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Andy Murray’s racquet

How Secret Should Pro Racquet Specs Be?

by TN November 15, 2017

written by TN

Racquet companies and tennis pro’s go to great lengths not to reveal their true racquet specifications, but is it really such a vital secret to keep? Since player specs are so personal what would it matter to other pro players?

You who have been following this blog has for sure seen the post “Tennis Racquets of the ATP Professionals” where I try to research and list the racquets and specs of the some of the best players in the world. This requires that either someone gets the actual racquet somehow, has close footage of the racquet, are in touch with stringers on the tour, etc etc. Most players are not keen on giving out their racquet specs, possibly due to that the companies are selling racquets that they “endorse” but actually doesn’t use.

Yes, it might not be financially feasible to sell a hundred percent exact spec racquet of Stan Wawrinka or Novak Djokovic, but isn’t it better to at least be honest that the Djokovic is actually playing something quite different than the HEAD Graphene Touch Speed Pro (click here for my review)? Djokovic can still openly endorse the model that is the closest to the racquet he uses?

OR, they sell Novak’s actual mold and let people customize it to their liking. They could give away the exact specs Novak plays with for the more adventurous types, but for 90% of recreational players it wouldn’t make sense to play with these specs, but at least they could try it if they wanted to.

I don’t really understand what the danger is among pro’s to know each other’s specs. You won’t figure out weaknesses in a game based on highly personal racquet specifications so that must be a non-issue. And if the manufacturers perceive that it’s going to be too difficult for most amateurs to play with the kind of low-powered control racquets that most professional tennis players use, I think we should let the customer decide that!

Most sources claim that even the Wilson Pro Staff Roger Federer Autograph is quite different than the one that Federer actually uses. I’m not sure if that is true or not, I’m sure Roger has plenty of customization on his frame such as extra lead, a personal grip shape, etc, but the mold is hopefully the same. I would however not be surprised if Federer’s racquet is more flexible than the 68 RA strung specs of the Wilson RF97A but that’s also pure speculation.

I would love for more racquet brands to stay honest to their buyers. If Stan the Man uses the Yonex VCORE 95D, why not keep selling that racquet in new paint jobs like Wilson did with the Pro Staff? It just gets slightly ridiculous when even the players themselves can’t be a hundred percent honest with what equipment they use. And why can’t HEAD make the PT57A 16×19 available to the tennis playing population? Even if it cost 350 USD or something due to higher manufacturing costs, at least it would be far more honest and sympathetic than selling a HEAD Graphene Touch Radical Pro that is lightyears away from what Andy Murray actually plays with!

I think there are ways to make this work financially and I sincerely hope that some racquet manufacturers start to take this situation seriously, because it’s frankly quite silly.

What do you think of paint jobs and pro stocks? Can the racquet companies afford to be honest or would it hurt their bottom line? Please comment below.

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November 15, 2017 4 comments

Tennis Racquets

HEAD Graphene Touch Radical

by TN October 1, 2017

written by TN

It’s time for the HEAD Radical to get the Graphene Touch update. A few pics have been leaked on the tennis forums and I’m curious to hear what you think about them.

I’m a fan of the HEAD Radical series, all the way from the first editions (PT57B) that most racquetholics calls the “Bumblebee”, to the famous “Zebra”, the “Candycane”, the Liquidmetal Tour I use now, all the way to the IG Radical Pro, which for many was the last great Radical racquet. Others would argue that the first Graphene edition, the HEAD Graphene Radical Pro, was a worthy and highly playable (and much stiffer) successor, and I can agree to some extent myself, but the Graphene XT version hasn’t gotten a lot of love among tennis aficionados.

Will HEAD go softer again with the “Touch” line? The idea with the HEAD Graphene Touch Speed was similar to Wilson’s addition of Countervail – it was to dampen shock. This is the new edition of the “war on tennis elbows”, with the racquet companies bending over backwards to reduce the potentially negative effect of stiff racquets on player health.

But it makes sense to work on dampening and it’s definitely nothing new. The older HEAD Radicals with “TwinTube” technology was also about dampening shock to the arm, but they were also heavier and more flexible, which is in stark contrast to the firm and light racquets of today. The game has gone from “feel” to “speed” and “power”, so here is HEAD, trying to introduce a little more “Touch” back into the game.

Judging by the racquetholics on the various forums, HEAD hasn’t had a successful launch of a racquet in a while. Many are still hunting down and trying the older versions online and giving the new line-up a pass. I have a big bag of HEAD test racquets at home and I’m trying to identify if there is something great in there. Among the racquets I’m testing right now is the HEAD Graphene Touch Speed MP and Pro, the HEAD Graphene Touch MP (click here for the review), the HEAD MxG racquets (already reviewed them here) which Nadal was testing a year back and the HEAD Graphene Touch Instinct line which was also released as an “Adaptive” version.

This is my pic from my Instagram account:

A post shared by Tennisnerd (@tennisnerdnet) on Sep 29, 2017 at 2:10pm PDT

So…quite a lot of racquets to test (the old-school HEAD Liquidmetal Radical Tour is what I’m currently playing with so I just put it there for laughs) and more in-depth information about the models coming soon. If I forget to write about something, don’t hesitate to ask in the comments field.

