Category Archives: Evaluation
Visitors to the World Headquarters
Racquet Quest, LLC World Headquarters was a very busy place recently! It is always busy doing racquet work but this “busyness” was to share some time with visitors from around the world!
Albert Murata, from Hawaii, and his wife Heather were in town to play the 55’s at the USTA Campus, happily, they took the time to come by and chat about stinging stuff. You can reach Albert here.
AM Stringing
Also here was Randy St Pierre from the UK. Randy stops by about twice a year and we always have vibrant discussions.
Coming from Lyon, France was Eric Ferrazzi, Carine, and Camille! This is our French Family and it is always wonderful to have them here with us!
Eric Ferrazzi, Lyon, France
Since all of us are in the tennis business we have a lot to talk about.
It seems our discussions normally start with strings! Imagine that! Why do we talk about string, because it breaks and we replace it. Why does it break? There are several reasons but for right now we are focused on the grommet set in the racquet. Some grommets around the top of the racquet have very shallow grooves and the string can be exposed to court and fail. Not after one altercation with the court but over time for sure!
Racquet Characteristics are always popular to discuss with stiffness being one of the top subjects. You can see some racquet stiffnesses here.
Nothing is off limits so we always have a good time.
Compare Wilson Shift 99/300 to Shift 99/315
Comparisons are fun and can be informative as one of the steps in selecting a tennis racquet that is right for you!
If you have read the individual reviews of these two (2) racquets you may wonder about some of the numbers.
This comparison table makes it easy to see the properties.
- You will notice very little difference in these racquets’ overall weight and swing weight. Typically tolerances will be in the plus/minus 7-gram range.For example:
- A 300-gram racquet can weigh from 293 to 307 grams.
- A 315-gram racquet can weigh from 308 to 322 grams.
- Different model racquets can be the same weight.
- Same-model racquets can be an ounce different in weight.
So, when multiple racquets are received at the World Headquarters they are characterized to match similar racquets within a model.
Wilson Shift 99/315 Pro
The Wilson Shift has introduced a new movement in racquet design, and the Shift 99/315 Pro rounds out the two (2) racquet series for now!
If you read the review of the 99/300 Shift, you have a good idea about the concept: on the impact, the ball moves the head down, and before the ball can leave the strings, the head moves up!
It is like you are swinging from low to high! It sounds simple, but there is more to it than that.
| Manufacturer | Wilson |
|---|---|
| Racquet Model | Wilson Shift 99/315 Pro |
| Reference Tension | 50 |
| String | Babolat Xalt 130 |
| Machine Used | Babolat Racquet Station |
| String Bed Stiffness - RDC | 60.0 |
| String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour | 64.6 |
| String Bed Stiffness - SBS | 45.0 |
| String Bed Stiffness - ERT | 38 kg/cm |
| Racquet Flex, RDC | 70 After Stringing |
| Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 45.0 |
| Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 383.6 Lbs/In |
| Weight, Grams | 338 |
| Weight, Ounces | 11.92 |
| Balance, mm | 321 |
| Balance, Inch | 12.64 |
| Length, Cm | 68.6 |
| Length, Inch | 27.03 |
| Head Width | 9.79 |
| Head Length | 12.74 |
| Head Area, cm2 | 632.1 |
| Head Area, Sq. Inch | 98.0 |
| Beam Height @ Grip, mm | 23.0 |
| Beam Height @ Mid, mm | 24.0 |
| Beam Height @ Tip | 24.0 |
| Beam Width @ Grip, mm | 12.75 |
| Beam Width @ Throat, mm | 12.8 |
| Beam Width @ Mid, mm | 11.1 |
| Beam Width @ Tip, mm | 13.0(including bumper) |
| Number of Main Strings | 18 |
| Number of Cross Strings | 20 |
| Ratio Cross/Mains | .692 |
| Main String Grid | 7.13 |
| Cross String Grid | 10.44 |
| Density (% of head filled with string) | 76.0 % |
| Average Cross String Space | .522 |
| Average Main String Space | .396 |
| Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT MasterTensometer | 38 kg/cm |
| Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 212.54 |
| First Moment, Nm | .832 |
| Polar Moment | 341.0 |
| Torsional Stability | 17 |
| Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 324 |
| Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.43 |
| Swing Weight Calculated | 346.3 (full-length) |
| Power, RDC | 49.0 |
| Control, RDC | 51.0 |
| Manueverability, RDC | 74.0 |
| Power, Calculated | 2244.1 |
| Head Points | 6.93 |
| Head Weight, % | 46.8% |
| Center of Percussion | 21.0 |
| Dwell Time, ms | 5.94 |
| Dwell Time, Spin, ms | 8.21 |
| Efective Stiffness - lbs | 32.3 |
| K, Lb/In | 192.31 |
| Recoil Weight | 161.30 |
| Twist Weight | 242.30 |
| End Weight | 135.9 |
| Tip Weight | 193.8 |
| 9 O'Clock | 98.2 |
| 3 O'Clock | 99.0 |
| Butt Cap | 130.4 |
| COF, Main | .396 |
| COF, Cross | .319 |
A Players Perspective
We are really happy to have Jason Harne join us to review and add his comments on tennis racquets and tennis strings!
I think you will agree that Jason will be a great addition to racquetquest.com based on the following tennis bio:
Jason Harne – Tennis
- Pro tennis – futures tournaments and satellites
- Stirling University, Scotland. One of the first players to be awarded the British Universities Tennis Bursary Colors Award (equivalent to All-American)
- International home nations tournament, representing Scotland, player of the tournament award.
- England county cup, division one, representing Yorkshire County.
- Spain and UK, national league tennis
- High Point University, Big South Conference, 22-2 record.
- U21 guardian direct British futures, national champion, and fastest UK serve.
- Teaching pro, UK and Spain, high-performance players
This is very impressive but the most important component for us, and you, is Jason’s incredible interest in new things! Jason is willing to try, and honestly comment on, any performance tennis equipment.
Jason will be commenting on the new Wilson Shift series later this week.
Please leave a comment or question for Jason.
Racquet Quest, LLC
