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String setups for tennis elbow

by TN March 10, 2021

written by TN

I am starting to suffer a bit from soreness in my right arm. Nothing serious yet, but it has made me focus on string setups for tennis elbow.

Tennis can be a pretty injury prone sport and this time all the testing of different strings, racquets and grips have made my arm sore. I haven't suffered from problems of tennis elbow until I increased my testing of new gear. It will likely require me to structure my reviews differently and focus on string setups for tennis elbow (for a period).

I generally like a stiffer string bed and a controlled feel. The Wilson Pro Staff Six One 95 is one of my favorite racquet lines of all time and in the video below, I use one of beloved 6.1 95 nCode edition racquets with a hybrid of Luxilon Natural Gut and Luxilon Alu Power. (If you want to check out the Six One 95 Pro Labs edition, click here. ) But it's not the most arm-friendly racquet, especially if you string it with a full bed of polyester string.

Ways to help your tennis elbow heal

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If your elbow is not so severe that you can still play, I really recommend trying one of these things.

Use a full bed of natural gut or multifilament. In the video I use Tecnifibre Triax and Luxilon Natural Gut. Both are great.
For more control, add a softer poly to make it into a hybrid setup. I like rounder polys so they don't saw into the softer string.
For more spin, use a polyester string, but string it at a low tension. You can go really low and still get control with poly strings, but you need to hit with top spin. I have used tensions down to 42 lbs and my arm has felt great and I have gotten good performance out of them. In the video, I use a hybrid of Solinco Confidential 1.15 @ 47 lbs and Yonex Poly Tour Pro 1.20 @ 45 lbs in the Wilson Ultra Pro.
And if you're open to changing to a more comfortable racquets, there are some interesting choices such as:

Wilson Clash
Prince Phantom (O-port racquets are generally very arm-friendly)
ProKennex Black Ace
Angell K7 Racquets

You can check any of these racquets out at any of my affiliates. If you buy anything through one of my links, a tiny commission goes to Tennisnerd which helps the site stay alive.

Tennis Warehouse
Tennis Warehouse Europe
Tennis Only

Do you have any experiences around tennis elbow? Any tips you would like to share?

March 10, 2021 1 comment

My experience Tennis Instruction

Why you should do tennis drills

by TN August 26, 2020

written by TN

I am doing some drills together with my hitting partner and we're both noticing the benefits. This video deals with why you should do drills.

My guess is that most club players just play tennis to enjoy practice matches and tournaments. They like tennis for exercise and the competitive element. I enjoy pretty much all aspects of the sport and that is why I even find drills fun and interesting. So I made a vlog that says: Why you should do drills.

The reasons are quite obvious. You want to improve your strokes, footwork, positioning, etc. One key point is to make the drills fun and “game-ifying” them can be a good idea. The drills in the video below are not advanced or extremely creative, but hopefully, it gives you the inspiration to seek out some drills that you want to do. I will keep searching for new ways to practice and hope to share them with you if you like this type of content.

I also invite you to please share your own favorite drills and ideas for tennis practice. There are endless variations and I find that world quite fascinating.

Why you should do drills – Video (available at 8 pm CET on Aug 26)

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A disclaimer: I'm not a tennis coach. I'm just a player who is passionate about tennis and love to improve my game and my physique through the sport. So I'm a happy tennis nerd like most of you readers out there, trying to take my tennis to the next level without spending a fortune on going to great coaches (which is a good idea if you have the cash for it). You can do a lot of work yourself by doing a couple of small things.

My road to tennis self-improvement

My road to tennis self-improvement consists of a few things I try to do regularly.

Playing a lot (I'm doing my best to find time in a busy life to play 4 times a week)
Recording myself.
Looking at the footage to see what I do wrong (sharing it with the internet is not mandatory!)
Making sure to warm-up and strengthen my body to avoid injury.
Watching clips online for ideas on how to improve
Mixing up drills with hitting and matches to learn different areas of the game
(Having a hitting partner that is willing to improve along with me helps!)
Staying positive even when things don't go my way
Eating well (vitamins, superfoods, and things like that)
Drinking a lot (I am trying to stay hydrated) but I also like wine 🙂
Paying attention to my gear to see what works best for me

These are some of the key things I do in my search for improvement. What about you?

