Category Archives: Inspiration
Wrong Planet?
Yesterday a good friend was in the World Headquarters, and as usual, our discussion turned to player training, the necessity, and the over-training of players, mainly juniors!
This training may include the wrong equipment setup, unnecessarily stiff strings, and sometimes stiff, light racquets. This may cause injuries at every level of player from recreational to professional!
My friend, by the way, is a Collegiate All-American, a professional player, and a coach!
After we discussed how to change this behavior, she said something quite interesting;
“John, you are on a different planet!”
Yikes!
So two things can happen;
- Abandon my planet
- Invite you to join our planet!
We have chosen number 2!
- to invite you to our planet!
There will be no need for interplanetary travel right now, but we do need to pick a name for our planet, so, the person presenting the best name will be the Mayor of our planet (your name here)…for a while.
We hope you will join us and make our planet a place we can all go to discover, learn, share, and understand as much as we can about tennis equipment, customization, stringing, and “best practices”.
Please use the “Leave Comment” tab below to submit your name for our new planet!
Wilson Pro Staff Six One 100, v14
As you know the Wilson Pro Staff Six One franchise has been around about as long as wooden racquets have been gone! A long time!
Many racquets have come and gone. Some should not have “come” and some should not have “gone”, in my opinion.
This racquet, to me, is the epitome of the Pro Staff Six One series for a few reasons.
- The 100-square-inch head size is ideal.
- The thin 22mm beam is perfect.
- The Shiny Rust finish is the best of all Pro Staffs!
- The geometry and proportions are perfect.
- The stiffness (flex) is satisfyingly low.

Wilson shiny Rust Pro Staff Six One 100
The specifications will tell us more about the racquet, but here are some things that don’t appear on the “spec” sheet.
- This is a foam-filled racquet.
- The FORTY-FIVE layup is used in this racquet.
- The grommet barrels are large enough to allow string movement.
- The bumper guard “string valley” is very deep.
Let’s take a look at the specifications.
Manufacturer | Wilson |
---|---|
Racquet Model | Wilson Pro Staff Six One |
Reference Tension | 55 |
String | PEEK 7710 |
Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
String Bed Stiffness - RDC | 52.0 Units |
String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour | 58.6 Pounds |
String Bed Stiffness - SBS | 50.6 pounds |
String Bed Stiffness - ERT | 35 Kg/Cm |
Racquet Flex, RDC | 63 - After stringing |
Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 50.0 |
Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 487.2 Lbs/Inch |
Weight, Grams | 332 |
Weight, Ounces | 11.71 |
Balance, mm | 330 |
Balance, Inch | 12.99 |
Length, Cm | 68.6 |
Length, Inch | 27.03 |
Head Width | 9.87 |
Head Length | 12.82 |
Head Area, cm2 | 641.2 |
Head Area, Sq. Inch | 99.4 |
Beam Height @ Grip, mm | 22.0 |
Beam Height @ Mid, mm | 22.0 |
Beam Height @ Tip | 22.0 |
Beam Width @ Grip, mm | 12.85 |
Beam Width @ Throat, mm | 12.65 |
Beam Width @ Mid, mm | 12.38 (PWS) |
Beam Width @ Tip, mm | 12.27 (including bumper) |
Number of Main Strings | 16 |
Number of Cross Strings | 19 |
Ratio Cross/Mains | .648 |
Main String Grid | 7.20 |
Cross String Grid | 10.06 |
Density (% of head filled with string) | 72.9% |
Average Cross String Space | .529 |
Average Main String Space | .450 |
Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT MasterTensometer | 35 |
Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 195.76 |
First Moment, Nm | .847 |
Polar Moment | 343.0 |
Torsional Stability | 16 |
Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 327 |
Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.53 |
Swing Weight Calculated | 361.5 (full-length) |
Power, RDC | 51.0 |
Control, RDC | 50.0 |
Manueverability, RDC | 69.0 |
Power, Calculated | 2067.9 |
Head Points | 4.00 |
Head Weight, % | 48.1 % |
Center of Percussion | 20.8 |
Dwell Time, ms | 8.82 |
Efective Stiffness - lbs | 28.5 |
K, Lb/In | 166.67 |
Recoil Weight | 153.88 |
Twist Weight | 241.58 |
End Weight | 131.0 |
Tip Weight | 201.5 |
9 O'Clock | 100.9 |
3 O'Clock | 102.3 |
Butt Cap | 128.6 |
COF, Main | .340 |
COF, Cross | .366 |
Head Gravity Pro 2023

