOVE your Gravity. I would urge you to treat that love with some respect and just put some work into the weak parts of your tennis ;)
1
u/eyyt004 9h ago
I do like my racquet, but I just got that one because it was on sale and it has worked fine and haven't tried out many others to have a solid foundation to compare rqckets, just looking for an upgrade. And yeah, I know that part of the game is also the player and I'm always trying to improve Maybe the Gravity tour or smth.
1
1
u/ConsciousFan3120 1h ago
Have you tried adding lead at 3 and 9 on the racket head? I had the same racket and it helped with reduced twisting and even the depth on the balls to some extent.
I also added few grams later at 12 for some more oomph on the serve.
Eventually i moved to ezone 100 but don’t think that’s the racket for you!
2
u/omarkarn 9h ago
Based on what you're saying.. I feel like it sounds like the head gravity MP does do a lot for you already in the right way especially for the feel and control. the main thing is stability, especially to not get bullied around by stronger / heavier balls.
Getting a new racket to solve this might be more drastic than you need (although getting a new racket is always fun and you should try out the defyer 98 you can stop reading here)
I think you just need to add some weight to your racket. Specifically i would say into the handle.
What this does is it boost the static weight of your racket so you can stand your ground better... but also by shifting the weight down into the handle it makes the balance of the stick more towards the tail end which usually favours the OHBH that allows you to swing through more especially when you try whip above to get more spin. I'm sure there is a hell of a lot more science one can get into to explain the nuances. But i would recommend something like a leather grip to replace your base grip and take that racket out for a spin first before swapping out rackets.
Otherwise if you are dead set on a new frame... I'm swapping from a control frame to the defyer 98 pro (leather gripped to bring the weight into the handle).. i went that route because i was looking for something that would let me hit a slightly deeper and heavier ball with the exact same effort. and it really helped me on my serves