August 26, 2020 1 comment

My experience

My Tennis Story – What’s Yours?

by TN August 14, 2020

written by TN

Why do you play tennis? I've thought about this question lately and wanted to share my tennis story. I'm also keen to hear yours!

So why do you play tennis? For me, there is a multitude of answers. And I want to take this post to tell you a part of my tennis story.

Tennis is a great sport. It provides excellent exercise, it's social, you challenge yourself, you can focus on learning a craft, and it's fun. All these things are true, but some words ring more true for some people and not for others.

I was always into tennis for the sport's visual beauty, the exercise, and the challenge. I like to challenge myself to grow and improve, not to beat other players, but to be able to measure my improvement and goal-setting.

Some players love the competitive element. They are focused on playing matches and tournaments. Some players focus on the technique, wanting to groove their strokes to be close to the top pros. Others love the physical aspect of tennis and use it as a way to stay in shape. I love all things tennis and below you can read my tennis story.

My Tennis Story

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I started playing tennis around 7 years old. I played a couple of years at that age, but group coaching was not my thing. Instead, I quit and focused on other sports like football, table tennis, floorball, chess – yeah, I tried a lot of sports. Chess was the one thing where I got immediate results, and it just came natural to me. So I stayed with it, and I improved and in the end, became one of the top players in Sweden as a child and later on junior. I traveled the world to play and compete in World and European championships for my age group. It was great.

I did play some tennis on the side, but not much. At the height of my chess playing abilities (I had won the junior championships in Sweden and played a draw with not yet world champion Magnus Carlsen for bragging rights), I had the opportunity to move to the U.S. and study journalism in Washington, D.C. So my so-called chess career had to sit in the backseat while I focused on what I wanted to do with my life.

During my studies, I was lucky to get an internship at a talk radio news station working in the Congress and White House, so surely that would be what I devoted my career/life? But after my weird and wondrous time in the U.S., I wasn't that excited about journalism anymore, and chess was not at the top of my mind either (although I still played). Instead, I started working in marketing, and in my spare time, I played tennis with my stepfather.

We were both very amateurish players at the time but could hit a ball at least. We used to ride bikes to the local clay courts and grind for a couple of hours in the Swedish summer. That's where my love for tennis came back and with force. Why had I put this sport that I loved so much as a boy on the wayside? One of the reasons was the lack of good coaching and role models in the local tennis community. Another reason could have been that I just found chess easier. I'm not sure, but I should have kept it up.

But we are all wiser in retrospect, right? So my passion for the sport grew, and I kept playing at a steady rate. When I moved to Malta in 2007 for a marketing job, tennis was one of the things I looked forward to. Malta has at least 300 days of sunshine a year, so it's a perfect sport for the climate. The courts are not always the best, but the accessibility and pricing were excellent compared to Sweden.

I kept playing at a steady rate, a couple of times per week. I bought a Babolat Pure Storm Xtreme Carbon and did not know a lot about gear (these days, I know that's a great racquet). But at some point, not sure exactly when it was, I started doubting the racquet and testing others. I bought, borrowed, tested, and sold. I started trying different strings to see how that would affect my playing style. It almost became an obsession. I started focusing more on the racquet than the actual tennis, which was why it took a long time for me to improve. I learned a lot about racquets and strings, but perhaps not so much about tennis.

At some point a few years ago, I realized I needed to start working on my game. But it's sometimes hard to find partners who are willing to do drills and practice. I did find one or two, and I started to improve a bit. I also worked a bit with a couple of coaches I knew, but the sessions were not focused enough on my game's technical elements. If you want to improve, you need to work with a good coach or partner, not any coach.

These days, recording yourself, and watching YouTube videos from knowledgeable coaches is a great way to grow your tennis knowledge, build awareness about your own game and find areas of improvement. I wish I had all these great resources when I started playing again almost 20 years ago!