But back to the HEAD Graphene Touch Radical Pro, which looks like this:

Andy Murray (read more about his racquet here) actually posed an update on Instagram where he had cleaned out his racquet closed and among all the beautiful PT57A 16×19 pro stocks that he’s playing in various paint jobs. Among the racquets were the paint job of the new HEAD Graphene Touch Radical Pro that he’s endorsing. Can you spot them in the picture?

A post shared by Tennisnerd (@tennisnerdnet) on Sep 18, 2017 at 6:26am PDT

What will the specs for the new HEAD Graphene Touch Radical Pro and MP be? Right now I don’t know the stiffness ratings, but these are the unstrung specs for the HEAD Graphene Touch Radical Pro: 98 sq inches, 315 mm balance, 310 grams weight, standard length, beam 20/23/21 mm, string pattern 16/19. Definitely nothing shocking there!

Release date for the HEAD Graphene Touch racquets will be in November 2017.

What do you guys think about the Spider-Man inspired paint job? Is it Radical enough?

October 1, 2017 7 comments

Tennis Racquets

Head Graphene Speed Touch

by TN December 3, 2016

written by TN

The tennis racquet trend is starting to take the growing number of tennis elbows more seriously and recent models are definitely moving towards “less shock” (which is also something I talked about in this post called Gear of the Year). Wilson Blade with Countervail is one such option, where Wilson Tennis has managed to maintain the characteristics of the hugely successful Blade line and made them more comfortable and dampened.

HEAD tennis has received a lot of criticism for the Graphene technology, which has turned the classic feel of Head racquets into a more modern and stiffer line. I don’t have any insight into the Head sales numbers, but I’m pretty sure the Graphene racquets haven’t been bestsellers such as their classic Prestige line or the legendary Head Pro Tour 630. Customers have complained about harshness and smallish sweet spots and that’s why Head now launch their “Touch” models, with the idea of creating a more comfortable feel.

The Graphene Touch line consists of four racquets: Head Graphene Speed Pro, Head Graphene Speed MP, Head Graphene Speed S, and Head Graphene Speed Lite.

Read more about The Head Speed Graphene Touch line here.

Play-testers talk about a more muted and softer response than the previous Speed line. This is very similar feedback to the Wilson Blade with Countervail line, where some players think it is the best Blade yet and some find it too muted. This is usually a personal decision – what are you looking for in a tennis racquet? Comfort or feedback?

Regarding the line, they’re all pretty much 100 sq inch racquets that weigh around 315-290 grams. The pro model is slightly heavier and has the more control-oriented 18×20 string pattern while the others have 16×19. They are all 100 square inches and that is definitely becoming the new norm for tennis racquets.

What I find funny with HEAD’s marketing is the following:

In the above ad HEAD proudly claims that Head Graphene and Head Graphene XT technology has won a “staggering number of prestigious tournaments” and below Andy Murray, they have pictures of Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych (TGK 260.2 pro stock). None of which actually play with Head Graphene technology. They all use Head racquets, but pro stock versions based on 10-20 years older racquets! Just click their names above to read what they really play.

Head should be proud to have all these great players using Head racquets, but telling people they use the latest technology is simply wrong. That’s why I want to urge all racquet companies to release the actual racquet moulds of the top players as “Autograph versions”. Wilson did it with the Wilson Pro Staff Roger Federer Autograph and I don’t see why companies like Babolat, Head and more can follow suit.

I think you can easily charge a bit more if what you sell is the actual racquet model the pro plays with. And you can sell more light-weight, easy-to-use models and call them “Novak Djokovic Signature Edition Light” or something.

I’m sure there is nothing wrong with the Head Graphene Speed Touch line, but please don’t insist that it is what Djokovic is actually using.

If you don’t care about what Djokovic plays with (which I guess you shouldn’t)…buy the Head Graphene Speed Touch at Tennis Express and a few cents go to Tennisnerd:

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December 3, 2016 0 comment

Pro player racquets

Is a pro stock racquet better than a retail one?

by TN November 23, 2016

written by TN

This is a typical question I would get from players beginning to grow an interest in tennis racquets. This question as well as what is the difference between a pro stock tennis racquet and a retail one?

The answer to this question is essentially: no, a pro stock racquet is not better than a retail tennis racquet. Why? Because pro stock racquets are most often customized versions of older existing retail racquets! And racquet customizations are highly personal and a racquet that is customized to fit for example Stan Wawrinka or Novak Djokovic won’t likely fit your tennis style or level of play.

This is an important thing to understand. You need to play with what is best for your game, not what is best for a pro player. Pro player racquets usually have very high swing weights (they are heavy and not as head light as even fans of heavier racquets would like) and are therefore quite difficult to play with. If you can effectively swing a 360 gram racquet with a 370 swing weight effectively for hours, well then you could probably play well with a pro racquet. But if you need a little less weight to get that racquet head speed on the ball – well then you need to look for a racquet that is suitable for you.

