Tennis Myth - Adding Weight to the Head is Always Best

So often, a customer will come in and ask for their racket to be made heavier. The mistake they make is wanting to put all of the weight in the head of the racket. A common myth is that when you add weight to the racket, it should always go on the head.
This is very often the worst way to do it.
Here's the problem. You have a racket that becomes to light for you and you'd like to add weight. No problem, so far. But if the racket is already head heavy and they want the weight added to the head.

Problem.
You will be making a head heavy racket, even more, head heavy. The racket will become less maneuverable and tougher to generate racket speed with. Think of it this way. How maneuverable is a sledgehammer? Sure, assuming you can swing the thing, there may be power, but with the cost being the loss of maneuverability and stability.

The better option is to add weight in both the head and the handle. Done correctly, you can add weight without changing the balance of the racket.

An even better option if using a head heavy racket is to add the weight in such a way as to make the racket both heavier and less head heavy. There is a reason that the racket companies all do the same thing. As the rackets they make get heavier, they also get more head light. This adds maneuverability and the ability to get racket speed while also making the racket more stable. The more head heavy a racket is, the further from your hand the weight is, making it less stable.

Everyone is different. If you need a racket heavier, stop into our Dale Mabry store and we can show you the best way to add weight to your racket to achieve the feel and performance you are looking for.

MP Tennis Tip - The Back Swing

New Laserfibre Native Tour

Laserfibre's new Native Tour, the only poly string made in the USA.

One Way to Make Racquetball Strings Last Longer

For those that play a lot of racquetball, string breakage is a fact of life. Often, it is just lots of use or hitting the ball hard that causes strings to break. But there is one cause that can be largely prevented.
Anyone who has played for any amount of time knows that your racket will eventually make contact with the wall. Over time, this wears on the frame. As you can see in the below pictures, with enough wear, the bumper guard will wear down. This will cause more potential damage to the actual frame, eventually leading to a crack or breakage. But it also harms the string.

String exposed by excessive bumper guard wear.

A new bumper guard protecting the strings from

damage from the wall or other rackets.

The bumper guard's other job is to protect the string. The strings should sit below the edge of the guard so that when the racket scrapes the wall, the guard takes the punishment, not the string. Once the bumper wears down to a certain point, the string is exposed to their surroundings. The same scrape to the wall will now damage the strings. Eventually, the strings will look as if sandpaper had been rubbed on it, and they will break sooner than they should.
There are two ways to stop this kind of string wear, and no, not hitting the wall isn't one of them.
First is to use head protection tape on your racket. When the racket scrapes the wall, the tape takes the punishment. When the tape starts to show excessive wear, pull it off and replace it with a new strip. This will also increase the life of the frame itself.
The other way, assuming that they are available, is to replace the bumper guard. Newer rackets are usually easy to find replacement bumper guards for. The guards can be replaced while being restrung and are the best way to reduce damage to the strings and frame. For an older racket, you'll have to go the head tape route to protect the strings and frame.
If you have any questions on rackets, bumper guards or strings, stop in and we'll help you find the right ones for your game.

MP Tennis Tip - "Setting the Wrist"

Tennis Myth - Poly "Lasts" Longer

The number one reason we hear for why people use poly is that it lasts longer.

This assumption is true, but only up to a point.

A poly string is likely to take a longer amount of time to break, but that is only telling half the story. While a string may not break, all strings suffer from tension loss. Given enough time, all strings lose their ability to perform and return energy to the ball. When the strings don't perform to their potential, neither will you.

So what strings should you use?

For those who are likely to break strings in a short amount of time, poly strings are a good option. Chances are, those players are hitting the ball with a good amount of power and can benefit from the added durability and control poly strings offer.

If you are playing more than once a week, and can not break a poly string in under six months, they are probably not a good option. For those players, when you get to six months, a poly string will have lost a good deal of tension. This will result in loss of power, spin potential, and overall performance. True, while they have not broken, they are not "lasting" as long as other options might.

Multifilament strings and even basic synthetic gut strings will lose less tension over the same period of time and will perform better, longer. For players who don't break strings often, these strings will also add power and have a better feel than the stiffer, poly strings.

A good rule of thumb for restringing is to replace your strings as many times in a year as you play in a week. If you play twice a week, this means every six months. For those who do not tend to break strings, the softer, non-poly strings will maintain more of their performance at the six-month mark. For a non-string breaker, this may actually buy you a little more time before the string performance drops to the point of becoming a hindrance to your game.

Again, for those that break strings often, you will likely break the string before the tension loss becomes an issue. For the rest of us, a multifilament will be a more arm-friendly, better performing and very likely, longer lasting option when you re-string.

Stop in and we'll help you pick a string that best fits your needs and your game.