Category Archives: Technology

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;

  1.  Abandon my planet
  2.  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!

Our mission is to keep players playing!

 

 

 

 

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.

ManufacturerWilson
Racquet ModelWilson Pro Staff Six One
Reference Tension55

String
PEEK 7710
Machine UsedTrue Tension Professional
Static
String Bed Stiffness - RDC52.0 Units
String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour58.6 Pounds
String Bed Stiffness - SBS50.6 pounds
String Bed Stiffness - ERT35 Kg/Cm
Racquet Flex, RDC63 - After stringing
Racquet Flex, FlexFour50.0
Racquet - In Plane Stiffness487.2 Lbs/Inch
Weight, Grams332
Weight, Ounces11.71
Balance, mm330
Balance, Inch12.99
Length, Cm68.6
Length, Inch27.03
Head Width9.87
Head Length12.82
Head Area, cm2641.2
Head Area, Sq. Inch99.4
Beam Height @ Grip, mm22.0
Beam Height @ Mid, mm22.0
Beam Height @ Tip22.0
Beam Width @ Grip, mm12.85
Beam Width @ Throat, mm12.65
Beam Width @ Mid, mm12.38 (PWS)
Beam Width @ Tip, mm12.27 (including bumper)
Number of Main Strings16
Number of Cross Strings19
Ratio Cross/Mains.648
Main String Grid7.20
Cross String Grid10.06
Density (% of head filled with string)72.9%
Average Cross String Space.529
Average Main String Space.450
Dynamic
Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT MasterTensometer35
Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in195.76
First Moment, Nm.847
Polar Moment343.0
Torsional Stability16
Swing Weight, Kg/cm2327
Swing Weight, Ounces11.53
Swing Weight Calculated361.5 (full-length)
Power, RDC51.0
Control, RDC50.0
Manueverability, RDC69.0
Power, Calculated 2067.9
Head Points4.00
Head Weight, %48.1 %
Center of Percussion20.8
Dwell Time, ms8.82
Efective Stiffness - lbs28.5
K, Lb/In166.67
Recoil Weight153.88
Twist Weight241.58
End Weight 131.0
Tip Weight 201.5
9 O'Clock100.9
3 O'Clock102.3
Butt Cap128.6
COF, Main.340
COF, Cross.366

We invite you to try this racquet!

 

 

Head Radical MP 2023

You have seen the pretty pictures; now see the specs of this new Radical series!

We are starting our property review with the Head Radical MP 2023.  The MP version will probably be the most popular due to the very lovely weight and “player” style head size of 98 inches!

Head Radical MP 2023

The Auxetic component should contribute to a comfortable but aggressive racquet.

As you look at the following specifications you may notice the addition of some “numbers”, specifically “beam width”.  

We have been taking this number for many years but now believe it is time to expose it to you, the readers.  

Briefly, the beam height-to-width ratio contributes to in-plane stiffness which is important for consistent string bed stiffness (SBS).

ManufacturerHead
Racquet ModelHead Radical MP 2023
Reference Tension55
String
MonoGut ZX Pro
Machine UsedTrue Tension Professional
Static
String Bed Stiffness - RDC53.0 Units
String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour64.9 pounds
String Bed Stiffness - SBS51.8 pounds
String Bed Stiffness - ERT35 Kg/Cm
Racquet Flex, RDC65 - After stringing
Racquet Flex, FlexFour44.5
Racquet - In Plane Stiffness379.7 lbs/Inch
Weight, Grams326
Weight, Ounces11.50
Balance, mm333
Balance, Inch13.11
Length, Cm68.57
Length, Inch27.00
Head Width9.63
Head Length12.79
Head Area, cm2623.0
Head Area, Sq. Inch96.7
Beam Height @ Grip, mm21.0
Beam Height @ Mid, mm22.5
Beam Height @ Tip20.5
Beam Width @ Grip, mm12.5
Beam Width @ Throat, mm11.5
Beam Width @ Mid, mm12.8
Beam Width @ Tip, mm12.8
Number of Main Strings16
Number of Cross Strings19
Ratio Cross/Mains.634
Main String Grid7.18
Cross String Grid9.44
Density (% of head filled with string)69.6%
Average Cross String Space.494
Average Main String Space.449
Dynamic
Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT35
Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in195.76
First Moment, Nm.841
Polar Moment347
Torsional Stability16
Swing Weight, Kg/cm2331
Swing Weight, Ounces11.68
Swing Weight Calculated361.5
Power, RDC52
Control, RDC49
Manueverability, RDC66
Power, Calculated 2101.4
Head Points3.15
Head Weight, %48.5%
Center of Percussion21.1
Dwell Time, ms8.74
Efective Stiffness - lbs29.2
K, Lb/In169.87
Recoil Weight156.44
Twist Weight226.48
End Weight 126.0
Tip Weight 197.7
9 O'Clock105.1
3 O'Clock104.7
Butt Cap115.6
COF, Main.416
COF, Cross.388