Head Gravity Pro 2023
Here comes the new Head Gravity Pro 2023, which brings some good stuff! Like a 100 square inch head with a string pattern of 18×20!
You will see more goodies when you look at the specifications!
This new Gravity Pro has a different “vibe” than last year’s model. Maybe it is the muted graphics!
Hint: Swing Weight=338
You need to try this demo soon! Trust me!
Manufacturer | Head |
---|---|
Racquet Model | Head Gravity Pro 2023 |
Reference Tension | 53 |
String | MonoGut ZX Pro (PEEK) |
Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
String Bed Stiffness - RDC | 58.0 Units |
String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour | 66.9 pounds |
String Bed Stiffness - SBS | 52.4 pounds |
String Bed Stiffness - ERT | 37 Kg/Cm |
Racquet Flex, RDC | 64 - After stringing |
Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 42.5 |
Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 467.9 lbs/Inch |
Weight, Grams | 344 |
Weight, Ounces | 12.13 |
Balance, mm | 327 |
Balance, Inch | 12.87 |
Length, Cm | 68.6 |
Length, Inch | 27.03 |
Head Width | 9.849 |
Head Length | 12.85 |
Head Area, cm2 | 643.5 |
Head Area, Sq. Inch | 99.7 |
Beam Height @ Grip, mm | 21.2 |
Beam Height @ Mid, mm | 20.5 |
Beam Height @ Tip | 20.5 |
Beam Width @ Grip, mm | 11.3 |
Beam Width @ Throat, mm | 11.3 |
Beam Width @ Mid, mm | 11.0 |
Beam Width @ Tip, mm | 12.5 (includes bumper) |
Number of Main Strings | 18 |
Number of Cross Strings | 20 |
Ratio Cross/Mains | .693 |
Main String Grid | 7.87 |
Cross String Grid | 9.75 |
Density (% of head filled with string) | 71.4% |
Average Cross String Space | .488 |
Average Main String Space | .406 |
Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 37 |
Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 206.94 |
First Moment, Nm | .867 |
Polar Moment | 353 |
Torsional Stability | 15 |
Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 338 |
Swing Weight, Ounces | 11.92 |
Swing Weight Calculated | 367.8 |
Power, RDC | 48 |
Control, RDC | 52 |
Manueverability, RDC | 61 |
Power, Calculated | 2179.2 |
Head Points | 5.04 |
Head Weight, % | 47.7% |
Center of Percussion | 21.0 |
Dwell Time, ms | 8.35 |
Efective Stiffness - lbs | 30.4 |
K, Lb/In | 185.90 |
Recoil Weight | 163.23 |
Twist Weight | 251.11 |
End Weight | 138.2 |
Tip Weight | 206.0 |
9 O'Clock | 104.5 |
3 O'Clock | 104.1 |
Butt Cap | 133.9 |
COF, Main | .370 |
COF, Cross | .309 |
Head Gravity Team 2023
The new Head Gravity Team 2023 is last year’s Gravity S, a stellar racquet for many players! The 104 square-inch head fits a particular niche, and the modest stiffness will appeal to many!
The head shape on this 104-inch head is more round and nicely proportioned, which adds to the approachability of this model.
This is a great option if you want something over 100 square inch head!
Manufacturer | Head |
---|---|
Racquet Model | Head Gravity Team 2023 |
Reference Tension | 53 |
String | MonoGut ZX Pro (PEEK) |
Machine Used | True Tension Professional |
String Bed Stiffness - RDC | 50.0 Units |
String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour | 58.6 pounds |
String Bed Stiffness - SBS | 46.0 pounds |
String Bed Stiffness - ERT | 34 Kg/Cg |
Racquet Flex, RDC | 60 - After stringing |
Racquet Flex, FlexFour | 46.0 |
Racquet - In Plane Stiffness | 394.2 lbs/Inch |
Weight, Grams | 310 |
Weight, Ounces | 10.93 |
Balance, mm | 335 |
Balance, Inch | 13.23 |
Length, Cm | 68.6 |
Length, Inch | 27.03 |
Head Width | 10.125 |
Head Length | 13.14 |
Head Area, cm2 | 674.1 |
Head Area, Sq. Inch | 104.5 |
Beam Height @ Grip, mm | 22.5 |
Beam Height @ Mid, mm | 24.2 |
Beam Height @ Tip | 24.2 |
Beam Width @ Grip, mm | 10.8 |
Beam Width @ Throat, mm | 10.5 |
Beam Width @ Mid, mm | 11.0 |
Beam Width @ Tip, mm | 12.2 (includes bumper) |
Number of Main Strings | 16 |
Number of Cross Strings | 20 |
Ratio Cross/Mains | .616 |
Main String Grid | 7.87 |
Cross String Grid | 10.50 |
Density (% of head filled with string) | 75.1% |
Average Cross String Space | .506 |
Average Main String Space | .484 |
Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT | 34 |
Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in | 190.16 |
First Moment, Nm | .809 |
Polar Moment | 324 |
Torsional Stability | 16 |
Swing Weight, Kg/cm2 | 308 |
Swing Weight, Ounces | 10.86 |
Swing Weight Calculated | 350.0 |
Power, RDC | 47 |
Control, RDC | 55 |
Manueverability, RDC | 81 |
Power, Calculated | 1950.2 |
Head Points | 2.20 |
Head Weight, % | 49.0% |
Center of Percussion | 20.5 |
Dwell Time, ms | 9.00 |
Efective Stiffness - lbs | 27.3 |
K, Lb/In | 160.26 |
Recoil Weight | 137.68 |
Twist Weight | 236.44 |
End Weight | 116.9 |
Tip Weight | 191.3 |
9 O'Clock | 96.6 |
3 O'Clock | 97.1 |
Butt Cap | 114.5 |
COF, Main | .412 |
COF, Cross | .309 |
The Same but Different!
How can two totally different things be the same in so many ways?
Here is a good example:
Wilson Sensation 16, natural v Wilson Sensation Plus 17, black.

Same but Different!
Looking a the stress/strain portion of the graph, it is nearly impossible to see any difference!
Both strings exhibit good elongation and elasticity.
Finally, when it comes to UTS the Sensation is a little stronger, as you would expect, for a 1.33mm string.
The Sensation Plus measures 1.26mm! So, the UTS is pretty good!
If you have been using Sensation but would like a black, thin string from Wilson simply use Sensation Plus!