Questions about the forehand - Tennisnerd Academy

I did get some good help from Nik and Vijay, who I recorded the “Tennisnerd Academy” videos with last year. They certainly pushed me on the right path to fixing stuff in my technique. If I watch videos of myself playing about a year ago, I cringe. There are so many technical flaws along with sloppy footwork. I was pretty confident in my knowledge about racquets and strings, but I needed to focus more on my own game. This was made more difficult due to the growth of Tennisnerd and an increasing number of reviews.

I have been through many frustrating moments due to my constant switching of racquets. I have tried to adapt my technique to the racquet, where I should play with a racquet that works well for the game I have. I know this, but I have also been enjoying all the helpful feedback from fellow tennis nerds out there, and I just wanted to keep going and keep growing.

After a while, my arm started to tell me to stop switching racquets and to work on better technique and footwork. I got some pretty bad forearm pain and tennis elbow. I started focusing on rehab while trying to figure out what the hell I do wrong. Luckily, I found a good physio and bought a Flexbar. I started wearing compression sleeves and being really focused on warming up correctly and then icing afterward.

I started watching lots of instructional videos to understand the technical elements of my game. I watched my footage (although it was painful at times) and slowly started putting things together. Comments on YouTube can be a great inspiration, but then there are always the occasional mean ones. If there is any constructive feedback, I try to absorb that and not bother too much about someone being a “troll” or just wanting to send some pain across the Internet. I got some excellent advice from fellow tennis nerds and commenters, so thanks for that!

Lately, I've focused on improving all areas of my game. I have a reliable and dependable hitting partner in Mike who also wants to work on his game, so this helps. We do different drills, hit, play points, hit serves, we try to work on everything. Sometimes we bring a bucket of balls and just hand feed. Since we started focusing on specific areas of improvement, my game has jumped up a level. I feel like things are falling into place that before was all over the place. My forehand is finally feeling more trustworthy and reliable instead of hit-and-miss, and my footwork is more energetic, and sometimes I even bend my knees! 🙂

I'm enjoying tennis more than ever now. The more you improve, the more fun it gets. I am happy I can connect with tennis nerds the world over and share the passion. The COVID situation has been draining in all aspects, but it has, strangely enough, helped my tennis by putting a temporary halt on racquet reviews. I am waiting for a bunch of racquets to demo, but they seem to be stuck in transit.

The lack of new racquets has forced me to take my old Soft Drives and groove with them. Again, this has made me realize how much easier it is to improve if you don't add the racquet to the factors you need to consider. I usually give that advice in all my racquet consultations, take some time to find a racquet, and then stick to it. Bringing five different racquets to the court can be fun, but it has done me no good in terms of tennis development.

I will not stop reviewing. I still find tennis gear enjoyable, and I almost feel like I must know what's up with the latest racquets and strings. It will help me offer better advice and to create more interesting content. But I also want to share more stuff about my tennis journey and things I do to improve and enjoy tennis more. I hope you will like some of that content, but if you're in it only for the gear, that's fine.

We all have different personal reasons for why we play tennis. My tennis story is that I love pretty much all aspects of it, but lately, I've realized that I've often focused on the wrong things, in competitions, and practice. Now I want to grow as a person through tennis and as a player of the world's best sport.

I know this was a personal and perhaps a little strange post to read, but I felt like writing it. Now I urge you to share your tennis story. If you have something that would like to share, please use the contact us button to send an email, and your story might feature on Tennisnerd, my Instagram channel, and Facebook page.

This was part of my tennis story. What's yours?

August 14, 2020 8 comments

My experience Tennis Racquets

Are You Switching to a New Racquet?

by TN August 7, 2020

written by TN

I've just published a vlog called “Are you switching to a new racquet?”. I talk about my racquet journey and give some tips to fellow players.

Switching to a new racquet can be a difficult process. You need to have patience, you need to do things in the right order, you need to stay committed and be focused through the inevitable highs and lows (honeymoon period and so on). I am helping players on a part of the way through my racquet consultation service, but even after narrowing the choice down, you need to commit, find the right setup for strings and customizations.

