As most of you know, I have only been playing tennis for three years. And, I didn’t start playing tennis until I was 62. I’ll be 65 later this month and I have been through a pretty good number of tennis rackets over that time. Honestly, my early preferences were based on brand and later on color and graphics. If you skip to the end you might conclude they still do.
After a year or so I noticed I liked the look of 98 square inch heads. 98 square inches is a preference that has stood the test of time. Later, I noted a preference for rackets with a strung weight north of 320g that weren’t too stiff. Still later, I started to play more (currently four to five days a week) and in longer sessions with players who hit the ball harder. I remained dedicated to heavier rackets, which I found I swung more smoothly.
I have used rackets with grips sizes ranging from 1/4 to 3/8 and as small as 1/8. When confronted with the ubiquitous and simplistic ring finger measurement tool I measure at 3/8 but my palm is somewhat large for the length of my fingers so 1/4 is closer to ideal. I forgot, the first racket I bought was a Wilson Six.One One Hundred that was 1/2. My coach — taking pity on me for my unwise $35 purchase — expertly peeled off the original leather grip and put on two of his Tecnifibre over grips. He said of the leather grip, “Keep this. It’s in perfect shape.” Ah, the two over grips felt lots better!
I wrote recently about MIB’s Wilson Shift — the one I put on a weight reduction program — and then found I liked. The Shift got me thinking of finding a racket of similar weight and stiffness but with a correct 1/4 grip size, preferably with a 98 square inch head. I found a cache of NOS Head Radical MP from God knows how long ago. Said to have a strung weight of 310g, it was promising and cost less than a $100 bucks delivered. It arrived strung with black Head SynGut. My initial thought was to have it immediately restrung with my second set of Head Lynx Power Soft Proto I picked up from TW for a buck a set. Then I reconsidered and I took the Radical out to hit a few serves. It feels just dandy, pretty much like every racket I’ve tried save an unfortunate few that shall remain nameless.
I confess I may be largely insensitive to racket variations but I still have some favorites, spec wise, and I believe I’ve settled on a workable weight range. I think my ability or lack of same means I can play with a wide variety of rackets and be happy. That said, I enjoy trying different rackets in the same way I enjoy tasting different craft beers rather than continually ordering the same beers from the same breweries. Sometimes a different racket is simply enjoyable to look at. I could say the same about some beers, come to think of it.
My age even more than my basic ability limits my top end in tennis, no matter how much I play or practice or learn about the tactics and strategy of the game. Or, even how much I love and enjoy the game. Still, I think it’s a good thing my rackets have started to measure and play more like each other. Plus, I dig my new Head’s paint job.
Tennis thing 