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Rafael Nadal’s racquet

Pro player racquets

Nadal’s new racquet (and haircut)

by TN
written by TN

There has been pictures posted online about Rafael Nadal’s new haircut and lots of speculation around a hair transplant of some kind since he’s had a few visible bald spots for quite a while. I would put this topic in the category of: “Who the eff cares?”

When you see Nadal swinging a blacked-out Head-shaped racquet however, you start to take notice – especially if you’re a tennis gear-head. Rumours immediately started on Nadal trying out a new racquet to change up his game for the 2017 season = new hair and new stick might equal success, right?

Just look at this stuff from Twitterer and Rafa fan Lizzy P Rose:

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But then there was also this – from a video not taken long ago:

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Nadal is clearly swinging his trusted Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original in the paint job of a Babolat Pure Aero in the above pic. If you are curious about Rafael Nadal’s racquet, I suggest this post. So the hitting session with the Head-shaped racquet is either a serious test to try a new racquet for 2017 or purely just to try something new for fun. I truly doubt we will see Nadal with a new racquet when the season starts, however the haircut can definitely be confirmed, whether it’s a transplant or just a change-up – yeah, well, who cares?

Let’s just hope we see Rafa back healthy and re-energized ready for some more vamos tennis!

Latest pic (from Getty Images):

 

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Pro player racquets

Is a pro stock racquet better than a retail one?

by TN
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.

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Racquet Reviews

What is so great about the AeroPro Drive Original?

by TN
written by TN

This is a true icon among racquet nerds. But what is so great about the AeroPro Drive Original? I wish we could ask Rafa Nadal.

What is so great about the AeroPro Drive Original?

I’ve been wondering this question for quite a while. After all, this is the racquet Rafael Nadal still plays with, despite numerous iterations and paint jobs over the years. Most racquet nerds in various tennis forums claim that Babolat ruined a good thing when they introduced the Cortex technology* in their racquets and that Babolat racquets “pre-cortex” is where it’s at. I’m currently playing with the first Babolat Pure Drive without Woofer, Cortex, GT, FSI and other technologies that Babolat has introduced over the years and I’m really enjoying it so far.

So that’s why I started pondering the question about Nadal’s racquet of choice, the Babolat AeroPro Drive Original that so many hail as a legendary stick. I haven’t hit with it frequently before, but I found one used that I’m going to take out for a serious play-test soon and see what all the fuss is about.

A raw racquet!

From the first few hits, the feedback you get on your strokes is more direct, which, if you hit it outside the sweet spot is a little harsh. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the things Babolat has tried to work on for each iteration (if they’ve been successful is up for discussion): increasing the sweet spot and making sure off center hits don’t jar the arm and still get back into the court. I personally really like the raw feel and find the information useful when I’m off on my groundstrokes, but I can see how it’s not the most user-friendly racquet for intermediate players and can quickly become slightly painful for the arm. But this is on the other hand the complaint with most Babolats and should also be attributed to technique that needs work and/or bad string and tension choice.

TIP: Don’t give up on your racquets until you try different strings and tension and possibly adding some lead tape or blu tack/silicone to the handle to change weight and balance.

String setups in the APD Original

Talking about strings,  The Weisscannon Silverstring seems to work really well with the Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original, but I’m going to also try my current string of choice (together with the RS Lyon), the Solinco Hyper-G in it and see if I can get even more spin. Since the Hyper-G is a slightly stiffer string than RS Lyon, I hope it won’t bother my arm too much.

No matter what string, what I really enjoy about the so called APD Original is the massive spin and whip you can get on the ball. It inspires you to go for the ball “Wild West Rafa style” and that sure makes for an entertaining (and sweaty) hit, although you should probably stay away from copying his technique too much or you might decapitate yourself or frame the ball into outer space.

Update: the Babolat Aero Pro Drive Original is a very good racquet, but a little too powerful for my taste so I’m staying with my Babolat Pure Drive Original instead (1997, non-woofer version). So I have a Babolat APD Original for sale in great condition. Let me know if you’re interested in the comments.

What is Cortex? (from Babolat)

A CDS (Cortex Dampening System) interface transmits useful information to the player and the handle design brings that information closer to the player’s hand for perfect control on every hit.

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