My hitting partner Mike is going through this journey right now as he is switching from his Volkl V-Engine Tour MP 10 to a Volkl Organix 10 MP 295g. He uses the same strings for both racquets (HEAD Velocity MLT) but he is not yet happy with the stability of the much lighter Organix. I will help him to customize the racquet and I will document the journey on my Patreon page.

I hope this vlog and some of my content on Tennisnerd can help you in your quest to find a racquet that is good for your game. Remember, the perfect racquet does not exist. We all need to compromise. No matter how hard I'm trying to switch to smaller racquet sizes again, I keep going back to the Babolat Soft Drive. Despite that, it feels a bit sluggish at times, especially on my one-handed backhand, it's just “home” and that's hard to look away from.

Are you switching to a new racquet? Video.

Below you can find my latest vlog on the topic. A follow-up to the vlog about the HEAD Pro Tour 2.0 that I did a while back. If you have any questions or comments, please put them below and I will deal with them in a future vlog. If you like my content, please subscribe and tell your friends. I appreciate every like/share/subscribe!

August 7, 2020 5 comments

My experience Tennis Racquets

Different types of tennis racquets – A VLOG

by TN June 27, 2019

written by TN

I get loads of questions about tennis racquets every day, but I have never done a video to deal with some of them. So here is my new vlog talking about different types of tennis racquets. It might be basic to some, but, hopefully, it can give you some of you some good information.

There is an avalanche of racquets being released every year and it is very difficult to keep track of what is new, what is different and figure out what you should play with. The goal of Tennisnerd is mainly to help navigate the tennis gear jungle, but most of the content in this area has been in written form on this very website. That is why I thought it was about time I did a video about different types of tennis racquets.

I am not a fan of people talking into the camera for 20 minutes, but I wanted to try a slightly different format that frees me up to discuss some important concepts around tennis gear that some of you might know, but for sure not all of you. This also gives me a chance to describe some of the racquets I am testing right now and how they differ from each other. One of the biggest challenges when play-testing and reviewing tennis gear is to adapt your game and figure out a racquet relatively quickly. After years of doing this, I have become better at it, but I don't think it helps my tennis when it comes to playing a tournament. I have no idea what racquet I will show up to the match with!

Different types of tennis racquets – What this video covers

In case you don't have time to watch the video, here are some key outtakes from it. I know there are often exceptions, but these are some general rules that work in 90 % of the cases.

Thicker beams = more power
Thinner beams = more feel
Open patterns = more spin
Tighter pattern = more control
Bigger head size = better stability and forgiveness
Smaller head size = better precision and maneuverability
Light racquet = more weight in the head to make it more stable
Heavy racquet = more weight in the handle to make it easier to swing

Racquets I talk about in the video:

Pacific Nexus 102 – A very light and comfortable racquet that is excellent for beginners and seniors
Prince Phantom Pro 93P 14×18 – A spin-friendly racquet for more advanced players (click to read/watch my review)
Prince Textreme Tour 100 310 – A “tweener” racquet with a nice blend of playability and control.
HEAD Liquidmetal Radical Tour – One of my favorite racquets of all time.
TenX Pro Xstrike – A powerful racquet from the interesting new brand TenX Pro. Review to come soon!

I hope you like the video (despite my face)!

Different types of tennis racquets – A Tennisnerd vlog

June 27, 2019 2 comments

My experience Tennis Instruction

Trying to improve my forehand

by TN April 14, 2019

written by TN

I have just uploaded another installation in the vlog series I call “The Bumpy Road to Improving Your Tennis”. This one is mainly dealing with me trying to improve my forehand. I am trying to switch from a “Semi-Eastern” (between Eastern and Semi-Western) grip to a full Semi-Western.

I have been playing tennis for a long time and most of the time with one style of grip. To change this in an effort to trying to improve my forehand is going to take a lot of willpower because I will play and look like a fool for a while. I am already experiencing feeling less confident on the court and playing below my standard, but I need to suck it up and soldier one, otherwise I will never make the progress I want.

Sure, I could stay with my current “E to SW” grip and work on other things, but I still feel I would struggle to get more “natural” spin that way and one of my issues is hitting the ball consistently with the racquet face at the same angle. My motion gets jerky as I try to adjust my racquet to the type of incoming ball. What I can do well with this style is hit on the rise, because I can adjust my wrist quite quickly, but when it comes to hitting targets with wider margins more consistently I struggle.