Head…just when you thought it couldn’t get any better

Well, we think it just got better!

The Head Radical has always been one of the best performance racquets available and doesn’t require much in the way of annual changes!

You can order yours now for the release date of February 9, 2023

We think this new group is right on target!  Adding Auxetic in the throat brings this series into the overall success of the Auxetic component!

We will be doing full reviews very soon, but in the meantime, take a look at these new Radicals!

The Team is the new “S” in the Radical Series!  Based on our initial testing, we think this model has a trick up its sleeve!

ZUS Tennis

Never heard of them?  I hadn’t either until yesterday!

ZUS is a Chicago-based company that offers several racquets with various specifications available.

A ZUS Custom Sven Goth Design came in for work, so we had a great opportunity to get all of the specifications and include them in a “racquet review”!

First, the racquet seems to be a well-made version of the Wilson Pro Staff RF, with an ever so slightly thinner modified box section beam.  the geometry is very much like the Wilson Pro Staff RF, as is the weight.

Who wouldn’t want to be modeled after the Pro Staff RF?

This racquet has a bunch of weight at the rear end, plus a shrink sleeve to increase the grip size, so it is loaded up with weight down there, which is OK!

Rear Weight

 

 

The racquet is foamed, probably the entire tube, which may contribute a more muted feel than a non-foamed racquet.  The Pro Staff RF is also foam filled.

The small oval piece is a lead or steel, weight sandwiched between the two halves of the shaft.  This construction makes it impossible to remove that weight if you want to, but it is good to have it there!

 

 

ManufacturerZUS
Racquet ModelZUS Custom Sven Goth Design
Reference Tension50
String
Prince Tour XR 16
Machine UsedTrue Tension Professional
Static
String Bed Stiffness - RDC53.0 Units
String Bed Stiffness -FlexFour59.1 pounds
String Bed Stiffness - SBS50.6 pounds
String Bed Stiffness - ERT35 Kg/Cm
Racquet Flex, RDC63 - After stringing
Racquet Flex, FlexFour41.0
Racquet - In Plane Stiffness438.0 lbs/Inch
Weight, Grams354
Weight, Ounces12.49
Balance, mm316
Balance, Inch12.44
Length, Cm68.57
Length, Inch27.00
Head Width9.41
Head Length12.80
Head Area, cm2610.1
Head Area, Sq. Inch94.6
Beam Height @ Grip, mm20.5
Beam Height @ Mid, mm20.2
Beam Height @ Tip20.6
Beam Width @ Grip, mm10.8
Beam Width @ Throat, mm10.8
Beam Width @ Mid, mm11.6
Beam Width @ Tip, mm12.4
Number of Main Strings16
Number of Cross Strings19
Ratio Cross/Mains.619
Main String Grid7.25
Cross String Grid9.68
Density (% of head filled with string).742
Average Cross String Space.509
Average Main String Space.453
Dynamic
Dynamic Tension, Kp, ERT35
Dynamic Tension, Lbs/in195.76
First Moment, Nm.854
Polar Moment348
Torsional Stability18
Swing Weight, Kg/cm2330
Swing Weight, Ounces11.64
Swing Weight Calculated353.5
Power, RDC51
Control, RDC49
Manueverability, RDC67
Power, Calculated 1965.9
Head Points8.46
Head Weight, %46.1%
Center of Percussion20.9
Dwell Time, ms8.74
Efective Stiffness - lbs28.8
K, Lb/In169.87
Recoil Weight167.26
Twist Weight235.57
End Weight 151.7
Tip Weight 197.9
9 O'Clock105.5
3 O'Clock108.1
Butt Cap137.1
COF, Main.382
COF, Cross.306