There are so many good racquets and strings on the market right now and if you start “low” you can always add lead tape and silicon to find the specs you like. And remember – a racquet is just the platform for you to find your holy grail specs. There are so many things that influence how a racquet plays such as the strings (you can choose multifilament, poly, natural gut or a hybrid!), where you add the leap tape, what grip you choose, the shape of the grip (with some racquets you can even change the pallets on the handle to customize the grip shape) and much more. So don’t give up on a racquet just because you’re not playing your best with it. Experiment and see if you can improve it.

I must add here that there are some pro stock racquets that are VERY hard to get and expensive once you do. Here are a few players (the fantastic four) and list to respective articles where you would need to do some searching to get that exact racquet or spec.

Andy Murray – Andy Murray plays a pro stock racquet from Head labelled as PT57A and it is basically a 20-year-old model called Head Pro Tour 630 in a 16×19 string pattern. When you get a pro stock racquet, it comes in the form of a lighter hair pin (the racquet in raw fom) which is then customized to the players specs. Read more about Andy Murray’s racquet here.

Novak Djokovic – Djokovic doesn’t use a Head Graphene Speed Touch MP although that is a decent racquet in its own right. Novak Djokovic’s racquet is something as mysterious sounding as a PT113B – which is the code for an old Head Radical model from the early 2000. It is really a 95 sq inch racquet and that’s why it a bit odd that he endorses a 100 sq inch racquet.

Rafael Nadal uses a Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original (not the Babolat Pure Aero) and that’s not too hard to find on eBay or racquet forums.

Roger Federer is the only guy who uses the signature model he advertises – the Pro Staff Roger Federer Autograph. He likely uses a customized grip and some lead, but the frame is the same. Read more about Roger Federer’s racquet here.

As you can see there are a few guys that use hard-to-get racquets. But are they better racquets? Maybe for them, but like I said, a racquet is a personal thing – and you need to find what is right for you. Not an ATP touring pro with thousands of hours on the courts.

November 23, 2016 0 comment

Pro player racquets

Andy Murray’s Racquet

by TN June 4, 2016

written by TN

Andy Murray has endorsed the HEAD Radical series for a long time. But he is actually playing something called PT57A2.

Andy Murray has advertised the Head Radical series for many years, sort of as the successor to André Agassi. Little do most people know that he actually plays with a 20-year-old racquet in a different string pattern, namely the legendary Head Pro Tour 630 made popular by Thomas Muster and Gustavo Kuerten. I did play with the Head Pro Tour 630 myself for a while, but wanted a 16×19 string pattern and finding a so-called pro stock racquet of Murray’s mold is close to impossible and very expensive.

But luckily my friend has one of Andy Murray’s actual racquets and here are the specs.

Andy Murray’s Racquet Specs

Here are the specs of Andy Murray’s tennis racquet:

Specifications ANDY MURRAY PT57A PRO STOCK
Head size: 95 sq. in. / 613 sq. cm.
Length: 27 in. / 68.6 cm.
Strung weight: 12.4 oz. / 353 gr.
Strung balance: 332 mm
Stiffness: 58
Grip size: L3 (4 3/8)
Grip type: Karakal PU Super Grip + Overgrip
String pattern: 16 Mains / 19 Crosses
Silicone: Yes
Lead: Yes
Pro stock code: Head PT57A
Pro stock code printed in throat: No
Pro player name printed in throat: Yes
Sticker player code in throat: Yes

The specs and pic below are from the website prostocktennis.com where you can actually buy Andy Murray’s actual racquet! Check out Andy Murray’s racquet here.

(If you’re interested in what racquets other ATP pros actually use…read this article about the tennis racquets of the ATP professionals).

And here’s a video I shot at Monte Carlo of Andy Murray playing some PT57A-inspired tennis.

Andy Murray’s Racquet – HEAD Pro Tour 630

The Head Pro Tour 630 (280 is the name of the US release of this racquet) has been hailed as one of the best racquets ever made by racquet experts/fans and is still played by quite a few players on the ATP world tour. Such as Murray, Simon, Cuevas, Haas and quite a few more. In pro stock tennis racquet lingo it’s called a PT57A.

Is the PT 630 or PT57A really as good as they say? Well, if you’re looking for an arm-friendly and great feeling racquet with an emphasis of control over power and spin – look no further. Most of the modern racquet technologies cannot really stand up to this beautiful blend of Twaron and graphite. It’s old school but still up to scratch (and in many cases beyond) with all the marketing hype of today’s current sticks.

Will it change your game immeasurably to the better? Nah, no racquet will do that. But it might save your elbow and wrist from a stiff thick-beamed Babolat or Wilson racquet and that’s worth a lot, right?

So if you have the chance to playtest a Head Pro Tour 630 or Head PT57A – do it, it might not make your game any better (practice is the best way to do that), but it sure is a nice and very comfortable ride. If you’re interested in other advice around buying a tennis racquet, check out the links and posts below.

Racquet buying guides

June 4, 2016 9 comments