Trying to Improve my Forehand – Some Good Tips

1. Go to a good coach who is willing to put in the work with you (and has the patience!).

2. Record yourself while playing/practicing. This way you can see what you do well and what you need to work on more.

3. Watch videos from online coaches on YouTube to get an idea of the mechanics. This way you have more time to soak up the information before you work with the coach.

4. Trust your racquet. When you work on your technique it is important you don't second-guess your racquet and start throwing in that as an excuse or variable. Isolate what you need to work on and focus on that only.

Trying to improve my forehand – Video

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About tennis racquets
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Here is a great racquet buying guide to get you started.
What tennis racquet should I buy?
Top tennis racquets to buy right now
The Gear of the Year 2018
The Gear of the Year 2017
The Gear of the Year 2016
Tennis racquets for juniors
Tennis racquets for kids

April 14, 2019 4 comments

My experience Tennis Instruction Tennis strategy

The Bumpy Road to Improving Your Tennis

by TN April 9, 2019

written by TN

Yesterday I posted a slightly different tennis vlog called “The Bumpy Road to Improving Your Tennis”. In this video I wanted to talk about some the elements I'm working on and consequently struggling with. Keen to hear your feedback on more content of this type.

What is different in this video is that the focus has shifted from gear to general tennis improvement. What I mean with the title: “The Bumpy Road to Improving Your Tennis” is that learning is never a straight line. It will bring frustrations and self-loathing, as well as some truly inspirational moments when you feel like you're understanding something in a new way or getting hang of a stroke technique or a new movement pattern.

Like I mention in the video, I used to be a pretty decent chess player (FM title) in my junior years. I won the Junior championship in Sweden as well as the senior team championship and competed quite a lot internationally with a draw against current World Champion Magnus Carlsen as one of my more noticeable results. What I should benefit from with my chess background in tennis is patterns of play, patience, and strategy. But although I feel I have a good understanding of these concepts when I watch other players, I often fail to use them when I am on the court myself. Instead, I stress points, go for unnecessary winners and ill-conceived drop shots.

How do I change that? Well, my journey to improve as a player will be a part of a new form of content will talk more about the process of becoming a better tennis player. It is not a series of lessons since I am not a licensed coach and there are already tons of good coaching content out there, but more of a “learn together with me”.

The Bumpy Road to Improving Your Tennis – Topics

Some of the topics I mention in my video and that I want to dig deeper into are:

How to change basic stroke mechanics – am consistently trying to improve my basics.
Patterns of play – This is something I definitely need to work on. A consistent construction of points and implementation of strategy on the court.
Footwork – this is where most recreational players fail in my point of view. Including myself.
Staying tough and clear-headed in match situations – I tend to get very tight and fuzzy-headed in match situations.
Tennis fitness – Many rec players use tennis as the only form of fitness, but you need to complement it with stretching, endurance and strength work. I am currently checking out Tennis Fitness (Martin Method) to see if it can be something for me to try.

There are plenty of more topics I would like to cover. Maybe you have some ideas that would be interesting to discuss in a video or post? Please comment below. The Bumpy Road to Improving Your Tennis is something that we're all on, no matter what level. So let's try to make it as flat and enjoyable as possible.

PS. Big thanks to my patrons who encouraged me to upload this slightly different form of content. If you want to get early access to content as well as some stuff that is not released on Tennisnerd, please consider supporting this passion project on Patreon.com/tennisnerd DS.

Tennis greetings from Tennisnerd (Jonas)

April 9, 2019 9 comments

My experience Tennis Racquets

Buying a tennis racquet: Comfort vs Power

by TN September 18, 2018

written by TN

Buying a tennis racquet: Power vs Comfort

I wanted to spend some time on a common but important topic when you are interested in buying a tennis racquet: comfort vs power. It is easy to fall into the typical marketing jargon and be excited about getting more power on your shots. Sometimes this will result in injuries.

