VT Advantec is a new company on the tennis scene. Their mission is to reduce vibrations from tennis racquet through their strips and grips.
Yesterday I got a box with a couple of VT Advantec strips and grips and it will be interesting to review their products. I have already added both the grip (which feels like a softer leather grip) and the rubber-like strips to one of my Soft Drives to see what it does to the feel.
The VT Advantec marketing talks about the following:
“Our science will give you an edge. We’ve combined innovative dampening materials with demanding real-world testing to design a vibration reduction technology that lets you inject life into your game and bring your best game to the court.”
At first, I thought the rubber strips would add weight to the racquet, similar to lead tape, but one strip is only 0.5 grams, so although you do add 2 grams if you do 3-9 or 10-2 positions, it is quite minimal.
Is vibration the enemy? VT Advantec thinks so.
According to VT Advantec, vibration is the enemy. Maybe they are right in a way, especially if we talk about harmful vibrations that create injury issues like tennis elbow and wrist tendinitis. But the way I understand it if you mute vibrations too much you risk eliminating feedback which will give the player information on where in the string bed he hit the tennis ball. So a product like this should hopefully not mute the feel too much. But let’s look at the science according to their website:
- Â Energy transfers from the racket to your arm
- Â Impact increases the effort of racket control
- Â Vibration decreases stability during and after contact
“Certain chemicals and compounds have the ability to cushion impact and greatly reduce unwanted vibration. We engineered highly specific combinations of these materials to do just that. Our technologies are special for their unique qualities of frequency absorption and dissipation that help increase your stability and control on the court.”
This sounds like a tennis nerd’s dream, right?
I am really curious about this tech because if this works, it is really some proper innovation in the tennis industry. But I will remain skeptical until I have properly tested the Advantec products. But judging by the feedback I got on the Instagram posts, they seem to have a lot of fans of their products.
This is what they say that I will set out to verify:
- Cushioned impact improves feel and racket-head stability.
- Consistent feel means maximal accuracy, confidence, and control.
- Reduced effort increases optimal power with every stroke.
Read more about Advantec products here