Powerful racquets often mean stiff racquets. If a racquet is flexible, the racquet absorbs the vibrations and the ball stays longer on the strings. With a stiffer racquet, the ball shoots off quickly from the string bed and your arm and hand is left dealing with the vibrations. This can lead to significant shock to the wrist or elbow, and to you not playing for a long time. My take on this – it is more important to be able to play a lot of tennis, than getting some free power on my shots. Obviously this might not have a positive affect on your results on the court. At least not in the short term.

Buying a tennis racquet is a situation often riddled with questions. Sometimes you know exactly what you like and need, but sometimes you need to challenge all this. One time when this question is really up in the air is after you get injured, especially if it is related to your racquet and gear.

Buying a tennis racquet: Comfort vs Power

We all love power, right? Being able to nuke the ball across the court for a winner is a great feeling. And when you smack that ace down the line, you feel like John Isner for a second. Power can be extremely intoxicating, in life and on the court. But it is not always a good thing. If we are talking about tennis racquets (which we are, pretty much always, here on Tennisnerd), power comes at a cost of control (obviously) and comfort.

I recently wrote a post called “Powerful racquets build bad habits” and what I meant there is that a powerful racquet can make it easy to get depth on the ball even with poor footwork. In some cases this is a great thing, like when you are defending and do not have time to position yourself properly for a shot. But it can also ingrain certain bad technical habits into your game. Suddenly you do not have to prepare properly for ANY shot and you end up arming shots and forgetting your footwork.

That is one way that powerful racquets can harm you. Although nothing is as drastic and dark as when you get injured from a stiff racquet. This can obviously also happen due to bad technique or form, but there is no doubt that stiff, modern racquets create a lot of issues for a lot of players. Today most players learn to adapt to the power and hit with a western grip and so called “modern technique”. This helps to be able to generate enough spin to get the ball to dip down. Firm polyester strings help to make this happen since they possess something called snapback, which makes the strings return back into place after a shot (which helps with control). Poly strings can also be shaped to increase the ball bite and increase spin. The issue with poly strings is that besides their relatively short life-span, they will also send more vibrations through to your arm since the material is stiff.

Buying a tennis racquet: Comfort vs Power – Where are you?

Stiffer racquets (measured in RA, above 65 is “firm”, above 69 is “stiff” and below 62 is “flexible”) coupled with stiffer poly strings will allow you to swing for the fences and still hit within the lines. The issue however is that an extreme western grip, a stiff racquet and a stiff string is not the friendliest combination for the body. Add the lightness of most stiff racquets which mean that as soon as you hit outside the sweet spot (which is often bigger than on traditional racquets), you will likely get an unstable response. Unless of course you customize your racquet to be heavier and thus more arm-friendly, but tougher to swing. This will create even more vibrations to your arm.

Tennis elbow is something I have not been bothered by myself, but my right wrist has bothered me at times and although it was a while since it did, it recently popped back again. I have had some pain for the last few sessions and I am trying to find out why. Maybe because I am using a wrist-y technique at times? Since it has not bothered me for years, I tend to look at the materials instead. I have played a lot with stiffer, lighter and more hollow-bodied racquets the last few months (HEAD Graphene 360 Pro and Tecnifibre Tflash PS 300 most recently) and pretty much exclusively used poly strings. Maybe this have something to do with it? Last time I had serious wrist pain, I used a Wilson Blade 93 with a Volkl leather grip and Volkl Cyclone yellow 1.25. It was 360 grams, stiff (67 RA strung) and quite a tough one for the wrist.

Buying a tennis racquet: Comfort vs Power – Health first!

I will definitely look into my technique a bit since I tend to get confused in between racquet changes. Reason being that modern racquets require a slightly different take-back and swing than traditional racquets. I have jumped back and forth between these types of racquets, but always seem to end up with the kind of specs “I started with”. With this I mean my first serious player racquet, a Wilson nCode Six One 95.

I am currently playing the HEAD Liquidmetal Radical Tour and although it is not a harsh racquet (it is around 64 RA strung), it is around 355 grams strung and 32 cm balance so the swing weight is quite high. Strung with a poly, it might also take its toll on the wrist. Not sure a more pillowy racquet (like the Angell K7 Red) will help my sore wrist though, it might just need some rest (which is NO FUN AT ALL). But if you feel some pain after sessions I urge you to consider this:

Your physical health in general.
Your technique. (We all need to work here constantly).
Your equipment.
Your warm-up/preparation.

Because tennis is too much fun to be postponed due to injuries.

Buying a tennis racquet: Comfort vs Power – Final check

If you play amazing tennis with a racquet and string combo but feel pain after playing, make sure to check all these factors above. If you find out that it is your equipment that is causing this problem, make the decision to switch. Even if it takes a while to find a more comfortable setup and groove with it, you can at least work on it ON the court. Health first. Tennis first. Results second.

What is your opinion here? Have you had any injuries and what have you done to resolve them?

More posts about power racquets on Tennisnerd:

The Eternal Struggle: Racquet Power vs Control

Searching For a New Racquet – Power vs Feel

Powerful Tennis Racquets

September 18, 2018 17 comments

My experience

Thoughts of a Tennisnerd

by TN June 19, 2018

written by TN

I thought it was about time to write a little Tennisnerd diary on the side of all the other, perhaps more relevant, posts. Just to update you on what is going on with my racquet testing and my own humble tennis journey. Let us call it: Thoughts of a tennisnerd.

Readers ask me questions every now and then what I am playing with right now. It has been a difficult question to answer due to my ongoing knee injury. Do not worry, I know I have been yapping on and on about this for quite a while, and I think most of you (including my dear wife) are tired of hearing about it. I will try not to mention my knee again, I am doing rehab with my physio, so I will leave the talk and details at the clinic! There is also the occasional light hit, so not to go crazy from not playing tennis. If you are a true tennis nerd, an injury keeping you away from the court can truly be a test of patience. But I am trying my best to let it heal in peace and doing as much as I can in terms of exercise. Foam-rolling is one example, hoping to get back to playing more competitively. Anyway, below are the first “Thoughts of a Tennisnerd”.

I have written a lot about racquet confusion here on Tennisnerd and I have had a bad bout of it lately. All the racquet reviewing I have been doing has not been the best for consistency and confidence in my game and gear. I have previously felt like I need to sacrifice this for the fun of running Tennisnerd and connecting with all you tennis-loving readers. I really feel however, that I need to choose a racquet and stick with it as my main racquet.

Thoughts of a Tennisnerd – My main stick right now

Right now, that main racquet would oddly be my Soft Drive Original that I have leaded up to 330 grams and 32,8 cm balance strung. I just love the kind of effortless power and spin I get with this racquet and from the baseline I can not really fault it. I am still struggling a bit with killing volleys as I am used to heavier 95 sq inch racquets, but for everything else I really enjoy playing with the Soft Drive. I am testing strings for it, but for the power it provides I felt like HEAD Hawk Touch (read my review) gives me the control and spin I need while not being too aggressive on my arm.

So that is my setup at the moment. A 1990 Soft Drive with silly amounts of lead tape bringing it up to 330 grams and 32,8 cm. I strung it with HEAD Hawk Touch at 24 kg.

On the other hand, I have been pretty impressed with many of the racquets I have reviewed recently. A few of them has made me want to almost make the switch. I thought I would list them and give some comments.

Thoughts of a Tennisnerd – Impressive recent racquets

Prince Beast 98 (read my review here)
Nice racquet that does pretty much everything well even without customization. Good spin and power and a large sweet spot. One of the best 98 sq inch racquets on the market. This just shows how the Textreme family of racquets from Prince actually delivers…

Yonex VCORE Pro 97 330 (read my review here)
I am a little bit sad I sold my review racquets because this is a racquet that worked really well for my game. One I could have happily switched to. The grip shape felt like a straight line, which irked me a bit though. Otherwise this racquet is a fine piece of equipment for advanced players.

Thoughts of a Tennisnerd – Next up

Next up in my review batch are two racquets from Angell that I have not tested yet. I really appreciate the attention to detail and direct communication you get with Angell Custom racquets. So now that I have tested TC97 string patterns and TC 95 18×20 and 16×19, it felt right to check out the new V3 TC90 and the TC 100. Expect reviews to come in a couple of weeks.

I have also reviewed a string called Laserfibre JB Tour 100 which I enjoyed quite a bit. A more powerful, and slightly cheaper alternative to Luxilon Alu Power. I can really recommend this if you want a poly that offers a bit more power.

Thoughts of a Tennisnerd – Mercedes Cup

Other than trying to break a sweat while reviewing racquets, I had a good time in Stuttgart watching the Mercedes Cup for the fourh time in a row. I have the fortune to go there as a guest, as I have been involved in the sponsorship over there in various forms over the years. One day rained away but I could enjoy watching some Roger Federer magic which I captured on YouTube here and some Benoit Paire craziness as well. Can really recommend that tournament if you want to see grass court tennis up close!

Thoughts of a Tennisnerd – what else?

Besides watching tennis live, I am of course checking out the televised play and listening to the various tennis podcasts to keep up with the game. Really looking forward to watching Andy Murray return to the ATP World Tour today against Nick Kyrgios. I hope his hip turns out to be fine for match play and that he can resume his career after 11 months off. It is also good to see Kyrgios back after his elbow injury. He seemed to be in great form in Stuttgart last week, so he should have a good chance at beating a rusty Murray for the first time today.

I am also curious about watching Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian had a fantastic finish to the season last year, but he has not been up to scratch in 2018. Let us see if the grass court season can revive him. I hope so, because he is entertaining to watch.

Same goes for Jack Sock, who finished 2017 in grand style, but has had huge issues stringing wins together this year. Grass might not be his best friend, but for US hard court season I think we will see him back in decent form.

What do you expect from these players and the rest of the season? Please comment below!

June 19, 2018 0 comment

My experience

Watching grass court tennis live

by TN May 9, 2018

written by TN

I have had the good fortune of watching grass court tennis live for the last three years at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart. There is always something special with tennis on grass. And now I am considering Queens or Wimbledon.

Watching grass court tennis live is a special experience. In one way it feels like a time machine to an era when three out of four Grand slams were played on the green stuff. And in another way, it is as fast-paced as tennis can be with the kind of serves and power that the ATP tour players have today.

Since I have been sponsoring (for the company I worked for) and working on sponsorships for the excellent grass court tournament Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, I have had the good fortune to watch grass court tennis live for the last three years. This year I thought it might be interesting to mix it up and go to the legendary grass court tournament in Queens and I have been looking at some Queens tennis hospitality packages lately.

Watching grass court tennis live – Queens

The exciting part about the Queens Club championships is the fact that it is one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world (128 years old!) and it has also been said (by Andy Roddick) to have “arguably the best grass courts in the world”. If you watch the tournament on TV you can tell that the courts somehow seem to stay greener and in better condition at Queens than in Stuttgart and Halle for example. But tennis should be enjoyed live, right?

It also seems to me that the grass courts in Queens play a bit slower than in Stuttgart for example, and that is important to make the rallies more interesting. Watching grass court tennis live is really nice, but sometimes it can be too much of a serve-fest. That is why I believe that the slower the courts are, the better.

Watching grass court tennis live – Wimbledon

I was fortunate enough to be watching some grass court tennis live at Wimbledon in 2015 and that was a great experience. You do not get as close to the action on center court as you get in Stuttgart, Halle or Queens, but Wimbledon is such a historic and heralded tournament (many ATP pros claim it to be the most important tournament during the whole season) that it is almost a “must” to have been there once if you are a true tennis fan.

I have yet to make up my mind on what tournament(s) to travel to, but I am sure they all offer a nice experience. The only thing you need to be wary about when watching grass court tennis live is the weather reports. So if it is going to be an unsteady summer and you only have one day for tennis, center court tickets at Wimbledon (they now have the roof) might be your best bet to seeing some nice grass court tennis. But I am sure that if you book more than one day, chances of play being washed away by rain, are slim.

Have you ever watched grass court tennis live? What do you think of it? Please comment below.

May 9, 2018 4 comments

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